What Matters Most?

In another ongoing conversation elsewhere I am again reminded that the "gay" issue is not the most pressing issue in Christianity, and I agree.  I think rejection of the full humanity of gays is a symptom of a larger problem that affects more people than gays. We are not as expansive in our loving as is required for the healing of this world and it's peoples.

In truth we stick a lot of stuff between the 2 commandments of 1st love god, 2nd love people. We often place the love of our comfortableness and unconfrontedness, and the love our status--whether it be Priesthood or "being right" or something else, and the love our Church heritage, and the love of our traditions, and the love of our understandings of Scriptures before the loving of each other and other broken people. The loving of people becomes subservient to those other things. Truth about these people becomes subservient to those other things. Those good things should be "servant" to loving people. Those good things become toxic when put before the call of the second commandment.

This last passage from the Section 163 of the Doctrine and Covenants calls us from that toxicity, I think. We need to focus on "What Matters Most".

God is calling for a prophetic community to emerge, drawn from the nations of the world, that is characterized by uncommon devotion to the compassion and peace of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Through divine grace and wisdom, this faith community has been given abundant gifts, resources, and opportunities to equip it to become such a people. Chief among these is the power of community in Christ expressed locally in distinctive fashions while upholding a unity of vision, foundational beliefs, and mission throughout the world.

There are many issues that could easily consume the time and energy of the church. However, the challenge before a prophetic people is to discern and pursue what matters most for the journey ahead.