A Gay Christian?

Below are some thoughts I shared in response to some seemingly confused and obviously hurtful words regarding homosexuality and the Christian Faith. These thoughts were shared by me in a discussion on Facebook where it seemed that some spoke without any consideration to others, while others spoke without anything that even appeared to be a healthy sampling of coherent biblical understanding. Still others, however, showed themselves to be -perhaps unknowingly- means of grace and conduits of God's holy love. Be sure, though, that the original discussion seemed to be well-intentioned and even a worth-while discussion concerning a very serious and timely matter...

1. It seems that some folks here need to define the terms. (What does it mean to BE a Christian? What does it mean to BE a homosexual? Are we talking about tendencies or actions? After all, the very foundation of debate itself is to define one's terms.)

2. There is a wide chasm between unadulterated truth-speaking and intentional humiliation and degradation of another person made in the image of God. I myself loath political correctness, but I hate even more intentionally harmful words spoken with the greatest of arrogance and highest of raised fists.

3. Anyone who'd say that all sin is just alike -even in the eyes of God- is either biblically illiterate, sadly mistaken, or grasping for the barest of straws to cover his own nakedness. There is a multiplicity of terms for sin in both the New and Old Testaments of Scripture. There is likewise a variety of both degrees and consequences of sin in Scripture. To be certain, all sin leads to death, but be also aware that death comes at varying speeds. There is no way a person can morally -or even theologically / biblically- equate raping another person to speaking a lie to said person.

4. If sin is not healed, it will -like any disease- bring eventual death. Sins can be forgiven, but SIN can only be healed. They can be put in the past, but IT must be finally dealt with, not ignored, not passed over, not over looked, not called okay... Healing is the need: healing is the prescription.

5. "The LOVE of Christ compels us..."

6. "The KINDNESS of God leads to repentance...."

Mightier Than Mind?

...The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal...

-C. S. Lewis, from the closing paragraph of "The Weight of Glory"

Tonight, the thought occurred to me that there is something quite possibly more powerful than reason: friendship.

The burned-out cliche reads, "People don't care how much you know till they know how much you care."

I, for one, boarder-line loath cliches, particularly the cutesie ones, but for probably the first time in my life of ministry, this one has just now rung true. For what are people with honest questions, real hesitations, and sincere doubts looking? Not folks with answers, confidence, and certainties.

Do I have some answers? Sure, I at least think that I do. Am I confident? Well, not at all times and in every manner, but yeah, at least in matters of faith. Are there some things of which I am certain? Certainly. [By the way, my rule of thumb regarding doubts is that I will not sacrifice what I know for that which I do not know.]

This coming Wednesday holds some significance for me... I'm going to have the opportunity to spend some time with someone I'm beginning to consider a real friend. This person seems to have some major questions, some serious hesitations, and some significant doubts. I've been given an open door to simply sit, listen, and perhaps talk a bit, and all I want to do is be a friend...