I am not a person who sits comfortably with faith. It is a struggle for me because I often try to reconcile the events of my world with what I believe of God and His character. In some respects, I am no different than most people but I must admit that this reconciling has led me to near faithlessness and even moments of faith are suspect because I fear they are just the child in me looking for a comfortable place. Near faithlessness is a scary place to be when faith has been the most important aspect of your life for over thirty years.
In my search for answers, I tend to stay away from apologists because I find that most tend to support their positions from Biblical content or church dogma that does not have the unbiased position necessary to sway anyone that doesn’t already hold as true some of the basic tenets of faith. I realize that my reconciling to those things I believe of God’s character fall under the same suspicion but, nevertheless, they lead me to arguments that I have not often heard though I am sure others have struggled with.
I have a tendency to get caught up in words and definitions but I will attempt to keep this as clear of ambiguity and when referencing a Christian doctrine or belief, I will hold to the most orthodox way of Judeo-Christian though for that particular circumstance.
Finally, I am not a theologian or a minister. My faith journey started in 1980 in the Roman Catholic church. Since, I have been involved in lay ministry in various Protestant denominations and, full disclosure, I have been a man without a church for the last four years. This is mostly due to feeling hypocritical about having some friends struggling with their sexual orientation and me having to walk that line of love versus what organized religion teaches. That has not been the only point of friction but maybe the one last straw. I do admit that I carry guilt about many things in life, including being unchurched, but I ascribe that to my upbringing more so than my Catholic background. I do wish that church looked differently and, though many have tried to create a new experience, more in touch with what the culture needs now.
I am surprised that so many people that have come to faith in the past thirty years or so do not struggle with their churches position on LGBTQ – whether their particular churches have changed or are staunch orthodoxists. I would love to hear how any of you have navigated those waters and what your positions are.
I enjoy argument but in a Socratic sense that is more given to the exchange of ideas rather than judgement. Feel free to comment with your experiences and position.