Got some change?

Lately, I've been told that I should just accept that a particular passage in the Bible is true, right and applicable today just because it's in the Bible.  Specifically that if Scripture calls something a sin, that settles the argument.  If you know me, you know that this statement is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.  Telling me to just accept something that I'm questioning pretty much guarantees that I'll never accept it.  This has caused a bit trouble for me in the past, mostly when I was in school.  At one time, I'd have never thought to question anything religious, but that changed when I was in my 20's.  Before that, I was involved in what can only be called a cult.  Religious in nature, one person calling all the shots and controlling everything and everyone.  Of course, no one involved would have called it that, but that's what it was.  And, it taught me a hard lesson.  I'll never accept anything without question again.  I look at it from every possible angle, take it apart, find out where it came from and generally put it through the wringer.  I'll never be taken in that way again.

This experience drove me away from the church for a long time, but about 6 or 7 years ago I returned.  I was looking for somewhere to go on Sunday morning and decided that since I grew Methodist and was familiar with that church, it was good place to start.  That first Sunday, I had a feeling of being home.  I really knew I was in the right place when the pastor told me that, in the Methodist Church, she'd never been told to check her brain at the door.  After my past experience, that really resonated with me.  As I learned more about my faith, I found this sentiment wasn't hers alone.  It runs through the entire denomination.  John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, often called his followers to "wrestle" with passages of scripture that troubled them.  So, this attitude has been present in the Methodist Church since the beginning.  I think it's one of the reasons the UMC hasn't been hit as hard as other groups in the shrinking of the Protestant faith. 

So, I have a piece of scripture that troubles me, so I think about it, read what others say about it, try to understand what the original author was trying to say and how it applies to me today.  After all that, I come up with an interpretation that strays from tradition.  And, being unable to keep my mouth shut, I spout off about it all over the place.  And, of course, some folks take issue with it, telling me that I'm wrong, I don't understand what it means, etc.  Some even tell me that it's true because it's in the Bible and not to worry about it.  My first thought is "that's a damn slim argument".  And, it ignores some pretty strong precedents, too.  What if Martin Luther had just accepted the selling of papal indulgences and never written those 95 theses?  Or, if John Wesley listen to those who made fun of him and his friends, calling them "The Holy Club"?  Or, and this one is big, what if Jesus just accepted the status quo of 1st century Judaism and never spoke out against it's exclusivism?  Now, I'm not comparing myself to these folks, I'm trying to say that sometimes you've got to swim against the stream to do the right thing.  If you're lucky (or at least, not totally full of crap), you might even have some company on the trip.