options for discrimination?

the statue atop the triumph arch in brooklyn
in honor of those who defended the union
during the days of the civil war.

the artist obviously had flair...just saying!

The Confession of 1967 – 9.44

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

God has created the peoples of the earth to be one universal family.  In reconciling love, God overcomes the barriers between people and breaks down every form of discrimination…

The church is called to bring all people to receive and uphold one another as persons in all relationships of life:  in employment, housing, education, leisure, marriage, family, church, and the exercise of political rights.  Therefore, the church labors for the abolition of all forms of discrimination and ministers to those injured by it. 

Congregations, individuals, or groups of Christians who exclude, dominate, or patronize their fellow men and women, however subtly, resist the Spirit of God and bring contempt on the faith which they profess.

the confession of 1967 was written
to address racial discrimination
but several times the confession
refers to discrimination of all forms.

the church throughout the ages
has found courage to speak and do
what is good, right and just.

the confession of 1967 is one example
of the best of the church.

this goes without saying
that doing what is
good, right and just
is a process
and when we are honest
about the process
we must admit
how the church
has miserably failed
in various moments in history.

i grew up with ministers
who found the courage
to speak against racial discrimination
in a time when it was NOT POPULAR
OR SAFE to do so. 

and yet they spoke
giving courage for others to speak
and eventually the culture
in and out of the church shifted.

i for one can't get around the words
all forms of discrimination
and wonder
how the very church
who wrote such words into our
confessional standards
continues to flinch and flounder
when it comes to discrimination
against homosexuals.

as the first
out gay minister
in the presbytery i serve
i must
have the same courage
ministers before me had
even when it is NOT POPULAR
but thankfully a bit SAFER.

the process of condemning racial discrimination
and the process of affirming
the ordination of women
meant the church stood in the face of
critics inside and outside the church
and claimed new biblical insight
and new theological understanding
and in so doing
did what was good, right and just.

this is one of those moments
when the middle of the road
does not allow the church to do
what is good, right and just.

to allow "options" for discriminiation
to exist in the church
clearly is not an option
and in the words of
the confession of 1967

Congregations, individuals,

or groups of Christians who exclude,

dominate, or patronize

their fellow men and women,

however subtly,

resist the Spirit of God

and bring contempt on the faith

which they profess.

though it is a safer
place since the adoption of
the new form of government
the continued talk about
allowing "options"
for discriminination
proves we are still in process
until we are able once again
to say and do what is
good, right and just.