tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211328034704476406.post6267242746681108143..comments2023-06-09T04:23:56.336-07:00Comments on Al's Musings: CultureAlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07453255551532736555noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211328034704476406.post-26255365086827666742008-09-03T21:21:00.000-07:002008-09-03T21:21:00.000-07:00Al, you're really speaking my language here... hmm...Al, you're really speaking my language here... hmmm... maybe it's not MY language. I don't want to infer that those ideas which resonate with me AUTOMATICALLY must come from the Holy Spirit - but I do believe, particularly when it comes to "The Least of These," that you're speaking straight out of Jesus' playbook.<BR/><BR/>One of my core beliefs, apart from Cultural Accountability [that includes accountability to nonChristians], is that "the least of these" are different for different people.<BR/><BR/>The least of these aren't automatically the poor. In fact, for some of us with particular sensitivities, it's quite EASY to love the poor. But as you suggest in this post, "what about the OTHERS?" <BR/><BR/>Homos-transgenders-and-sinners-OH-MY!<BR/><BR/>I believe that "the least of these" whom Jesus spoke of, approached, touched, loved - and risked his reputation on - is different for different people.<BR/><BR/>Search your gut: who do you have the hardest time loving? That's your least of these. That's where you'll have to do unto them as you would do unto Christ. <BR/><BR/>For me, it used to be homosexuals. Nowadays, I confess (not pridefully) that I harbor the LEAST grace and patience for my tribe of origin: ultra-conservatives and fundamentalist-pentacostals. I have a hard time loving past the darkness I found in myself, there. But my gut wrongly seeks to punish them for what I've been personally convicted of. I'm on a wildly swinging 20-something-pendulum, and I know it. Those folks deserve more grace from me, and I have to learn to give it.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your thoughts my friend,<BR/>PeterPeterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08898344279654975005noreply@blogger.com