Thursday, 26 April 2012

• How Do We Love Homosexuals? Responding to "I'm Christian, Unless You're Gay"

  By Conrad Ma

  So in case the article hasn't reached your Facebook page yet from a friend of a friend of a friend, here it is: I’m Christian, unless you’re gay.

  I read this article and one teen's response to the article tonight, and it got me thinking about what exactly is my stance on homosexuality. Obviously, I have to stick by God and say that homosexuality is most definitely a sin. Everyone in Church already knows that, and we don't have to beat it death. So the tricky part with this issue is how exactly do we deal with homosexuals outside of church? Or is that not even the best way to question it? What we should be asking is what is the best way to love homosexuals?

  Some people take a hard line conservative approach that we should absolutely not legalize gay marriage in Canada. Yet in Canada, some people may take that position not really knowing what the consequences are and what it really means to this particular group of people. I'm thinking that there needs to be some sort of relational connection before we just make such a conservative stance especially when people in Church tend not to know anyone who happens to be gay.

  At one point I did take a zealous conservative approach like that until God taught me more about love and what it really means. Love still means being a friend to those who are lonely and reflecting Christ as best as we can with the help of the Holy Spirit. And pardon my harsh language but there is a part of me that is deeply hurt when the Church makes unloving actions like bullying on a homosexual who has just come out of the closet.

  Being Christ, does not mean beating a homosexual senseless until they commit suicide! Actually, that is rather tame. I could easily insert any number of swear words into those bolded letters. But I won't because that would devalue my opinion and also make me not think very straight.

  Homosexuality may be a sin, but bullying and being overly judgmental is a sin as well. The Church knows this and we should strive to do better, and I write this post as a loving brother in the hopes that we can.

  In addition, there is also another deeper issue. What is the sense of telling homosexuals to not act on their desires when a good number of them don't even know who Jesus is? Unless they already know Jesus, it is downright offensive to say, "You're a sinner," to someone who doesn't believe in Jesus yet. So with this issue, I am almost inclined to take the side of "excuse the sin, till they know Jesus."

  However, with an issue like homosexuality, there are so many other things to consider that I'm not entirely certain if that is the best way to love homosexuals. I've never been close friends with one. However, what I do know is that I will try my best to be friends with that person as normal as I treat any other friend. The author of that article that went viral did touch on at least one thing well which is:

  37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
  Matthew 22:37-39
  

  Furthermore, there's another question. I am also reminded of a Kirk Cameron interview I saw a few weeks back, and I was thinking that so many people missed a few key points. Yes, we are Christians. Yes we believe that homosexuality is a sin. The thing is, if the world decides to challenge a Christian on the topic of if their child ends up being gay, then the Christian is caught in a trap.

  There's a trap in two ways. First, if the parent totally tolerates the child's homosexuality, then there is part where the parent faces a dilemma of whether he or she is sticking by their beliefs or not. It practically makes the parent look like a hypocrite. On the other end of the spectrum, if the parent outright shuns the child, that's just not being a responsible parent.

  However, like I outlined in this post, there is a mediating factor. We have to ask the question of whether the child knows Jesus or not. If my child does not know Jesus and he or she ends up being homosexual, then I have no other choice but to take the path of tolerance. Coming out of the closet takes a lot of courage to begin with, and I wouldn't want my child to end up committing suicide over the lack of love from others. If my child does know Jesus, then he or she would already know what God thinks and he or she believes the same thing I do. I would try to be as loving of a father I can be to help my child overcome the struggle, because in this case we both believe that being gay is a sin, and we are both in a deep relationship with Jesus.

  I think a lot of this debate stems from Christian parents fearing deeply for their kids that they won't ever get to know to Jesus. It is a scary fact for any Christian parent to think about from what I sense. At the same time, we can't reflect Christ by completely forcing Jesus on our kids. And it is an even scarier fear if a Christian parent ends up with a homosexual child. We have to lovingly teach our kids and pray for our kids. But in the end, the strongest faith comes from those who own their own faith -- not those children who've been overly forced.

  Heavenly Father, I pray for those who will be reading my blog and I pray not only for my readers but for me as well to be able to surrender control to you God on my life and where it is headed and what type of children I'll be taking care of in the future. I pray this humbly in Jesus name. Amen

  If you've read the article, "I'm Christian, unless you're gay," how do you respond?  How can the church lovingly respond to homosexuals -- Christian or otherwise?  Is it the responsibility of the church to hold accountable all homosexuals or just those who are Christians? 

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