Thank you very much for this post John. It is unfortunate that Christians have responded, not only to those who differ in their sexual orientation, but anyone they perceive as sinful, with such hostility and disdain. We have forgotten that we are all sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God. It does not even matter if homosexuality is a sin or not. If it is a sin, we need to remember that God forgives all sin. If it is not, then Christians are just acting unbiblically. And look at what this condemnatory behavior is driving gays and lesbians to do; end their own life. Can anyone imagine Jesus doing anything that would drive someone to end their own life. Jesus accepted everyone for who they were without questioning their background or sexual orientation or religious beliefs. He showed love to all people regardless of who they were (aside from the religious leaders of his day who were just as bad as the religious leaders of our day). This is the exact thing I am looking to correct in my upcoming book, and my blog: whatjesusd
God bless.
-Brandon
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI found some serious problems with the Huffington Post article. First, there is an overall assumption that the general culture is following "Christian Values" but that is a very wrong assumption. That is like saying the Nazi movement was a Christian movement by default. That is simply wrong! Anyone who lived during that time will tell you the Nazi movement did not espouse Christian values and had little use for the Churches. The same holds true for today's culture!
Instead we have TV and movies selling the homosexual agenda, but when teens decide to identify with what they think is a good thing, they are met with a school yard that hardly agrees. The awful bully's out there are NOT following their Christian upbringing. They want nothing to do with their churches or the love Christ teaches.
I think the gay and lesbian movement would do better to concentrate on their real enemies. Under parented, secular - self fulfilling youth who are a problem to all!
I am presently putting together some materials at othersabove.org to help Christian young people follow the Scriptures in Ephesians 4 and 5 in their interactions with others both on and off line. The true Christian will always be able to reach out with the love that Christ has given them. Lets not bulk everyone into the "Christian" bracket just because their parents may loosely associate with a church!
I agree that the church is not the only one to blame and that many kids neglect their Christian upbringing by bullying gays and lesbians simply because they do not agree with the lifestyle. However, the church also holds much of the blame because many churches and many people within the church advocate such bullying and treat homosexuals in a way unbecoming of Christ. We see this with the Westboro Baptist group who shows up to military funeral with signs "thank God for dead soldiers" arguing that the death of the soldiers is just punishment for the homosexuality that is prominent in America. We have prominent church leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson saying that 9/11 and hurricane Katrina are punishments for the homosexuality in America. There are small groups that expel gays from their groups the moment he or she comes out to them. I do not blame casual Christians who come to church twice a month and read their bible even less. I blame church leaders who behave in this way and should know better because they too have read that our God is a God of love and mercy and that I am just as much a sinner as anyone else. I do not disagree with the assertion of the article that there are Christian parents who are leaders in the church and are teaching their sons and daughters that homosexuals are bad people and are bringing down this nation. This behavior in the church needs to be rectified.
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