Class 3

Today something was mentioned that struck a chord within me: there is a tension between truth and love. That is somewhat profound. All sorts of problems within the city could be resolved with the truth about God. But we all (hopefully) recognize that that will not cut it these days. Instead, we need approach the problem with love. And yet we cannot ignore the truth. So what do we do with that line?

We certainly cannot ignore the line and take one approach or the other. But I seem to think that we as Christians do that. We approach the topic of human sexuality by either saying "love whomever you want, whenever you want, however you want" or "God will bring down his wrath on you if you do not do _______". Do people listen to that jargon? We cannot reach the people of the city that way, although it is not effective (or our calling) to do the opposite.

Another thing that was mentioned was the idea that implementing a bunch of programs do not heal everything. Rather, the relationships that are formed are what make the difference. This is another line that needs to be approached and embraced. Effective programs, I believe, can make a huge difference, as do relationships. Again, the two extremes are no good. I think the two need to be entertwined in order to have the biggest effect on the cities.