Seeking the truth...

19  This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’  20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’   21 And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’  22 Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’  23 He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord”   ’, as the prophet Isaiah said. 24  Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.  25 They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah,  nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’  26 John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know,  27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’  28 This took place in...

Occasionally I write posts that are highly critical of the ethics of conservative evangelicalism. It could come across as picking on them a bit. Even using the word "them" implies some sort of distancing of myself. Yes I definitely am not a conservative evangelical, and it is questionable whether or not I am an evangelical of any stripe, even though I do go to an evangelical church that's not overly conservative or overly "liberal." I use quotes around liberal because liberal evangelicals are not very liberal when set in the wider church. There are certain elements of evangelicalism that I really appreciate and there are certain stances that conservatives within the movement in particular have taken that I find to be both bold and on the right track. Today I want to highlight the biggest ethical issue I think conservative evangelicals are on the right side on while at the same time arguing the case in my own way and maybe ruffling the feathers of some of my comr...