The Need for Peculiar Perspectives

I often enjoy reading the blogger profiles at locust and honey. As a relatively new blogger, I especially appreciate the advice to novice bloggers. One piece of advice proves itself in that it is often repeated: "There's nothing new under the sun. Everything anyone says has been said a thousand times before. You aren't going to shake the pillars of Heaven with your Bold New Ideas" This particular phrase is taken from Ken Lowrey's recent profile.

No doubt this is true not only in blogging but in a multitude of genres. In fact as I watched the live streaming of General Conference this afternoon, I witnessed what I knew would be the case. As a few petitions regarding homosexuality were discussed, highly predictable speeches were made in favor of and in opposition to some of the more contraversial petitions. There were occasional comments that offered insight with regard to implications of particular wording in one petition, but largely the most divisive debates in our denomination go nowhere. There are two loudly repeated sides that reiterate the same points year after year and quadrenium after quadrenium. So tired are the arguments on all sides of these debates that we have the equivalent of political parties that organize to bring more people to their side not by theological persuasion so much as political maneuvering. Some have called general conference the church's version of congress, and indeed at times it seems there is little difference.

Perhaps what we need to move forward is to challenge everyone to speak in new and peculiar ways so we can hear anew the variety of perspectives.

I wish we could take a step back from heartwrenching stories about how many have felt descriminated against and have a conversation about whether or not it is ever appropriate for the church to descriminate--if so/if not what would the implications be.

I wish we could take a step back from stories about the occasional conversion of a homosexul to heterosexuality and discuss whether or not it is appropriate for any of us, homosexual or heterosexual to self-identify based on our sexual impulses in a world that is obsessed with sex.

I do not believe there is any hope in a debate that some partisans would have us believe is between Scriptural Christians and Liberal-Elitist Hethans nor as other partisans might see it, between Self-Righteous Homophobes and Loving, Accepting Christians.

I stongly believe that we are in need of new ways of speaking about the most divisive issues. While it may be true there is nothing new under the sun that one could possibly say, we are in need of new and peculiar perspectives even if they are just the resurrection of an old idea.

For example, maybe we could take a cue from Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. From Chapters 7 and 8 we might imagine Paul telling us, "If you can't agree on who is allowed to have sex with who; then maybe no one should be having sex with anyone so we can focus on our commission to make disciples of Jesus Christ." I don't think this would receive very many votes. And as a young father who expects to have more children, I can't say I would be excited about the prospect--but it is a new thought (or perhaps an ancient thought) in a very tired debate. I would like to see more peculiar thoughts; I think that is our only chance of comming to some agreement on such a contentious issue.