Two women seeking equality in a state where some couples are more equal than others.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Let [the LGBT community] come unto me

The sermon this Sunday at Genesis the Church in Royal Oak was about prayer, and the Scripture reading was on Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. This launched me on thoughts of Jesus' last days and hours.

Jesus was betrayed and denied by his followers, and yet he did not cry out. He was beaten so fiercely that others have died from the pain and violence, and yet he endured. They crucified him and cast lots for his clothes, and yet he said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The most painful, unbearable moment came when Jesus took the sins of the world upon himself and God had to withdraw His presence. At this point, Jesus does cry out, saying, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?"

This is the greatest pain we can know. This is the pain of separation from God, from feeling distanced from His love. If we as Christians believe that we were created first and foremost to know God, then being separated from Him removes us from our true purpose and calling. This is the worst place we can be. This fact has been the impetus for many Christians to share their faith. They know what it is to be separated from God and what it is to be with Him, and they want others to know that joy, too.

I believe that the worst sin, the only sin that can keep us from God, is choosing to reject Him. For anything else, there is forgiveness. For anything else, we can seek grace. Only rejecting grace can damn us.

While I do not believe that there is a hierarchy of sins after that in terms of adultery being better or worse than gossip or lying being better or worse than jealousy, arguably not sharing our faith with those who don't know or making choices that actively push people to reject God is a terribly serious miss of the mark.

And yet, churches continue to take positions that push the LGBT community away from the Gospel. Of course, this seems to be the intention of churches like Westboro Baptist. Many churches, however, believe that they can continue to use rhetoric condemning gays to Hell or claiming that they are sinners while believing that these populations will hear the message, attend the church, and be "fixed," redeemed, or saved. Here's the thing: whether or not you believe that the LGBT community is sinning (I don't believe that same-sex marriage is a sin, but I know many sincere Christians who do), you do not ask other sinners to clean up before they get in the shower. Very few churches refuse membership or the fullness of pastoral care to people they perceive to have habitual sins: use of addictive substances, gossip, lying, overeating, etc. I rarely see people in the process of getting a divorce, or in some cases co-habiting with a person of the opposite sex, warned that they may/should feel uncomfortable during passages interpreted by the warner to judge them, but this has happened to me. The position of many churches, that homosexuality is the worst of the sexual sins, and sexual sins are worst of all, hypersexualizes the LGBT community until only what happens between the sheets matters to their soul. While many churches are more accepting of the LGBT community than people would expect, even some of these seem not to know how to handle members of this community who visit their church. They may say things like, "It's not our place to judge" (implying that someone should be judging), that "it's not a worse sin than any other sin" (but their examples are usually murder, adultery, or alcoholism - never sins they themselves commit), or that they "love the sinner, but hate the sin" ( a statement I have never heard applied to anything other than LGBT issues). They mean well, but these are cliches that continue to judge the LGBT community and create an "us" versus "them." They otherize people who are already taking a huge step to show up at an institution that has historically discriminated against them.

I will leave you with Jesus' attitude when people push others away from Him.

Luke 18:15-17 

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

15 And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

I do not believe this refers specifically to people under a certain age. Jesus wants all to come to Him. He wants His church to create an atmosphere where all can feel safe as they draw close to Him. He rejects the attitude that people must be "good enough" before they come to Him or that we should withhold privileges from people we deem sinners or unclean or inconvenient.

Put another way, let the LGBT community come unto Me, and forbid them not. 

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