Caitlyn Jenner

Uh-oh.

Don't worry. It's going to be okay. Just keep reading.

There is this blog post, or article, whatever, posted online about the war going on "for the soul of Bruce (not Caitlyn) Jenner". I (very stupidly) read it, and was heartbroken. The general narrative was how disgusting and horrible and depressing the whole thing is. There were statements equating Caitlyn to a man who decides he wants to become a dog and leaves his family in order to get surgery to walk on all fours. They stated that Caitlyn is a vessel for Lucifer and will end up killing herself when she realizes what a huge mistake she has made. I won't even go into what the comments had to add but I think you get the idea.

This is one of those topics, like so many others, that haunts the Christian community and breaks everyone into teams. Each team is on an island, separated by deep waters, and apparently nobody has a boat. The leaders of every island are shouting at the top of their lungs trying to make sure that everyone on THEIR island is clear on what their stance is on the subject and what key terms they need to use when talking about it among themselves. The problem is that it's pointless. Because nobody on one island can get to the people on the other island, they are all just sharing the same information with people who heard it from their leader already. There is no presenting of differing ideas or conversation taking place. It's vacuous. If we do not have the opportunity to have our ideas challenged and face other ideas of others that disagree (and may even cause us to change our minds), what value is the information to us?

I'm not going to share my opinion on the life choices of Caitlyn Jenner. However I am going to share my opinion on the different churches response and the damage done when other people are exposed to those responses.

See in the visual of all the different islands, there is one more key component...all the people who aren't yet on an island. Floating around in the deep waters are people who aren't members of an island. But these people do at times find themselves floating in the vicinity of one island or another and they get to hear the conversations going on and catch a bit of what people are saying about the topic. And this is where the dialogue being shared on that island becomes important. The people floating by don't have a greater understanding of where the island dwellers are getting their information from or why they feel a certain way about the topic. All they hear are the words being said and, sadly, when the words are ugly and hateful and condemning, well I can tell you that those floaters are doing there very best to swim the other way. Because who wants to be a stuck on an island full of people who say such hurtful things about other people anyway? What happens when the island dwellers learn of something wrong the floater did, will the island dwellers say the same hurtful things about them as well? And then what? Will they get tossed back to the waters? Or forced to pretend they are something they are not in order to avoid being sent back out into the waters?

What I'm getting at is the islands are churches, the floaters are people trying to figure out if church is for them, and the conversations we are having, they shouldn't be for us, they should be for the people we want to join our church. Who in their right mind would voluntarily join an organization that maliciously condemns people for sins they commit every day? Wouldn't life be easier if we just stayed away from the church and avoided all the stuff that makes us feel bad about ourselves? We don't really need church anyway. We live in a time where we don't fear famine, or plague. We are educated and privileged and doing pretty okay with the whole living life thing without the whole church and God stuff. Why expose ourselves to judgement if we don't have to?

Now you and I (or some of us anyway) know that huge value of having a relationship with Christ and involvement with our church and we are trying to tell those floaters we know that there is something way more awesome to life that they are missing out on because they don't have a relationship with God. But how do we get through to them when every time they float near an island they hear negativity and judgement?

So here is my challenge. Choose your words carefully and encourage your church to do the same. When you are out in the world declaring yourself a Christian, do so with careful consideration of who is listening and what you are putting out there. Pay attention to what the people around you are saying and the value of their statements. Is what you are saying helpful and encouraging? Is it an example of what your church is really about? Does it fit with Christ and the way he taught during his time here on earth? If you aren't sure, maybe do some research before you start talking about it. Read your bible, spend some time in prayer, check commentaries and ask your pastor for clarification on things that you aren't sure about. If something doesn't sound right I urge you to explore further and not be afraid to push back to find the truth. Times like this are an opportunity to affect others and show them what it means to be a disciple of Christ. How will you represent your island?