The perils of 'holiness'

I feel sad, but unsurprised that an Evangelical denomination has expelled a church for its outreach to pagans.

“It was a little bit like an Inquisition. … It kind of escalated to, ‘How can you be friends with witches?’”
Wyman, who was accompanied by three others from the Salem church, said, “The four of us kind of looked at each other and (thought), ‘We live in Salem. How could you not?’”

The response says it all. I am beginning to understand ever more fully why it could be that John the evangelist is said towards the end of his life to repeat more and more, "Love one another". There is a wisdom-skill to learning the balance between thinking clearly and orthodoxly about life and yet remaining loving especially to those who disagree (is that not implicated as a milder version of loving ones enemies?). I am increasingly thinking that initial discipleship needs to be introducing some practical examples and methodologies for loving the other and respecting other peoples' life experience and being patient with God being patient with others. Perhaps then we can help stem the institutionalisation of the exclusive-fanatical versions of Christian faith which seem mostly to be about basically adolescent-style impulses around self-definitions; boundary maintainance and all.

I'm becoming more interested to wonder about Paul's 15 years out of the limelight ...

Technorati Tags: Evangelical, Pagan, Salem, boundary, exclusion