Next Meeting June 15th

The next meeting of the Guam Theological Discussion Group will be Friday June 15th in the usual place – the Pacific Islands University Library. We have decided to continue the subject from last month. We had quite a discussion as to how we respond/evangelize in a world that does not necessarily hold the Bible in high esteem. We recognized that Guam society is becoming much more pluralistic and while, that provides the church with new challenges, it is not necessarily a bad thing as it also provides us with new opportunities to reach out with the message of Christ.

One big issue of discussion was to understand and communicate what the Bible teaches about homosexuality. This is a hot issue and the church has not done a good job in the past in communicating what we believe. It is important that we see the issue in terms of the “trajectory” (See Scot McKnight’s book The Blue Parakeet” for an excellent discussion of the gay issue in terms of the trajectory of the Bible) of how it is handled in the Bible. It is also important that the issue be seen in terms of the whole creation being in a state of “brokenness” from sin. All of us reflect this brokenness in some way and homosexual tendencies are only one of the ways that this brokenness is seen. Tim Keller’s assertion that “no one goes to hell for being gay (or lazy, a gossip, violent etc), we go to hell for refusing relationship with Jesus” was very helpful.

Another issue that needs more discussion is how to keep truth and love balanced here. What does that mean in terms of the church’s political and social involvement? How do we balance Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 5.12, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside,” with Jesus’ statement that we need to be “salt and light” in our communities? The bottom line is that we are all sinners and we all need Jesus’ healing touch. How do we as the church on Guam provide that, to the very community that rejects many of our biblical values, with Jesus attitude that says both “Neither do I condemn you” and “Go now and leave your life of sin?”