Is It Just Me?

I spoke to a university class this week about leadership. Actually, they peppered me with questions for more than two hours and I responded. It was a great exercise in mental acuity, or lack thereof. I spoke of my understanding of scripture, and how having been a biblical studies major has been of great help in my professional and personal life. Many students nodded approval, while at least one looked at me with concern. It was that look that says, "How can you claim to be a Christian and believe that way?" I have seen that look often, beginning in my own college days, when I finally began thinking for myself regarding my religious beliefs. Why is it that those of us who preach about a more open and hospitable faith are those who get the stares from other people of faith? Why is the assumption always seemingly that we are wrong and they are right? Who said that Jesus was the founder of a close-minded religion, more concerned with keeping people out than letting them in to the Kingdom? Along those lines, someone referred me to a new branch of a mainline Protestant denomination that has formed in the past couple of years. So, I went to the website and checked out the confession of faith. Before doing so I kept wondering why this particular denomination gave birth to a new splinter group? I had my suspicions, which I hoped were not true. However, my suspicions were confirmed when I read the church's definition of marriage and family. You know what's coming, don't you? A family is defined there as a father, mother and children. Marriage is to be understood solely as a union of a man and woman. So, this new church, then, has laid out the welcome mat for heterosexual people only. And I wonder to myself, why? I am the first to admit that I don't have a corner on religious knowledge or correct faith practice. But I do claim that my Christian faith and understandings are based on a lifetime of study and reflection on scripture and tradition. I am not going back to the exclusivist theology of my young adult years. I would much rather view others as potential friends and kindred spirits, even when their religious beliefs differ from mine, and even when they claim no beliefs. Perhaps the worst to be said about me after I die will be that I was too open and accepting of others. And I can live with that.