When we began CCR in 2007 our fundamental commitments to our community were,
“Throughout all of our interaction with our communities we will remember the words of our Lord, ‘Do onto others as you would have them do unto you.’ … The sounds coming from our facility will be the reasonable sounds of Christian joy, the teaching of God’s word, the laughter of playing children, and thoughtful dialogue and debate as our community seeks to find solutions forward.”
The last few months we have been studying the 10 Commandments at CCR. In that study I hope we’ve seen God’s desire to bless a community that lived in covenant with both God and one another. The Old Testament provides a beautiful story of God’s intentions.
Last week we were in Command Number 6, “Be faithful in marriage. (Exodus 20:14. Contemporary English Version.)”
“Throughout all of our interaction with our communities we will remember the words of our Lord, ‘Do onto others as you would have them do unto you.’ … The sounds coming from our facility will be the reasonable sounds of Christian joy, the teaching of God’s word, the laughter of playing children, and thoughtful dialogue and debate as our community seeks to find solutions forward.”
The last few months we have been studying the 10 Commandments at CCR. In that study I hope we’ve seen God’s desire to bless a community that lived in covenant with both God and one another. The Old Testament provides a beautiful story of God’s intentions.
Last week we were in Command Number 6, “Be faithful in marriage. (Exodus 20:14. Contemporary English Version.)”
We spent most of our discussion encouraging the young to abstain from sexuality until they were married and for those of us who are married to treasure our marriage covenant.
We noticed that when the 10 Commandments were given Israel was surrounded by sexual chaos (Leviticus 18). In fact, there is nothing new in contemporary Kigali that Israel did not see thousands of years ago.
Because of our CCR Contract with Rwanda we want to finish the discussion about sexuality by addressing a contemporary debate in our region. How should the faith community respond to homosexuality?
A little less than a year ago, I decided to blog about this question when I realized some old friends of mine from Uganda had taken the debate to an extreme position (To see my journey check out: http://jenkinsinrwanda.blogspot.com/2010/07/pastoral-reflections-on-ugandas.html.)
Since being back in Rwanda I’ve on occasion heard religious leaders discuss these issues.
When I read the New Testament Paul writes,
“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11. New Living Translation.)”
Thus it seems to me we would be well served at CCR to have a discussion of how the gospel addresses policy debates. I won’t promise to solve all of the complexities, but I do promise that this Sunday you will hear a sermon rooted in the Bible nurtured by pastoring a community.
I hope I will see you this Sunday at CCR.
Dave
P.S. Though CCR will continue to have lessons that challenge our thinking and action CCR will also be a place full of joy and celebration. We’re scheduling a special concert on Saturday, 18 June with God’s Army, Next Generation, Christ’s Doves, and Beautiful Ashes.
No comments:
Post a Comment