Continuing to build on what I started this past Sunday, we'll be looking at what affirmation is about and how it contributes to the kind of WARM congregation we're talking about in worship this month. If you were with us this past Sunday, you'll remember that we were talking about Welcome and how that is (1) Grounded in God's kind of agape love, (2) Something we offer to others, and (3) Something we also have to be open to receiving from others.
This Sunday, we'll be asking the question, "Does my validating the beliefs and ways of life of others take anything away from my own?" The answer to that may seem like a no-brainer, but it isn't nearly so, especially when the beliefs and ways of life of others are out-of-synch with our own. The Scriptural idea that forms the "launch point" for the sermon is Jesus' admonition of his disciples when they expressed concern about others doing ministry in the name and spirit of Jesus when they were not a part of the disciples "in crowd": "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:38-40).
Brian McLaren offers thoughtful Christians concerned about this a very helpful construct in his 2012 book, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? He talks about our goal being to build a "strong - benevolent" Christian faith in preference to both a "strong - hostile" one and a "weak - benign" one. Affirming another whose beliefs and ways of life are different from our own need not be seen as a betrayal of what we believe in; it may be seen as the kind of "strong - benevolent" Christian faith Jesus may have had in mind when he admonished his disciples to leave the others alone.
Any thoughts you may have on this ahead of time could find their way into the sermon. Please feel free to share them with me.
Come "WARM the church" with us on Sunday!
Steve
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