I’d somehow avoided the news of former Evangelicism Inc. demi-celebrity Josh Harris announcing his divorce, renouncing Christianity, and embracing the LBGTQIAWTFBBQ++’ crowd until it came up on The Other McCain blog earlier this week. But now, woah boy…
Honestly, Stacy’s article does an excellent job of both summarizing the whole situation, and covering most of my feelings about the issue. I’d like to encourage folks to read both that and Paula Bolyard’s article in PJ Media.
I briefly mentioned my experience reading I Kissed Dating Goodbye in a blog entry last year about a controversial post from The Transformed Wife. Sad to say, the people who were most upset by that post also seem to be following the “Harris Track” away from any kind of real Christian faith. I suppose that it’s to Harris’s credit that he’s at least being honest and not trying to do the touchy-feeling “Xtian Lite” thing.
MLGB has turned one section of our backyard into a garden plot for tomatoes, peppers, and corn. Thanks to our summer road trip, we were late getting things planted, but in general, everything looked to be growing pretty well. The corn wasn’t knee high by July 4th, but it was close enough.
Then a couple of weeks ago, we had a severe thunderstorm blow through. It brought massive wind gusts and heavy, driving rain; it left a trail of broken tree limbs, debris, and a few overturned port-a-potties in its wake.
Our tomato plants, with deep roots and heavy support, were fine. A bit tilted, but fine. Our corn, which had not taken root well, was flat.
Growing up in the church, everyone was familiar with the parable of the Sower and the Seeds. I don’t think we really understand the gravity of that parable at the time. Thinking back to my high school and college years, both in terms of people I knew personally and people I looked up to, there’s a certain trajectory that’s hard to ignore. Were so many folks really “seed among the rocky ground”? Only God can know that for certain. One thing is clear though, both from the parable and from my own gardening experience: there’s no way to tell the difference between plants rooted in good soil and plants shallowly rooted in bad soil until the storms come.
For many of my peers who seem to be going in Josh’s direction, I pray that there will be redemption and a real return one day. That’s the encouragement of The Prodigal Son: our Father is always waiting.