The Church must have a balanced position

I have been reading some of the meditations that we present regarding the subject of homosexuality, a delicate subject as we imagine and difficult but very necessary in these times in which we are living.

And reading some of the reactions of you who are so generous in writing me texts letting us know the blessing that the programs are for you and by the way I tell you that encourages us, blesses us, we read those comments from you, your prayers that you write and We love to read that exchange between the brothers who build each other up and answer the concerns they have and affirm themselves in the things they say and that is a great blessing and it is what we want so much, right? of this virtual community that God is creating through God Speaks Today, that there is that type of companionship and that sense of community and brotherhood in Christ Jesus, gives us tremendous joy to be part of that formation of this Christian virtual community in so many different countries.

But again: reading your comments and seeing that these meditations specifically on homosexuality are filling a very great and very pressing need in the lives of our brothers, and by the way I tell you that when I wrote them, I wrote them with a little fear because I thought Well maybe this sounds a bit damning and too heavy for these meditations on the Internet but I have always believed that the Word of the Lord is a bit acidic and cutting but is necessary for the health of the body.

I believe that it is one of the great problems of the Church that by not dealing with delicate problems we sometimes fail to edify the brothers with matters that are of great need for them and that they need to know the advice of the Word of God and of their Pastors about of these issues and that is why we ventured to make these comments and I am glad to know that they were a great blessing for you.

Seeing the void, so to speak, that these thoughts fill, I have decided to give a little continuation to that issue of homosexuality and to open it up a little more to other considerations about the life of the Church in the 21st century, the challenges that we are facing as a Church of Jesus Christ in a constantly changing and in process society where the Gospel is being questioned like never before and societies are undergoing a number of different social and ethical and moral experiments, many of which question the Truths of God's Word.

I believe that in these times as never before the Church of Jesus Christ must have a clear position and that it be a balanced position that reflects the balance that we see in Scripture also between the love of God and His holiness, between justice and mercy, between holiness and grace and that is why I want to dedicate these future moments to meditate on that and I encourage you to watch the whole series or read it, whatever because I think it will be a great blessing.

I was thinking about the text of Galatians 6, in this meditation I will only be able to touch it briefly, verse 1 says: "Brothers, if someone is caught in any fault, you who are spiritual restore him with a spirit of meekness considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. " I only have time in this meditation to play briefly, then I will continue to do so in more detail.

Note here that Paul is talking in the previous verses about the balance between the freedom to which Christ calls us but also not abusing that freedom by falling into carnal and sinful practices that God does not tolerate and that certainly punishes as well.

So we see that the call to the Church has always been to have a balanced posture, to call the children of God to a Christ-centered behavior that reflects the holiness of God but also to maintain a posture of mercy, grace, and patience with him. believer who is in the process of sanctification and who needs time and space to be able to reach the fullness of the stature of the character of Christ as the apostle Paul says and we will always be in tension between these two dimensions.

And the connection that is in my heart, in my spirit regarding homosexuality is precisely that, right? There are churches that are churches that greatly emphasize holiness and glory to God for that and we have to insist and that is why I have launched those meditations on homosexuality because there is a clear call from God to purity that we cannot compromise, but many times the The tendency may be to simply be continually condemning and attacking people and denouncing sin and we can forget about the other side that is that pastoral dimension, that paternal dimension of the Church where we also encourage people to trust in grace and mercy. of God and always see the open arms of the Father who wants to receive the prodigal children and re-enter them into the bosom of the home and restore them and have dialogue with them.

And I believe that people out there in the world always have to see both sides of the coin of the pastoral life of the Church; on the one hand the call to the holiness of God and on the other hand also the call to trust in the mercy of the Father because I believe that this way it can be much more productive and we can get much more benefit for the people and that is what I believe that reflects this verse 1 of chapter 6 of Galatians which we will talk about later. May the Lord bless you and we will continue to meditate on this in our next meditation.