Ethical Coffee, Ethical Church?

In this I wish to address some heart issues, some deep ponderings of a human soul. I may offend, I may cause debates and there is even the possibility that some may consider me to be less of a person for addressing these issues. However, I feel that it is best to stand firm on what I believe and to allow space for healthy discussion surrounding the topic of human sexuality and around what some will consider the "gender issue"... 

I do not claim to know everything, I do not claim to be totally right in what I may say, as I know making such claims as these in the post-modern world is a very dangerous thing indeed. 

I begin this blog with a pondering heart, do we choose our coffee house because of the "brand" name, such as Starbucks or Clements because these are cool places for hanging out, or is there a deeper reason to choose a coffee shop? Today, I sit in one coffee house, but have also been to two very contrasting places for coffee and it's only just coming up to 13:30 as I write this. At the beginning of this week, I was asked where I would most likely go for my caffeine fix. It genuinely took me a moment to think of the heart answer and not just the first thing that came to mind... I concluded that I would go to one particular place rather than the others which were on offer, this came after much deliberation over the various coffee houses that were out forward or suggestion. 

Why the place that I chose? I concluded that they serve the more ethical coffee than other places in the list of options. This being said, I am not writing to big up one particular place over another, but rather, to think deeper about what my coffee can say about church and why I subscribe to a particular denomination over another and how my personal beliefs and ethics have been shaped over the years. 

It took me a brief moment to decide where I would spend my hard earned cash on my daily caffeine fix, however when it comes down to the bigger decisions in life, such as where I attend corporate worship, I feel that this may take more time than that. 

Currently, I attend an Anglican church, in my home town. I have been here since birth, it has been my family church growing up and I have found myself returning to this Christian family after venturing to various different places. "Why?" some may ask, but I feel that throughout the turmoil that the Anglican Commune has experienced in relation to gender issues and questions of human sexuality, one thing has stood firm within my own parish. Their love of God; through Christ Jesus and His finished work on the cross. And how this then impacts upon how they seek to serve their wider community. 

There may be various opinions and debates surrounding gender issues within a church context, but I feel that it is time that I joined in the conversation and truly nailed my colours to the mast if it where. 

From my understanding of scripture, and correct me if I am wrong, those who struggle with same gender attraction (LGBT to the world) are no less a person than any other person in a community. There is in no way that I can sit back and allow for this type of conversation to take place without allowing for other schools of thought to be interjected. I do firmly believe that the PRACTICE of homosexuality within a Christian context is wrong. However, ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3). I do not see in this verse that it says "homosexuals alone have fallen short..."! It breaks my heart to have friends who feel that they can no longer attend corporate worship without the judgement which can be placed upon them for their belief system. 

I believe that we serve a loving God, a God of compassion and a God moreover who actually came down to this dirty earth to get stuck in and be in relationship with His people. I also believe that if Jesus walked this earth today, he would be hanging out in gay bars, in the pubs and clubs that scatter our city. 

How dare I make such a statement I hear you all cry out! Is that not the same cry from the Pharisees and the other chief priests of the time that Jesus walked this earth in the first place? He walks with sinners they whispered, look at him, he hangs out with prostitutes and tax collectors... etc etc etc! 

Heck, I believe that if Jesus was walking about here and now, HE WOULD NOT BE IN OUR CHURCHES! That's not what he's about. He would be getting stuck in and hanging out with those whom society consider to be the worst of the worst - yes, that includes gay people that seem to come under so much condemnation. 

Show me, I ask; where it says that everyone except a gay person can come to Christ. Show me, where does it say that anyone BUT a gay person can serve? 

Better still; show me how a celibate homosexual civil partnership is to be condemned. Should a non-practicing Christian gay couple be denied the same legal protection as a heterosexual couple? 

I finish this blog with a sad and heavy heart, but with hope of a better future for those who struggle with same gender attraction. I also propose the question to anyone who reads this, is your Jesus the Jesus who enters the gay bars, the pubs and clubs of our city, or is the Jesus that you serve bound up within a church building with no escape into the community that He first came to reach, serve and save?