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

[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.