I attend church every Sunday. I know that church is supposed to convict you sometimes. When we hear something that resonates in the core of our being and we are doing the opposite, it can help us to take notice and repent (change direction) so that we may have a more fulfilling life. Truth is often meant to convict us and turn us from darkness to light so that we may “be fruitful and multiply.” There are a lot of things that the church and the Bible are 100% right about and I won’t refute. However, every time the church throws homosexuality into the equation I cringe. There is something about this message that doesn’t sit well with me.
I firmly believe in love and when an institution that I believe should be shouting love from the rooftops makes statements that inflict pain on a certain sect of people, it bothers me in my gut. I think the reason for this, is I don’t believe that being homosexual is a choice, something that can be healed, or for that matter even needs to be healed. Why would anyone choose a way of life that would encounter so much resistance and hatred? Why would anyone actively choose a path that a lot of times leads to rejection by their own families? Why would anyone choose a life that requires them, in a lot of places, to lead secret lives for fear of retaliation against them by others in power? I believe God created people to love who they love for a purpose.
I just read an article this morning that really disturbed me entitled, “Activists say 40 detained and 2 dead in gay purge in Chechnya” by NPR (https://www.npr.org/2019/01/14/685192372/activists-say-40-detained-and-2-dead-in-gay-purge-in-chechnya). This article made me sick. Statements like, “In 2017, Chechen police and military officials rounded up men they suspected of being gay, tortured them with electric devices and encouraged family members to engage in honor killings, according to The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.” What kind of world do we live in where some people still believe that this is ok… that it is honorable to torture and/or kill in the name of what they are calling “honor”? This is not ok.
When seeking God, I seek nature and I look for examples of who God is within everything He created. There are several examples of homosexuality in nature (http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150206-are-there-any-homosexual-animals), which supports my feelings on the fact that homosexuality is not something that people are choosing (and even if they were, if it’s a result of real and pure love, who am I to judge). I agree with the church that sex can be misused and that everything is designed with purpose including sex. Using people for sex is not the ideal and is missing the point (sinning). I don’t agree with sleeping around as I know the consequences of this (will write on this eventually). However, sex as an expression of love, intimacy, and reverence is not wrong in my eyes as it is being used how it was intended… another way to show love and bring pleasure to someone you feel close with whether that person be of your gender or not.
In fact, I feel that many people are missing the point when it comes to their judgment of others for engaging in a loving act that they may not feel comfortable with or understand. Wasn’t it not long ago that white people were doing the same thing to black people over genetics? This situation is oddly familiar, yet people hop on their pedestals and make all kinds of justifications and rationalizations about why they feel the way they do. When are we going to use love as our compass and start viewing everything through that filter? Is what I’m doing helping or hurting someone? Is how I’m thinking helpful or harmful to myself and others? Am I standing up for others who are being hurt or am I the one doing the hurting?
It rubs me the wrong way when church speaks on homosexuality, especially Christian churches, because I know that was not how Jesus behaved. I’ve read the entire New Testament involving Jesus’s life that Christianity is based off of. Jesus stood up for those who had no voice, the outcasts of society, those that were condemned, those that were judged, those that were on the fringes. There are so many phrases that he used to exemplify what he believed, I John 8:7, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” In Matthew 7:5, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? 5You hypocrite! First take the beamout of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” In my opinion, the church should be the one place in this world where everyone feels loved, whole, and empowered to be their highest self, not a place of judgment like the rest of the world. The church is supposed to be “holy” or set apart by building people up, not joining in to make people feel “less than.”
I know this article will raise a few eyebrows especially within the church, but I will not go along with the flock when the flock heads in the wrong direction. I also do not believe in throwing the baby out with the bath water. Church (at least the one I attend) gets it right a good 95% of the time, so I will not stop being a part of it for the reasons stated here, but I do wish that they would consider the harm they may be causing to individuals within the LGQBT community and the encouragement they are giving to individuals who feel justified in condemning individuals within this community when they make comments that condemn homosexuality. I would like them to reconsider what they stand for and whether they are acting like Jesus or whether they are playing on the wrong team. I close with this verse Mark 9: 42, “And whoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” as a point for the church to consider. I pray that the people of the church would stop offending those that believe in the almighty regardless of their sexual orientation (so long as their sexual behavior is conducted in a consensual manner and birthed from love).