Homosexuals and the Church
I'm finding myself more and more liberal. I am so sick of hearing about why homosexuals are bad and can't be a part of church and why they are sinners. Aren't we all sinners?
Dan and I got so frustrated by this issue, that one day we looked up homosexual in the Bible. DO you know what? There is only ONE passage the specifies homosexuality. ANd its used in a list that says that its bad, but that list includes so many other sins that no one could be exempt.
Then there are the passages about no men sleeping wtih other men. I must mention that i love that 1. This is listed amoung other cultural aspects of life, like not eating pigs (bacon anyone?)
2. ITs listed among other things like don't sleep with a woman while she has her monthly period.
I really don't care whether you think its right or wrong. PErhaps, I'm wrong. I'd be willing to admit that. BUt what i'm not wrong about is that we have done a horrible thing by judging our fellow man/woman. We have failed to show them the LOVE of GOd. Instead of sharing our love with them, we have judged them. Instead of embracing fellow man, we have shunned them. DOn't you think that JEsus would have hung out with men and woman such as these? He hung out with those in society who were outcasts, defiled and downright abandoned. These men and woman weren't perfect (Zacheusus the tax collector for example). So why can't we be like Jesus and show love and acceptance for our fellow human being. Let's love them, not judge them.
I was talking with JOnathan Kuipers back in December. I grew up going to church with him and hanging out with his older brother. In the last five years or so, Jonathan came out and admitted that he was gay. From what i can see, the church basically turned its back on him. PErhaps not openly, but somewhere deep down he felt judgement and betrayal. I couldn't imagine admitting I was a homosexual to that church. I would be shunned, perhaps not by the church as a whole, but by individuals and their judgements.
JOnathan kept saying that he would love to go to church. Yes, he still beleives in God and all that. BUt he doesn't feel as though he would be accepted. This placed a huge burden on my heart. WE are no better than the Pharisees who prayed and thanked God that they are "not like that man over there." I wish we would be more accepting. You don't have to believe that being gay is right or wrong, but we do need to treat people with respect and love. I wish that i could invite jonathan and his boyfriend to my church on sunday. I wish they would be greated with open arms, extended hands rather than sneers and whispers. But i can't guarantee that. NOr would i want to put jonathan through that.
INstead i will accept him as a homosexual. I will love my fellow brother. Whether what he is doing is right or wrong, i choose to love.
Dan and I got so frustrated by this issue, that one day we looked up homosexual in the Bible. DO you know what? There is only ONE passage the specifies homosexuality. ANd its used in a list that says that its bad, but that list includes so many other sins that no one could be exempt.
Then there are the passages about no men sleeping wtih other men. I must mention that i love that 1. This is listed amoung other cultural aspects of life, like not eating pigs (bacon anyone?)
2. ITs listed among other things like don't sleep with a woman while she has her monthly period.
I really don't care whether you think its right or wrong. PErhaps, I'm wrong. I'd be willing to admit that. BUt what i'm not wrong about is that we have done a horrible thing by judging our fellow man/woman. We have failed to show them the LOVE of GOd. Instead of sharing our love with them, we have judged them. Instead of embracing fellow man, we have shunned them. DOn't you think that JEsus would have hung out with men and woman such as these? He hung out with those in society who were outcasts, defiled and downright abandoned. These men and woman weren't perfect (Zacheusus the tax collector for example). So why can't we be like Jesus and show love and acceptance for our fellow human being. Let's love them, not judge them.
I was talking with JOnathan Kuipers back in December. I grew up going to church with him and hanging out with his older brother. In the last five years or so, Jonathan came out and admitted that he was gay. From what i can see, the church basically turned its back on him. PErhaps not openly, but somewhere deep down he felt judgement and betrayal. I couldn't imagine admitting I was a homosexual to that church. I would be shunned, perhaps not by the church as a whole, but by individuals and their judgements.
JOnathan kept saying that he would love to go to church. Yes, he still beleives in God and all that. BUt he doesn't feel as though he would be accepted. This placed a huge burden on my heart. WE are no better than the Pharisees who prayed and thanked God that they are "not like that man over there." I wish we would be more accepting. You don't have to believe that being gay is right or wrong, but we do need to treat people with respect and love. I wish that i could invite jonathan and his boyfriend to my church on sunday. I wish they would be greated with open arms, extended hands rather than sneers and whispers. But i can't guarantee that. NOr would i want to put jonathan through that.
INstead i will accept him as a homosexual. I will love my fellow brother. Whether what he is doing is right or wrong, i choose to love.
posted by AmanDan at 3:51 PM
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