Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Epley
Do you really think SP hasn't had Elders speak to him? Do you folks think we are heartless unfeeling to kill our own without trying to reach him? Not over this last issue but I have personally contacted him over 3 previous issues. He is a brilliant man and he has the right to reject any counsel he deems as not in his interest. I yet pray for a last minute reversal but not with a lot of faith I confess. I love his parents.
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I just backspaced over a really long-winded post...
You're all welcome.
There are obviously complexities in these sorts of situations, and nothing is truly easy to figure out or cut-and-dried. I still try, because I'm idealistic and I like to think that we could all end up being one big, unified church somehow.
Judging by what I have heard and read in the past, SP is smart enough to know that his sermons are public, and he's smart enough to know that they are going to cause controversy. I suspect that he wants to be a conversation and discussion starter, to some extent. That said, I doubt he is truly prepared for the backlash, loss of friends, vitriol, and disrespect he has received and will continue to receive as a result of changing his views/doctrines, assuming that is what he has done.
Right, wrong, or indifferent, there are going to be hurt people if he leaves conservatism--on both sides of the aisle. I wish that the hurt could be avoided, and that disagreements could be posed respectfully and that shredding a man's character or motives could be avoided even when it is deemed necessary to squash his ideas.
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