Some New Thoughts

I was driving through the Central West End in St. Louis just last weekend. I was there with three good friends, showing them the sights and introducing them to pizza so delicious that Obama had it flown into the White House. If you're in St. Louis, eat at Pi. There are 3 locations. The CWE location has math on the walls of the bathroom, if you're into that kind of thing.

However, this is not actually another write-up of the STL. And while this post may be thought-provoking, I guarantee it won't be as good as Laurel's.

While we were in the CWE, the girls and I were admiring the streets lined with beautiful houses. There are a number of them in that area, and quite a few of them are dead end streets. Not because they are cul-de-sacs, but because one end of the street has a beautiful wrought-iron fence blocking any ingress or egress. As we were leaving the CWE, we passed a universalist church, and one of those science churches. We were talking about what they believe (basically, anything goes), and the contrast suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

We love the idea of exclusive neighborhoods and inclusive religions.

But what about the reality?

It's easy to say that what we believe is for everyone, especially when there's a place of retreat behind a barrier.

I have been a member of a Southern Baptist church for the majority of my life. I'm a big fan, but I also have reservations --some with the SBC, and some with the church in general.

I'll get a little personal first, then go from there. I'm a 29-year-old single female attorney. The church does little to support those attributes. As a woman, my leadership roles can be limited. As a single, my place is that of a leper (but with more disease - don't believe me? go here. I have too many points to count). And I have a profession. You can see more support for women who work, but there is still little in today's church to support a woman who's not raising children.

And what about divorced people? Aside from putting them over in divorce care, is there a place for them?

And the gay community. If God is the answer, why aren't they welcomed into the sanctuary? In your dislike of this topic, don't confuse that question with a suggestion that we alter Biblical teaching.

If God is for everyone, why does the color of someone's skin affect what church you attend? Racism (again, covered much better by Laurel) is an embarrassment to our nation's past, present, and future. Cultures may be different, but respect and grace can often transcend those minutiae.

By advocating for an inclusive religion, let me reiterate that I'm still a person who believes that the Bible is God-breathed and that all of it matters. I'm not suggesting the Bible is deficient and in need of alteration. I'm suggesting maybe I am. And maybe our churches are.

But I'm not suggesting that we need a new church or a new denomination or a new mission/faith statement. These things, they're problems. They're going to follow us wherever we go, unless we turn around and face them head on.

How do we forge a place for the unloved, the unlovely, or just the unpopular?

I'm no theologian or Biblical scholar, and I'm not naive enough to deceive myself into thinking that there are easy answers. These are tough questions. But if we only answered the easy questions, we just end up walking around yelling out Baby Sunday School answers, and never help anyone.