DC 201 - Week 4 - Unity or not?

We are coming off a discussion on the tongue, the power of language driven by the heart. And now we turn our attention to unity. The workload for this week might look something like this:

Monday - Read Luke 17-24 and Proverbs 18
Tuesday - Read Paul Thigpen's article, "Why Should I Care about Unity?" and David Mills' article, "Ecumenical Exclusion."
Wednesday - Memorize 1 Peter 4:10 - Each one should whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms - and review previous memory verses, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Timothy 2:15.
Thursday - Answer questions 1a-d and 2a-c (7 questions), and review the memory verses.
Friday - Answer questions 3a-b, 4a-b, and 5a-b (6 questions), and review the memory verses.

Gay Bishop Gene Robinson's Prayer

Here is a clip of his prayer (You can read the full text by clicking the title-link.):

"Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences. Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable."

Now the first part of this request calls for "freedom from mere tolerance" and essentially demands approval. But that's not a good thing!!!! I tolerate smokers, but I don't approve of their practice. I tolerate drunkards, but I don't approve of their practice. I tolerate gays and lesbians, but I don't approve of their practice. They tolerate my churchgoing and proselytizing and Bible-studying and God-fearing, but they don't approve of my practice. So be it. Why should we have to approve of one another's practices? That's post-modern moral relativism, and it's wrong. If you disagree, they maybe you should try to warmly embrace our differences and genuinely respect my position.

The second part of this request calls rightly for compassion and generosity to abound, but the qualifying remark is ridiculous. Robinson tells, presumably, the One True and Living God that "every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable." Wow! Robinson seems to tell God that there are many God's and that that each of Them exist in harmony with a unified goal in judging people based on their response to the vulnerable. Thankfully, the One True and Living God only judges those who don't trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior based on that criteria! Christians are justified, declared righteous, through faith in Jesus and based on the perfect compassion and generosity of Jesus and not based on their own performance, for we all fail. Furthermore, I thank God that He's the only God. What erroneous concepts Robinson boasts. I can tolerate them, but I won't warmly embrace them! Nevertheless, those of you who disagree ought to warmly embrace my mere tolerance despite my failure to warmly embrace your ridiculous worldly wisdom, which is nothing but foolishness.

Perhaps Rick Warren will better uphold traditional Christianity and Biblical truth in his prayer. And unlike Robinson's prayer, which won't be heard due to his sin, perhaps Warren's will be due his firm reliance on the One True and Living God through the intercession of Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit.