I recently read a couple of blog posts from an agnostic blogger (http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html, http://www.danoah.com/2012/04/a-teens-brave-response-to-im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html, and many more from this blogger in response to the original post.) In his blog post he detailed some very astute observations and concerns about Christians and how they relate to the world.
He was frustrated because he likes the message and vision of the church but he is quick to point out that we fail so quickly to love those who are not like us. The post is called I'm Christian, Unless You're Gay, but is really about the "I'm Christian, Unless" part. The LGBT community is just one of the biggest and most pertinent areas. What I love about this article is that he isn't yelling at us. He is pleading with us to live by our message. He sees, and if you look, you will see too, that we have a tendency to draw lines around our Christianity, ended at difference and discomfort. It might be safe to say that most Christians, but if not that, many Christians feel uncomfortable around and about homosexuality and transexuality. He says that this often leads us to stop giving the Christian message, and stop doing Christian actions. We stop loving when its uncomfortable.
Is this like Jesus? No. He loved unconditionally around the very most uncomfortable people in society. This blogger's original post has touched many Christians with his gentle, but firm message. The second link is a response detailing how a closet-homosexual boy was tasked to read the original article and respond for school. His mother, upon finding the assignment began screaming at him as she felt entirely attacked by the message of the article. He ran away from home and did the assignment from his friend's house, uncovering himself as homosexual. He detailed how much this meant to him, and how this message of how to love gave him the strength to live freer, and to encourage others to love. He was going to stand up to his parents, not matter how they reacted. He sent this to his teacher, and to his mom. His mom was so shocked by this, that she didn't know what to do, and decided to give the article another read, this time from a more understanding perspective. It changed her perspective, and her life. It enabled her to discover how greedy she had been with her love, and helped her start to learn to love her son, despite her beliefs. No, this response in praise of this calling for Christians to love was not from the son, it was from the mother, and there are many more stories like it.
This is the most important thing for Christians today, I think, as we deal with a culture hostile towards Christianity. We are becoming more and more hypocritical every day. It is so easy for us to judge, to point fingers, to hoard God's love for those that we feel are more deserving because they are more like us. But we are all sinners and we are all undeserving. Who are we to judge and withhold God's love? That is not our calling. I know that that is a problem, because my life experiences have taught me well how to judge and separate, but I often feel ill prepared to reach out and love. I can do it though. I am committed to learning to be more Christ-like. Everyday, I understand more that the people I don't want to like, and don't feel comfortable around, are the exact sort of people that Jesus would go and love. All he would have for me is a stern rebuking. I can can ignore it and say it is too hard, but that will only bring me more toil and struggle. I can trust him and obey, and that, I am promised, will bring blessings.
He was frustrated because he likes the message and vision of the church but he is quick to point out that we fail so quickly to love those who are not like us. The post is called I'm Christian, Unless You're Gay, but is really about the "I'm Christian, Unless" part. The LGBT community is just one of the biggest and most pertinent areas. What I love about this article is that he isn't yelling at us. He is pleading with us to live by our message. He sees, and if you look, you will see too, that we have a tendency to draw lines around our Christianity, ended at difference and discomfort. It might be safe to say that most Christians, but if not that, many Christians feel uncomfortable around and about homosexuality and transexuality. He says that this often leads us to stop giving the Christian message, and stop doing Christian actions. We stop loving when its uncomfortable.
Is this like Jesus? No. He loved unconditionally around the very most uncomfortable people in society. This blogger's original post has touched many Christians with his gentle, but firm message. The second link is a response detailing how a closet-homosexual boy was tasked to read the original article and respond for school. His mother, upon finding the assignment began screaming at him as she felt entirely attacked by the message of the article. He ran away from home and did the assignment from his friend's house, uncovering himself as homosexual. He detailed how much this meant to him, and how this message of how to love gave him the strength to live freer, and to encourage others to love. He was going to stand up to his parents, not matter how they reacted. He sent this to his teacher, and to his mom. His mom was so shocked by this, that she didn't know what to do, and decided to give the article another read, this time from a more understanding perspective. It changed her perspective, and her life. It enabled her to discover how greedy she had been with her love, and helped her start to learn to love her son, despite her beliefs. No, this response in praise of this calling for Christians to love was not from the son, it was from the mother, and there are many more stories like it.
This is the most important thing for Christians today, I think, as we deal with a culture hostile towards Christianity. We are becoming more and more hypocritical every day. It is so easy for us to judge, to point fingers, to hoard God's love for those that we feel are more deserving because they are more like us. But we are all sinners and we are all undeserving. Who are we to judge and withhold God's love? That is not our calling. I know that that is a problem, because my life experiences have taught me well how to judge and separate, but I often feel ill prepared to reach out and love. I can do it though. I am committed to learning to be more Christ-like. Everyday, I understand more that the people I don't want to like, and don't feel comfortable around, are the exact sort of people that Jesus would go and love. All he would have for me is a stern rebuking. I can can ignore it and say it is too hard, but that will only bring me more toil and struggle. I can trust him and obey, and that, I am promised, will bring blessings.
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