Today, we're not here to discuss all the ways we... as a race, as a society, as a nation... continue to struggle in this embrace. We're also not here to debate historical facts, stories, or myths. We just don't need to. We all feel it. We have all experienced this in some way. Wouldn't you agree? Heck, we probably know both sides of her pretty well by now.Inclusion. I want you to look deep into her eyes. Wait. Look again.
Have you ever, in all your days, seen such beauty? Have you ever felt warmth like this before? Have you really known connectivity like this? It's awesome, isn't it? She's indescribable!
Personally, I am spending more time with her. I am learning more about her with every passing day. I hope this comes across in my writing. I also hope that it translates into living a life of acceptance. I find that I'm closer to the Creator when I'm with her... and this just feels good!You know the feeling! It's like when you're walking along the beach at sundown... a nice breeze passes through you. You smile. Why? Something just feels right!
You see, inclusion has taught me a thing or two. I now understand that I need you. I need you to be... you. I need (and want) your voice, your perspective, your love. Although all may be different from mine... it's diversity that makes good human beings into beautiful people. Thank you all for helping me become a little less scary!
May we embrace inclusion and find ourselves walking along the beach, breeze in our face, Creator in hand. That sounds cool!
14 comments:
Great post. I think the enemy of inclusion is not exclusion, as one would probably first think, but complacency. I was created for community, but I'm distracted daily by comfort.
Russ, great comment!
Let's give this some time to simmer. Hmmm... the enemy of inclusion. So many thoughts. Selfishness. Ignorance. Complacency. Fear. Stupidity.
Yeah... let's open up this can!
I'm curious as to what exactly you mean by inclusion.
Names, congrats on the new blog! It looks great. Well done.
Good question. For once, I'm not being mystical or mysterious. Well... maybe just a little. However, when writing about inclusion, I'm simply referring to its definition.
We're talking about inclusion in its most original state. Raw, pure inclusion... that's it!
Man, your blogs are way deep. What happened to talking about sports and monopoly and stuff ;)
I don't really know if I'm thrilled about the concept of inclusion. The word itself conjures up thoughts and feelings of anxiety. Perhaps it is because when I hear the word I think of all the turmoil it is causing in the Anglican Church, which I grew up in. The push for inclusion of people living "alternative" lifestyles as ministers, along with other theological issues is splitting the denomination. I do know and believe that God loves and accepts all people regardless of their lifestyle, but that acceptance does not translate into turning a blind eye to sin. I apologize if I have taken this conversation down a road it wasn't meant to go.
Scott, thank you! I just get bored in the shallow end of the pool.
And yet, everything has its place. Sports, Shuffleboard, Monopoly... that's a few months worth of conversation and debate!
Depth or not... I'll take any way I can!
Names, thank you for sharing without fear or hesitation. That's kind of what this is all about... a place of journey and discovery.
While I strongly have a different opinion about inclusion... I understand your position. I respect your story.
For me, inclusion isn't about sin. We'd first need to define "sin" and wrestle with those parameters. It's more about the universal needs of every single human being. We all need to be loved, accepted, understood, believed in. I think the only way to do this is through inclusion.
Although we may disagree to a point, we're having the conversation. This is the way of inclusion. Diversity rocks!
What do you guys think? Let's explore this a bit further!
I would say that Jesus was intentionally inclusive at times and at others he was intentionally exclusive.
Think about the times he "excluded" the religious elite. Think about the times he called them snakes.
Why? To me it boils down to one thing: inclusion. Jesus wasn't excluding those religious dogmatics just for the sake of excluding them, but because they didn't "include" the ordinary. They had built such an exclusive religious system, that Jesus called them out.
And in contrast, he lived next to the ordinary, sinners and saints alike. He rubbed elbows with the poor and the rich. He hung out with fishermen and tax collectors, prostitutes and priests.
We are to follow his example: fighting to include those that the world would deem unlovely.
This doesn't mean turning a blind eye to sin, but defending the defenseless, sharing what we have with the poor, and welcoming the abandoned into our homes.
Russ, thanks for sharing your outlook with us. I really appreciate the love!
Your comment is beautiful. It's this kind of inclusion that brings the grin, the warmth, the special feeling of being connected to something or someone.
I think we all can rally around this! What's the word?
russ....i love your comment
We are to follow his example: fighting to include those that the world would deem unlovely.
the question that comes to mind with what names said and bo's response is, where is the line? for me, "those the world would deem unlovely" would be defined as those outside the family. For those inside the body, I believe we have been far too lenient...not rebuking, not reproving, not putting out enough. Also, let me add that I don't think the Lord asks us to do that outside of relationship. It's not my job to go around judging the beliefs of others. There are precious few ideals that are worth exclusion inside the body. I'd just as soon break bread with you, serve the poor with you, visit the nursing home with you than argue something that God meant to never be understood.
BK!
This deserves another comment... "There are precious few ideals that are worth exclusion inside the body. I'd just as soon break bread with you, serve the poor with you, visit the nursing home with you than argue something that God meant to never be understood."
Yes! When would you like to go? I'm ready. That's what inclusion is all about baby!
I think the insights of both russ and BK are true. Jesus definitely spent most of His time with those no one else would give a second glance to. He loved those who had become unlovable in the eyes of the world. He didn't ignore their sin, nor did He throw it in their face. He was gentle in His rebuke and offered a path out of their sin.
And I guess this is where BK's point comes in. Jesus didn't go around rebuking those outside the "family of believers" without first drawing them in. He did, as BK said, harshly rebuke and correct those who claimed to be godly. As we strive to follow His example, we must not close our eyes to the sin of those who call themselves Christians, and we should love and, if I must use the word, include those who do not.
Christ definitely calls us to reach out and love those whom the world refuses to love. We reach out to them to draw them into a relationship, to gain their trust, to bring them into fellowship with other believers. And then once that relationship is there, as Jesus did, we are to gently with mercy and grace, point out the things in their life that we believe Jesus would want them to change.
Jumping back to something that BK said, I think one of the reasons why "we have been far too lenient...not rebuking, not reproving, not putting out enough" if because we are unwilling to be rebuked or reproved ourselves. Yet if we really take a look at how Jesus lived and how the early church functioned, we must be both willing to shine a light on other's sin as well as have a light shone on our own.
Hey names. Like your thoughts at the end there. It is so difficult to think about our own sin getting revealed. I use revealed here instead of exposed on purpose. I don't think anyone on earth or in heaven wants us to be exposed...it's just not God's style. I think that He almost always wants to reveal our faults and failures, our misgivings and our misconceptions, to us through the Holy Spirit first. We are His kids in fact.
So, obviously the Church has done a horrible job laying foundational pathways for people's restoration and healing. We've left this sort of thing to the psychologists and psychotherapists...the same way we left social justice to the government in days past. It is in our spiritual nature to want justice...we are made in the likeness of Justice! So, the difficult work is helping the "stone throwers" their culpability...that truly, everyone's guilty (thanks waterdeep). For me personally, it's and issue of humility and weakness...two character issues that the Lord holds up as gold standards. I have a hard time as a 30 year old American male to "boast in my weakness". Insights anyone?
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