Sin Boldly

What's the place of doubt in faith?

I asserted yesterday that my faith leads me to question the certainty of my own stances, particularly when those stances participate in fundamental disagreements within the church. I see it as a function of my Christian ethic, for example, to examine my own convictions regarding the GLBT issue (issues, really), holding out the possibility that I may in fact arrive at the pearly gates to find that I have been wrong all this time.

What then?

I can only revert to the core of my faith--the love of God evinced through Christ. I have committed my life to Christ as best as I know how--though heaven knows it is an imperfect commitment. I trust that the reconciliation between God and humanity is primarily the work of God, not of me or my efforts. And I trust that that the reconciling action of Christ--the love of God--is stronger than any separation that I initiate or maintain. Love wins.

I believe that God's love wins even in those situations where I am deeply mistaken about the will of God. For a number of reasons--spiritual, experiential, historical, critical, ethical, theological--I do not endorse the notion that God is a heterosexuals-only God or that God condemns same-sex or gender-variant orientations and behaviors. But suppose I'm wrong? Suppose, despite all my prayers, investigations, and seeking; despite all the years that I've felt the Holy Spirit's endorsement of a theology of radical welcome; and despite all the work I've done (and do) to discern how to live faithfully in concert with my orientation--suppose that I'm still wrong.

Does God then chuck me into hell? From the evangelical perspective, does my honest mistake (I though GLBT identities were compatible with Christianity, but nope) overpower the saving grace of Christ? I became a Christian and received baptism long before I was ever aware of my sexuality. Was that conversion and commitment false? Is it negated by the advent of sexual maturity? Have I, to use the Baptist parlance, lost my salvation?

I don't think so. I disagree with much from the Baptist and the Reformed evangelical traditions, but I like the faith that both traditions put in the sovereign power of God's grace. God's welcome--the welcome I have accepted and upon which I rely--is not so fragile a thing as to be spoiled by a theological mistake.

"Sin boldly!" Luther said (and I paraphrase), "but believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly." As reformed theologians are at pains to point out, Luther did not mean that one should go about nonchalantly lying or stealing or murdering. He was specifically talking about sins he considered to be human-made, not God-ordained. We ought not to do that which we believe to be contrary to the will of God. If grace be true, though, then it surely covers us even if (when) we turn out to be mistaken.

More tomorrow,

JF