revelation 3:20 - meditation on an open door.

[2eclipse]

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

this is a passage i would love to see christians remember. christians on the right and christians on the left.
God stands at the door and knocks.
He does not force.
He offers us the gift of his love and companionship.
He waits for our hard hearts to turn toward Him.
He blesses us in our struggling with understanding Him.
and He waits.

for those of us on the right, how can we say to someone, "you are not my brother." how can the eye say to the hand, "i don't need you." how can we refuse to be in conversation with those who are our brothers and sisters in christ - even when they take bible stories metaphorically instead of literally, even when they take members of the same sex for their partners, even when they teach their children gnosticism and universalism and unitarianism and refuse to be orthodox, when they worship their own independence instead of God, even when they seem to make choices with no sound reasoning....
for those of us on the left, how can we say to someone,"you are not my brother." how can the eye say to the hand, "i don't need you." how can we refuse to be in conversation with those who are our brothers and sisters in christ - even when they take bible stories literally and try to shove them down our throats, even when they wound we who love those of the same sex, even when they teach their children materialism and nationalism and idolotry of every kind that does not hurt their pocketbook, when they worship their own independence instead of God, even when they seem to make choices with no thought to their heartlessness.
God did not do so when He was with us and He does not do so now. He stands at the door and knocks, and waits for you and i to open the door.

x-posted to christianleft and christian_geek

Comments

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

also for what it's worth, i think you'd be a good mom.

[wanderingbastet.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That means a lot to me. I'm certainly not ready *right now* (there's that pesky lack of a husband thing ;-)), but the idea has been creeping in more often of late... Stupid hormones. :-D

I think my biggest problem with the Mormons is the same as for any religion in general that preaches an our-way-is-the-only-way philosophy. Without solid proof one way or the other, I believe there has to be some wiggle room, and acknowledgment that other beliefs might hold as much validity. Which doesn't mean, of course, that you can't try to convince them YOURS is right, I just don't think we ought to go to war over it. Yanno? It's all about just being decent to each other, no matter what you believe.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i whole-heartedly believe what you say about not going to war and being decent to one another.
the all-religions-created-equal thing could be a LONG discussion at some point. for now i will say i believe all major religions have a grain of truth and that christianity does not have a monopoly. however i also believe it is CLOSEST to the truth...otherwise there would be no point in my believing in it...i'd go find one closer.

[wanderingbastet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's easy enough for me, a die-hard agnostic, to say "hey! everybody's right! (within reason)" but it's a bit more difficult to reconcile a staunch belief in one particular system with tolerance for other possibilities. I guess you have to say "I think I'm right, but respect your right to think that YOU're right." Or something to that effect, anyway. Agreeing to disagree while still putting a limit on the point where someone's belief passes over that line of "human decency." I dunno. I have a great respect for those who are able to hold fast to their beliefs while still being open-minded and tolerant of others.