What Have You Heard Lately? - Praying For The Kidnapped American Missionaries in Haiti

What have you heard lately about those 17 American missionaries - including children as young as 5 years old - kidnapped for ransom by a criminal gang in Haiti?  Not much, unless you have gone looking for it.  By my mind, it illumines our current American cultural climate when I observe that this matter has fallen out of the news cycle in barely a week.

By God's grace, it will not fall off of my prayer cycle though.  And I hope you will join all those who are praying fervently for the safety and release of the missionaries as well as just punishment of the perpertrators.  The people of Haiti are terrorized daily by this breakdown in the rule of law.

Here is some information and links that have informed, empowered and directed my own prayer:

• This organization and these missionaries are from the Anabaptist tradition; a Christian tradition that historically is pacifist.  For example, their statement of faith includes this: 24. We believe that Christians should live a nonresistant life style, without any acts of retaliation, demonstrating the love of Christ in our daily walk. (Matthew 5:39-46; John 18:36; Romans 12:19-21) - CLICK HERE for their complete Statement of Faith.
• CLICK HERE for their own updates on circumstances surrounding the kidnapping.  These are updated rebularly, so keep checking back.
• It has been hard to find insightful reporting on these events in many news sources.  The best to my mind (Pastor Bill) have been with ChristianityToday.com  CLICK HERE or HERE and follow any links as they are updated.
• In the meantime, join together as Christian Aid Mission asks:  Join us in prayer that God’s grace would sustain the men, women, and children who are being held hostage. In a world where violence and force are seen as the solution to problems, we believe in God’s call to Christians to “…not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). Pray that those being held hostage could find strength to demonstrate God’s love. The kidnappers, like all people, are created in the image of God and can be changed if they turn to Him. While we desire the safe release of our workers, we also desire that the kidnappers be transformed by the love of Jesus, the only true source of peace, joy, and forgiveness. - October 18

A prayer from an 11-year old on the Christian Aid Mission website

Actually, Jesus Did Say Something About That

Recently, I have been involved in one of two discussion/study groups here at Harderwyk using Preston Sprinkle’s Grace and Truth 1.0: Five Conversations Every Thoughtful Christian Should Have About Faith, Gender and Sexuality.  Having this chance to study and ponder Dr Sprinkle's material and then talk it through with a handful of friends has been a really helpful experience for me.

For example, I have often heard people say "Jesus never said anything about homosexuality," and then proceed to discount every other statement in the Bible about the matter.  The truth of it is though, Jesus actually did say something about homosexuality, and what He said is worth considering.

What Jesus Did Actually Say

To be clear, Jesus did not have in His culture or the languages that He spoke the nuanced language or directly translatable words that we now use related to LGBTQ matters.  He did speak directly to issues that should guide our conversations on these issues though.

Specifically, Jesus affirms without hesitation, the Hebrew Bible - or Old Testament - down to the letter.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:17-19

There is no honest way for us to read that from Jesus, and then erase Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 from consideration as if Jesus Himself would do what He condemns.  This passage also means that we can't conveniently erase some other Hebrew Bible statements that we would like to pass over as well.  We must have a Gospel-centered understanding of how to rightly understand the Old Testament in light of the Gospel consistently applied.  By confirming the Hebrew Bible as strongly as He did though, Jesus makes those words, when rightly understood in light of the cross and resurrection, His own.  

What I Have Learned As Well

Two things - of many really - that Preston has helped me see in addition are these:

The Bible Addresses Same-Sex Practice From the Foundation Of Its Affirmation of Marriage - Sure, Jesus spoke directly to affirm the Hebrew Bible which clearly includes statements about same-sex pratice.  Preston helped me see though, that the two Leviticus passages on same-sex practice were best read as applications of the foundational teaching regarding marriage that begins in Genesis 1-2.  There, he points out, marriage is created by God as a gendered-relationship meant to establish a life-giving "one-flesh union" that represents the passionate love of Christ the bridegroom for His Bride, the church.  In Matthew 19:3-6, Jesus Himself builds from those passages in Genesis 2 - “Haven’t you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female?" - as His foundational understanding of marriage when He addresses divorce.

Faithfulness To The Words of Jesus Includes HOW We Speak His Words - On page 106, Preston writes:

"People are rarely convinced of something by logical arguments alone,  .  .  .  If you show no love, no concern, no compassion, no empathy, no willingness to undertand another person's point of view, you will rarely, if every, convince them of the truth."  

As I can say from personal experience, there are times that I have missed WHAT Jesus said, by missing HOW Jesus said what He did.  Being true to Jesus' teaching means being consistent with His delivery.

Like I said, this has been a really helpful experience for me - and I hope for those in the group with me as well.  If you would be interested in working through this material with 6-8 others, let me know by contacting the Harderwyk Office and we can look to find a workable time and some people. It is designed to run for 5 sessions with a chapter to read in preparation, brief video to begin each session, then about 45 min of interaction.

If you would like to know about upcoming Grace & Truth 1.0 Study and Discussion Groups at Harderwyk, CLICK HERE for a simple form to be added to a notification list.

More Resources

The Center For Faith, Sexuality and Gender - CLICK HERE to go to the website of Preston Sprinkle's ministry.  Many resources to purchase or for free.

Grace & Truth 1.0 - CLICK HERE to purchase the book and a variety of support materials.

Why Didn't Jesus Mention Homosexuality? - Is one of a number of Pastoral Papers that address particular questions in more depth and focus.  This one addresses my original question.  CLICK HERE  The paper is free to download, if you register with your email address.