Some Issues To Tackle

Can I take a moment?

I'm pissed that as a Christian form the States, particularly as one from the Bible belt, I cannot comfortably post pictures of myself drinking alcoholic beverages. I can't because I want to work in ministry and be accepted wherever I go. One beer, one glass of Scotch while in Scotland, and I often feel as if I could lose all credibility. Today, I hiked to the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and enjoyed the simple charity from a fellow hiker of sharing a 50 mL bottle of whiskey. It was cold and windy, but we had a spectacular view of Scotland and wished to celebrate it, and I dare say that it was the right and proper and quite possibly the Christian way to celebrate it.

Though I like to talk up my drinking habits, I mostly do so in jest. I will occasionally have too much to drink, but God gave me the gift of vomiting if I don't watch how I drink (hydration, food intake beforehand, etc.). I believe in moderation except for special occasions. The Bible talks about not putting people in authority who are given to drinking to excess, meaning that they only see alcohol as a reason to get drunk. The buzz is nice, but alcohol (beer, wine, cider, and spirits) is, for me, an important way to taste a culture. Sights, smell, taste, sounds, the feel of a place... But I can't share the picture of myself with a tiny bottle of whiskey at the top of an extinct volcano. Heck, I can't even say how old the volcano is or how the place came to be since it doesn't line up with a young earth creationist viewpoint.

I'm also very annoyed that, as a Christian from a conservative church, I cannot safely endorse wonderful works of literature such as Harry Potter. I have read books that were far worse in terms of morals that were still very good, and I can speak freely of those because they don't use the terms "wizards" or "witches".

Every kind and generous stranger I've met on this journey has so far not been a Christian. Because I drink and am a real person with struggles, I appear to be a Christian only in name. Because my community of Christians at home officially does not drink much, I come across as rebellious towards the norm. I feel like it hurts my witness, as if witnessing were not already difficult enough with my going out of my way to be respectful and honoring to my gracious hosts. After all, I'm not gonna throw down much conviction when I'm already being treated so kindly with nothing expected (or even accepted) in return.

An issue that's more loudly addressed is homosexuality. My view is that sexing of any kind outside of marriage is a no-no. Whether man and woman or woman and woman or man and man, it's adultery outside of marriage and therefore a sin. They can get married by the state or federal law, because there's a separation of church and state. No biggie. However, when it comes to getting married in the church, under God... Well, I don't really see God being a fan of that. Fortunately, my views end up not mattering at all, and why? Because I'm not the one judging hearts or souls or whatever else is weighed on the scales of God's justice. Jesus will be judging, and that's his territory. He can have it. In fact, if I try throwin' down judgment anywhere, I'm throwing myself into judgment. My job is to love the people throughout the process of their figuring it out and afterward that point as well. They can settle on being gay or not if they want. I mean, God might be cool with it and I could be misinterpreting Scripture. It wouldn't be the first time.

And Catholicism. Are they Christian or not? Well, they believe that Jesus died and rose again, right? Well, sounds like they're in the clear. They ask saints to intercede on their behalf with prayer? Well, that sounds kinda like communication with the dead, which is a bit of a gray area for me to approach. I'm no theologian, but I do recall, umm, Saul, I think it was. He tried to talk to someone who was dead, then Samuel got pissed at him for it. Makes Catholicism sound pretty iffy to me, but then again, who the hole am I to judge? Catholics believe in Jesus and his being raised from the dead, and my boss's family, also Catholic, bought my lunch and dinner and a tour of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. So I'm leaning towards loving them and holding off on judgments because GUESS WHAT, IT'S STILL NOT MY JOB TO JUDGE.

And of course there are the Jewish people. Another gray area for Christians, right? 'Cause sure, they got the Gospel first, but lots of them didn't believe it. This strikes me as impressive because I don't really see God as someone who can be proven to exist except by the Old Testament, which just so happens to be what Jewish people believe in. But then in Romans 4 and 5 (and elsewhere too), Paul talks about how Abraham believed in the hope that was later to be revealed as Christ's death and resurrection. He believed in the same thing as we do, but he wasn't born at the right time to choose whether or not to believe in Jesus. Yet Abraham, the father of the Christian and Jewish faith, had righteousness credited to him simply because he believed in, well, the hope of the Messiah. Yeah, and Jewish people believe in that as well. And so do I. So I'm not really gonna throw down judgment on anyone 'cause it's not my job, but the Jewish people kinda sound like they could squeeze into heaven about as easily as Abraham did.

Christians can be wrong. On big issues. On small issues. But especially on small issues that we get all big and prideful about to the point that they're big issues.