The Old Sin Nature: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

A recent exchange on the HOD/B Listserv illuminates one of the key issues in the debate about the Church's response to GLBT persons.

The Rev. Charlie Holt:  We all have choices to make and many of them are very, very
tough duty indeed. Often the toughest choices are those calling us to
unravel long lived patterns of unfaithfulness. The call for each and every
one of us is to put off the "old self" and put on the "new self". But what
if we have lived with elements of the "old self" for a long, long time? What
if we have a significant amount of capital (emotional, relational,
ecclesial, material, etc.) invested in that "old self" nature? Life would be
simple and easy if we all did the right thing from our first steps; but how
many of us have actually done that?

The Rev. Elizabeth Kaeton:  *And, I would say*: Amen! Someday, we will look back at this time in the
history of our church and the Anglican Communion and scratch our heads and
ask, "What the heck was THAT all about? Why did we think those things about
LGBT people in general and the church's blessing on their covenants and
their ordinations in particular?"




Deputy Charlie Holt from Central Florida, responded to criticism of the Archbishop of Canterbury as follows:

"Tobias writes: Where the Archbishop is deeply at fault, and regrettably

tone-deaf in _his_ choice of words, is not in saying that living in a

same-sex union (without church authorization) is a choice -- but in his

failure to acknowledge that the mixed-sex couple has the "choice" to

marry, while the same-sex couple only has the option to choose to

separate.


Is Archbishop deeply at fault... or simply speaking the truth in love in

the midst of a fallen world.

We all have choices to make and many of them are very, very tough duty

indeed. Often the toughest choices are those calling us to unravel long

lived patterns of unfaithfulness. The call for each and every one of us

is to put off the "old self" and put on the "new self". But what if we

have lived with elements of the "old self" for a long, long time? What

if we have a significant amount of capital (emotional, relational,

ecclesial, material, etc.) invested in that "old self" nature? Life

would be simple and easy if we all did the right thing from our first

steps; but how many of us have actually done that?


No, the call to the Christian life is a cross to bear; it is a life

filled with small and often very difficult steps and decisions to be

faithful over and against the easy, the natural, the flow. We are called

to seek the renewal of our lives not to be in conformity to the pattern

of this world but rather to be transformed through the continual renewal

of our minds and hearts in accordance with the righteousness and

holiness of God. No psychologist can make any of us righteous through

counsel and technique. No psychiatrist can give any of us a pill that

will make us holy. If it happens in any of our lives it is the gracious

and miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit of God met with a repentant human

heart.


The promise of Jesus is that if we will live faithfully for him, the

cross that he will give us is actually light. He bore the heavy one.


Charlie Holt+

Central Florida "


Deputy Elizabeth Kaeton from New Jersey responded:


"You know, Charlie, we are, undoubtedly, on different ends of the theological

spectrum, but I could apply your exact words to my position and still be in

complete agreement with Tobias.


*You wrote:* We all have choices to make and many of them are very, very

tough duty indeed. Often the toughest choices are those calling us to

unravel long lived patterns of unfaithfulness. The call for each and every

one of us is to put off the "old self" and put on the "new self". But what

if we have lived with elements of the "old self" for a long, long time? What

if we have a significant amount of capital (emotional, relational,

ecclesial, material, etc.) invested in that "old self" nature? Life would be

simple and easy if we all did the right thing from our first steps; but how

many of us have actually done that?


*And, I would say*: Amen! Someday, we will look back at this time in the

history of our church and the Anglican Communion and scratch our heads and

ask, "What the heck was THAT all about? Why did we think those things about

LGBT people in general and the church's blessing on their covenants and

their ordinations in particular?"


It is a tough choice for the institutional church not to slip into

long-lived patterns of unfaithfulness - and downright aversion - to the

risks of the Gospel. The institution - any human institution, the church

included - will always seek first her own survival. The church needs to put

off the 'old self' and put on the 'new self' - of greater faithfulness to

the Gospel promise of the unconditional love of God in Christ.


We have not invested the significant amount of emotional, relational,

ecclesial, material, etc., capital necessary in order to bring us closer to

The Realm of God - The Peaceable Kingdom, the Beloved Community - in which

all, All, ALL are drawn to the loving embrace of Jesus.


How many of us are willing to do that? To make that investment? We love to

talk about it and call others to it, but when it comes to the application in

our own lives, in our own institutional structures of governance, we

suddenly become tone-deaf to our own words.


*You also wrote*: No, the call to the Christian life is a cross to bear; it

is a life filled with small and often very difficult steps and decisions to

be faithful over and against the easy, the natural, the flow. We are called

to seek the renewal of our lives not to be in conformity to the pattern of

this world but rather to be transformed through the continual renewal of our

minds and hearts in accordance with the righteousness and holiness of God.

No psychologist can make any of us righteous through counsel and technique.

No psychiatrist can give any of us a pill that will make us holy. If it

happens in any of our lives it is the gracious and miraculous gift of the

Holy Spirit of God met with a repentant human heart.


*And, I would say: Amen. Amen. *The call to Christian life is a cross to

bear. The call to Christian community is to share each other's burdens in

the name of Christ who, you will remember, after he raised Lazarus from the

dead, turned to the crowd and said, "Unbind him." We complete the miracle of

our salvation story in community - unbinding each other from the old, the

remnants of the dead, and helping each other embrace the new being we are

become in Christ Jesus.


That's part of the transformation through the continued renewal of our minds

and hearts in accordance with the righteousness and holiness of God.

Surely, if Jesus can work miracles through the stench and hopelessness of

the grave, he can also work miracles through the stench and hopelessness of

our own prejudices and fears (sometimes also known as "the 'ick' factor' of

homosexuality).


And, yes, Charilie, our lives become holy when our human hearts - repentant

of our sins of the exclusion of LGBT people and others which is the result

of prejudice and pride - meets the gracious and miraculous gift of the Holy

Spirit.


I have caught glimpses of that holiness in my own heart when I have worked

against my own internalized sexism, homophobia and heterosexism, my own

racism, and other forms of human prejudice. God is no way near done with me

yet, so I try to be faithful to the work of the Refiner's Fire.


The institutional church tells us that faith is a destination, but Jesus

tells us that faith is a journey. The former offers the illusion of

security; the later offers the reality of risk.


I agree with Tobias about +++Rowan. I fear our Archbishop is more in need

of the transformation offered by Jesus than either you or I. I suspect he,

more than anyone in the Anglican Communion, needs to hear your words:


"The promise of Jesus is that if we will live faithfully for him, the cross

that he will give us is actually light. He bore the heavy one."


I wouldn't use that language, exactly, but I would still say, "Amen."

Blessings,


(the Rev'd Dr.) Elizabeth Kaeton

Chatham, NJ"

Any comments from the gallery? Peace, Jim