Conservaliberal?

For starters, any references to "conservative" or "liberal" in this post are not to be taken in a political sense. They are references to how one sees the Bible and his or her faith. Granted, often times these Scriptural views do coincide with political views, but not always, and certainly not in my case. :)

I have often found that in times of stress or temptation, my views on Scripture become more conservative. Though nothing changes about my beliefs in any major way, I do become more open minded to the prospect of more "literal" interpretations of Scripture. For example, I'm still of the belief that the Genesis 1 account is metaphorical and that women can be preachers, but I'm reevaluating those beliefs (among others). I want to see if they truly hold any water, so I'm spending more time with my Bible and other theological writings.

I say this like I have a lot of time. Do understand that I'm still a Sophomore in college so "more time" probably just translates to an extra fifteen minutes a day or so. ;-)

I'm also learning more about the Reformed aspect of my faith. I don't think I've mentioned much about it since my initial post about the shift in my theological views. Recently, at the long-neglected recommendations of some commenters, I'm reading a lot of sermons by John Piper. Needless to say, I really like the guy. I especially like how he treats the subject of homosexuality. In the sermons I've read (and I haven't read them all), he seems to have a very kind and Christian attitude towards the subject. Granted, he does use a bit of ex-gay rhetoric, but sometimes that can't be helped. He does seem to differentiate Christ's version of "change" and our human expectations, and that's a refreshing take. It is most certainly making me think more about how I view my homosexual desires (mainly just the lust, because I'm beginning to wonder why the desires for emotional intimacy with another man need to be considered homosexual at all).

I think my newfound "conservatism" is due to the fact that I'm in a relationship that could potentially be harmful (but could also potentially be helpful). Because I am being faced with more temptation nowadays, I'm relying on God and His Word more. This is a good thing, and might be the reason God allowed the relationship to happen in the first place. I'll admit I had been getting a little complacent about the whole reading Scripture and praying thing.

Of course, it's probably a stretch to say that a Christian guy with a boyfriend is "conservative," but I don't think my views are liberal, either. Maybe I'm a mix of both: a Conservaliberal perhaps? Either way I'm excited about a lot of things going on in my life, and a deeper understanding of my faith and the wonderful mysteries of God's Word is probably up there at the top of the list.

Speaking of Reformed theology, I found a lovely little cartoon on deviantART from the user *spacecoyote depicting John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes playing the part of two similarly-named comic strip characters. ;-) Blogger wouldn't let me upload the photo, so just click on the deviantART link to see it. I busted out laughing when I saw it the first time. Have a great day, everyone!