Bekah, I'm at ORD on my way to Jordan, and have a few minutes. Sorry I didn't reply a few weeks ago to your "Christians, don't hurt me..." I resonate with your journey of discovery re. love...you aren't alone. I recall trying to figure out 'this thing called love' years ago, and wondering if I'd ever really know. Everyone goes through this -- and alas, I'm still trying to learn about love after almost 38 years of marriage (we'll celebrate our anniversary in Jerusalem!). Love is an ever-unfolding flower, and the heat and passion of youth gives way to less self-serving (dare I say more God-like?) expressions as commitment and true intimacy develop. This side of eternity, it takes time.
Your broad-brush caricature of Christians made me cringe: The combination of bad theology (which is not rare, but still isn't something to tar-and-feather the masses with) and just plain religious arrogance (which defines some Christians, no doubt) is part of the social designation "Christian" all believers must bear (and Jesus' name gets sullied the most). But just as you would cringe if someone defined Libertarians by the worst jerks who use that moniker, so too lumping Christians under an umbrella made up of legalistic Calvinists and Westboro Baptists seems a bit harsh. At least give some props to the countless millions around the world (and I'd like to think me) who call sin "sin" without automatically condemning those who commit it to hell. As Martin Luther put it, we are iustus et pectare -- justified yet sinners. This is God's love...and when the awfulness of sin, the sacrificial death of Jesus, and the unending drawing of the Holy Spirit of all mankind to God, is fully known, perhaps we'll understand more about love than we ever can this side of eternity. You're growing in your understanding of love; keep on growing. Right there with you...
Bekah, I'm at ORD on my way to Jordan, and have a few minutes. Sorry I didn't reply a few weeks ago to your "Christians, don't hurt me..." I resonate with your journey of discovery re. love...you aren't alone. I recall trying to figure out 'this thing called love' years ago, and wondering if I'd ever really know. Everyone goes through this -- and alas, I'm still trying to learn about love after almost 38 years of marriage (we'll celebrate our anniversary in Jerusalem!). Love is an ever-unfolding flower, and the heat and passion of youth gives way to less self-serving (dare I say more God-like?) expressions as commitment and true intimacy develop. This side of eternity, it takes time.
Your broad-brush caricature of Christians made me cringe: The combination of bad theology (which is not rare, but still isn't something to tar-and-feather the masses with) and just plain religious arrogance (which defines some Christians, no doubt) is part of the social designation "Christian" all believers must bear (and Jesus' name gets sullied the most). But just as you would cringe if someone defined Libertarians by the worst jerks who use that moniker, so too lumping Christians under an umbrella made up of legalistic Calvinists and Westboro Baptists seems a bit harsh. At least give some props to the countless millions around the world (and I'd like to think me) who call sin "sin" without automatically condemning those who commit it to hell. As Martin Luther put it, we are iustus et pectare -- justified yet sinners. This is God's love...and when the awfulness of sin, the sacrificial death of Jesus, and the unending drawing of the Holy Spirit of all mankind to God, is fully known, perhaps we'll understand more about love than we ever can this side of eternity. You're growing in your understanding of love; keep on growing. Right there with you...