He walked by with the intent to leave the parade because it just ended, but he stopped cold in his tracks when he saw our
I'm Sorry t shirts.
I could see in his eyes fear at possible rejection if our shirts meant something hurtful and hateful. I caught on to his fears early and engaged him in dialogue as to what we were saying we're sorry about; sorry about how Christians might have directly or indirectly told him they're not loved by God and there's no place for the LGBT community in the church, and that in fact God loves them and we do too and there IS a place for you in the church -- this is my response to what I'm sorry about
His fears subsided, his frown became a smile, "So you're saying you are sorry for what Christians have said? That you truly love me?" By now his smile was a full blown grin and he -- by now he revealed his name, Nathan -- told my friends and I, "You guys are REAL Christians!"
Nathan shared how his Christian parents threw him out when he came out to them, his hurt visibly noted as he through up a shrug and referenced John 3:16, I get that and I get the passage when it says "
whosoever believes in Him shall not perish by have ever lasting life."
I pulled Nathan into my circle of friends even closer and I asked him if I could pray for him, "I have a better idea" he said, "let's pray for one another." My friends and I proceeded to lift Nathan up in prayer; for a good day, for a good week and I closed by praying for reconciliation and restoration between him and his parents. We finished the prayer, talked a little more and gave hugs and then he was on his way with a smile on his face for getting to meet us.
This time, this moment, was definitely a God moment. He put us then and there to engage Nathan in conversation, to share what we sorry about and to lift him up in prayer. May God reconcile and restore the rift between him and his parents, and since reconciliation and restoration is kingdom stuff this left me smiling and crying a little, because in this God moment this is what the kingdom of God is like.
What are you doing to love those who the Christian community has hurt in the past? In what ways can showing the love of God to the gay community bring a piece of the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth?
True
Comments (124)
I freaking love you. You are a true Christian.
you rock my socks.
Certainly, isolation and rejection are not true love; however, is it true love to tell people half-truth just to make them feel good, comfortable, even though God has explicitly rejected homosexuality as sinful (Certainly, homosexuality is not the only problem...there are also lying and "idol" worship, etc.)? Frankly, I consider the "I'm sorry" declaration, though sounds inclusive, nice; nevertheless, it is confusing, misleading, and deceptive.
I think what you did was awesome. I feel that was very Christ-like. Yes, homosexuality is a sin but that doesn't mean we can't support and uplift our Christian brothers and sisters (you can do that without supporting the sin, imo). Thank you for sharing and allowing God to use you to minister to him.
@routergenie@xanga - Precisely. Nathanael, I hope you understand that I'm not saying your heart's not in the right place, or that I question your character, when I type that in regard to RouterGenie's comment. The answer isn't as simple as jumping to the other end of a spectrum - running away, rightly, from wrath and sitting in the judgment seat of God . . . running so far that we're making the Christian Faith so vague as to be ear-soothing to the mantras of our time period. We do Jesus, the Kingdom, and even the mantras of our time period a grave disservice.
What do we mean by 'a place for the LGBT community in the church'? Instead of defining that before action, we just say it, and it makes people feel warm - so it's deemed 'the Kingdom' by our emergent sensibilities. Certainly there is a place for all humans in the Church, if we will accept the place, but the place is the Church which bears the news of the Kingdom. If we were to say to adulterers congregated, 'Listen, I'm apologising on behalf of all Christians everywhere for what *they*'ve said against the Adulterers United movement in the past that might have implied or told you that God doesn't love you' - what multiple, implied messages are being communicated? Instead of wearing a shirt that says, 'God loves you' and saying as much, we're being deceptive.
. . . In answer to your question, I'm living around those persons who have been injured by Christians, trying to be charitable and humble and honest, in spite of my timidity and pride and self-centredness. The notion of implicitly setting myself apart from 'the Christian community' - of which I am, incidentally, a part - seems utterly presumptuous and prideful, though perhaps well-intentioned if I were to try it out as other well-intentioned person have tried and do try. Truth, humility, and love exist side-by-side, and we don't serve any one of them by this 'Kingdom' stuff that favours the love at the expence of truth, humility, and therefore love.
YES! Finally its getting out louder, how to be a true Christian.. thank you, I embrace you for that
I wish more Christians were like you. Accepting, willing to say sorry and full of love! **hugs**
I am not a Christian nor am I gay but I applaud your acceptance of homosexuals. Many people who call themselves "true christians" really are not. You are an example. A great one at that.
@routergenie@xanga - @Anaxionus@xanga - I agree with you both.
This issue is so complicated . I think it is absolutely unacceptable that this man's parents threw him out of his home, out of their family for this.
I would be sad & concerned if any of my children "came out" to me at any point later in life (they're too young for any of that at this point). Yet I would NEVER reject them. I can't see myself ever rejecting my children. They would have to turn into someone like Hitler or Geoffry Daumer (sp?) before I even considered rejecting them. That is just how strong my bond with & my love for my children is. This is unfathomable to me.
That said, I would also never mistreat them. I would never think myself superior. Although I definitely agree that God LOVES them, I would disagree that God accepts their behavior. I would share that if someone truly surrenders their heart & soul to God through love (not simply obedience - who the heck obeys simply to obey?! it's done out of love), then they would not act upon their urges.
Just like I sometimes want to scream at people IRL. Just like sometimes I wish to verbally tear people apart here on Xanga & scream at them until they cry - I don't. Why? Because #1 - I would feel horrible afterwards because while I have a bad temper, I'm not a mean person. #2 - It would dishonor myself and most importantly it would dishonor my God. I do my best not to dishonor my God. My sins as of late are not ones of actions but of thoughts & feelings. That is the hardest thing to change when you're angry or frustrated. Actions are easier to control.
We all have our struggles. I don't think that LGBT people are second class, undeserving, unloved by God, I don't wish them ill, etc. I wish people would understand you can disagree with behavior without hating. Seriously - do you approve of everything your family and friends say & do? If not, does that equal hate? No!
telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; so help me God.
@routergenie@xanga - If you are wearing Polyester, or two fabrics of different cloths together on the same person, according to Leviticus, you are also a sinner in Gods eyes. Do not be so quick to judge. Take the bible seriously, not literally.
Awesome! Bless you, man!
i'm not religious or a lesbian, but i think what you and your friends did goes above and beyond what was needed. acceptance is one thing, but pulling him in, talking with him, praying with him...wow. you guys are an example of how real christians should act. while being gay might be a "sin", i always heard godmsaid to love one another. :) you make my heart smile!
thank you for demonstrating REAL love.
@labyrinthbound08@xanga - You are exactly correct. Believers are simultaneously righteous (because of Christ) and sinful (because of our sinful nature), wearing two fabrics of different cloths (Ephesians 4, Romans 7). This is why we have no right to selective say what Scripture has stated nor do we have the right to judge. Only Scripture, the Word of God, has the right to judge. Now, if the Scripture declares judgment on a certain issue and we declare peace, we misrepresent the Lord who loves and cares for us...the One who so kindly calls us away from ourselves to embrace salvation that is available only in Jesus Christ. We make ourselves God if we misrepresent what He has said. Won't it be a problem if we force the plain statement in Leviticus 18:22-23, 20:13, etc. to mean something else or even its exact opposite? Are we taking the Scripture seriously when we are trying it force it to sound more acceptable to our general cultural trend?
@routergenie@xanga - I just find it silly that we're trying to take literally one thing and completely disregard another. Homosexuality is as natural as green grass in summer, and can be seen in every species, including our primate cousins. Because we have labeled it odd and out of place it has become an issue. In fact, some animals even prefer their same sex coitus to opposite gender mating. Like Giraffes. Also keep in mind that the Bible is a translation of a translation of a translation, and man is fallible. Let God do the judging, keep God in your heart, and love nature. God cannot judge you for wanting to accept others as He made them. God makes no mistakes, and loving who God guides you to love is no sin, regardless of what man wrote thousands of years ago.
awesome!!!
Thank you so much for showing Nathan and those of us on xanga that there are some truly caring Christians out there. It makes my heart glad to know you are actively spreading love in God's name, rather than endorsing homophobia with it.
Thanks for the post. :)
This is a beautiful story. Thanks for the inspiration!
Being gay is not a sin, acting upon gay impulses is a sin.
What you did was great.
@labyrinthbound08@xanga - Here we have a difference in opinion/philosophy, played out in this discussion. Homosexuality in nature can either be described as (1) natural and good or (2) naturally-occurring and confused. Either interpretation can be supported by the facts in front of us, at that point, but a philosophy informs one or the other; and seeing as the primary function of the sex act (in a bare-bones definition) is to procreate a species, it would seem (at least to me) that the latter interpretation is the more solid. Furthermore, anatomy (as well as, in humans, the necessity of drugs/etc. to engage in this activity) could also be cited in a case for the unnaturality of homoeroticism. Just because something happens in nature isn't a justification for human behaviour, of itself; if spiders and birds eat each other, I don't take that as a cue that I can eat my fellow human.
@labyrinthbound08@xanga - Actually, you're taking that scripture out of context and he's not judging, just basically saying what the Bible is saying about homosexuality. A lot of stuff in the old Testament is pertaining to the culture of the Jewish people. We are living under the New Testament now anyways. We no longer have to sacrifice a lamb for our sins (Old Testament) but to repent through Christ (New Testament). You have to understand what the Bible is talking about or you will make it sound like the scriptures are contradicting itself, which it isn't.
@routergenie@xanga - I agree with you.
But, I do agree. Christians should not treat homosexuals in an awful way and just like everyone else, they can come to church! Just like thieves, liars, murders, all of them. Paul was a murder but he changed. Jesus died for everyone, including homosexuals. You're suppose to hate the sin, not the sinner.
@labyrinthbound08@xanga - That makes no sense whatsoever. Well, the only thing to find out what God really thinks, and this is 100%, is to die. If we cannot depend upon the Bible, I guess we are just going to have to die. By then, it will be too late to change anything. Then you can explain this philosophy when you get face him one day.
@labyrinthbound08@xanga - It is a mistake to confuse what we see daily with what God intends to create. We are living in a world after the Fall (Genesis 3). It is true that God made no mistake and yet after the Fall, He continues to allow the world to run its (sinful) course awaiting for the completion of His redemptive plan. However, after the Fall, what is really natural and normal may not be what we really see. There is no need to deny that people can born with a homosexual tendency. Scripture gives the Fall as the reason for if God intends it to be "natural" and "normal," it contradicts what He said elsewhere. If we accept homosexuality as normal and natural, we must also accept that God has made a mistake when He spoke to us in history.
I don't fully understand what you mean when you characterize the Scripture as "a translation of a translation of a translation." If I understand textual criticism correctly, this is not true. At least, that's not what the scribes or the scholars are doing. Although it is true that the original manuscripts of the Scripture no long exists, scribes and scholars were and are painstakingly truly to go back to the original language and older manuscripts to reconstruct its texts. This process of textual criticism results in critical editions of the Scripture in Old (in Hebrews, Aramaic, etc.) and New Testament (Greek). This is all because these people believe Scripture IS the Word of God and therefore it is NOT to be tempered with. For translation, although there are many translation philosophies, the intention of the translators are NOT to twist (unlike what the New World Translation of the JWs is doing) but to preserve either the text (literal translation) or the meaning of the original text (dynamic equivalence translation) while also let the text speaks to the contemporary audience.
All these point out to us one important thing: God speaks of sins (homosexuality) and of salvation consistently from the Old to the New Testament spanning a time (in terms of the authors) of at least 2,000 years. He continues to speak today through the Church that are faithful to His Word against sins and to declare His judgment IN ORDER THAT we may receive His salvation that is in Jesus Christ. Following our cultural trend and to comprise the Christian message is to obscure this good news of grace freely given.