Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. – Isaiah 58:1

Today's Scripture Reading (October 19, 2023): Isaiah 58

I have a question, one that is directed at the Christian Church. And maybe it is not the one that we are expecting. Here it is: do we recognize the sin of our society? Perhaps even better, do we acknowledge the sin of the Christian Church? If Jesus were to confront us with the sin of our generation at a meeting tomorrow, what would it be? I know we have some leading candidates.

In my conference, a lot of energy has recently been expended on the issue of "same-sex marriage." Some churches have declared that people in same-sex marriages could be allowed into church leadership. Other churches have opposed this practice, claiming that God would be done with us if we allowed same-sex marriage as a denomination. We would have become the Babylon predicted in the Bible, and God would no longer honor our efforts. In support of the cause of righteousness, the only thing that we can do is expel the churches who are involved in the practice and restore the holiness of God's church.

Another argument that seems to be happening in the contemporary church is the fight between those who believe that we should allow women into church leadership and those who think that women should only be allowed to play a complementary role to men's leadership in our churches. And some believe that those who allow women to lead should be expelled. And I think the scripture we would use to support the position of kicking churches out of our conferences is from Paul's letter to the Corinthians; "Expel the wicked person from among you" (1 Corinthians 5:13).

But I must admit that I am not convinced that either is our signature sin. Our sin is not a permissive attitude for those involved in the LGBTQ community or allowing women in the church. Both topics are much more complex than we are often willing to admit. What isn't complicated is the last command Jesus gave his disciples. I am convinced that our contemporary sin is summed up by Jesus's words to his disciples at the Last Supper. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).

Here is our sin. They will not know that we are disciples of Christ because of our theology or the things we detest. And that should be apparent to us. The Christian Church, in recent years, has become known more by the things that we oppose and hate rather than by our love. Let me shout our sin as loud as I can. This world doesn't need to know the list of things we stand against. Jesus says we will only be recognized as his disciples because we love. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to love, even amid significant disagreements. Love even those who oppose us. We are to pray for our enemies, even the ones we find within the church.

I am convinced that if Jesus called us into a meeting with him, his question wouldn't be about our stand on women in ministry or the LGBTQ community. His question would be about why we are not loving as he instructed. This is our rebellion, and I am not hearing enough church leaders speaking about this sin.

It is time to love. Whether we agree with each other or not on complex arguments is not an excuse for our lack of love. We should be able to stand with each other and declare our love for each other even though we disagree. And until we deal with our sin, we need to be willing to shout out our deficit and continually ask for the forgiveness of God and each other for our lack of love.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 59