Jesus loves LGBTQ

For years now I have been thinking about the conflict between the Church and the LGBTQ community.  I have been reading about it, studying, praying, listening, thinking, talking and....changing.  What have I realized?  Jesus loves the LGBTQ community. 

A friend of mine shared a conversation he had with an acquaintance where he was asked, "What do you do when you learn something that conflicts with what you believe?"  He told her simply, "I change what I believe."  This was shocking to her but I understand it in a small way because so often, especially when it comes to biblical beliefs, we often think, somebody smarter than me has already figured this out so I can just trust their opinion.  After all, we go to church each week and listen to a pastor who's entire job is to figure this stuff out and tell us what to believe.  The worship and learning we do at church is an important part of our spiritual growth, however church is not where it begins and ends.  Although it is the pastor's job to guide the congregations growth, no two pastors have exactly the same opinions and if the Bible was as "clear" as many people have been continuously saying lately, there would be no different denominations, no church schisms and everyone would be able to agree on all the hot topics.  We need to be able to asses our beliefs to discover why we think the way we do and always be allowing the Holy Spirit to change us in ways that make us more like Jesus. 

Recently our pastor was talking about remembering our first love.  We were encouraged remember the reasons we first started to love God and to attempt to recreate that same type of environment that helped us fall in love in the first place.  That doesn't mean to try and go back to the same level of understanding and to backtrack in our thinking but to do something similar to what you did at the time.  Our pastor used going on a mission trip for example.  For me, I was raised in church, I attended a Christian school, I did mission trips and I went to Bible Collage but that wasn't what made me fall in love with God.  What really turned my heart towards him was when I began to learn about the way He treated women.  When I was young I had been under the impression that God loved women less than men, that He had designed a patriarchal society and didn't value women as much as men.  That led me to also believe that He had created me to be a woman only to love me less because of it.  I struggled for quite some time with why I should follow a God that would value me less because of the way he made me.  It wasn't until I started to look deeper into the subject, prayed, learned and listened to some wonderful pastors that addressed this issue directly that I started to fall in love with the God that loves me every bit as much as (but not more than) all his other creation.  When our pastor started to talk about rediscovering our first love I realized that I have already unwittingly been attempting to do this.  My immersion into study of God's love for LGBTQ people has been reigniting my fire for God and drawing me closer to Him. 

In the study I have been doing it seems like there has been a shift in thinking among the church about the treatment of LGBTQ people.  I don't know if I have just been caught up to speed with the thinking of some people, if there is really are quite a number of people who's thinking is changing or if nothing has changed and I'm imagining things but there have been a few news items that have stirred up a lot of debate.  Most notably, the attack on Pulse night club, where 49 people lost their lives to hate.  Though I have heard some disgusting and horrifying comments in the aftermath of this attack there did seem to be less of it (if that can be seen as a plus) but the most encouraging thing was that I saw many Christian people speaking out about the injustice of it and standing up for the rights of LGBTQ people. 

Now, to be clear, I don't know a single Christian person that would say they hate LGBTQ people, and I believe them.  I believe them because I used to be them.  I used to share the same opinion as they do.  I loved the people but I thought it was my job to let them know that they were wrong and that I couldn't accept that part of them.  I understand the mental block that keeps many Christian people from being able to accept the LGBTQ community into their Churches, workplaces and hearts because it has been something I have been grappling with for years.  When I think back to some of the things I have said I can only hope and pray that the damage I did to people God cares deeply for was not permanent.  I ask for forgiveness for the thoughtless and unkind words I have said and I hope that I can encourage some other Christians to think more deeply about their own beliefs. 

My line of thinking, and I believe it is the same for many other Christians went along these lines:

• Homosexuality is a sin and God doesn't want us to sin. 
• God would not create someone who was unable to avoid sin.
• Homosexuality must be a choice because God would not create someone who is unredeemable.

I believe this is the reason many people have a hard time believing that someone could be born gay or that LGBTQ people do not choose the "lifestyle" that they lead.  At first glance it seems to be pretty sound deductive reasoning.  That is until we are confronted with LGBTQ people that have attempted for decades to change their sexual preference to no avail, or a teenager who commits suicide because they can't live with the rejection and abuse they are subjected to because of their sexual preference, or they end up living on the street because their parents have kicked them out and they have been disowned from by their family, or someone who is sick for years because of the damaging affects of the anxiety of trying to keep their secret hidden, or someone we know comes out of the closet.

It seems quite obvious that no one would chose to be gay but where does that leave Christians?  If people are born gay and they don't choose it does that mean I'm saying God made a mistake?  That He created people that have no choice but to be separate from Him, unredeemable?  Certainly not!  This then brings us to the first step in the reasoning that Homosexuality is a sin.  This is the point where my thinking has shifted.  Please stay with me on this one and continue to the end!  I know the direction you might think I am going in because I have dealt with many people that have an initial knee jerk reaction to a statement like this.  They think I am going to dismiss all sin or that I am going to try to bend and twist the Bible to suit my own thinking.  I am not going to attempt to get into all the "clobber verses" and I am not going to address the issues of gay marriage even though I have thought deeply about both of these things.  Right now I only want to talk about how we treat people. 

What I would like to address is how there is a big distinction between being attracted to someone of the same sex and engaging in homosexual activity.  At what point do we believe that sin occurs?  Do we think that the attraction to people of the same sex is in itself sinful or do we believe that LGBTQ people are continuously filled with lust and that is the sin? 

I have come to believe that it is no different for someone to be attracted to a member of the same sex than to be attracted to a member of the opposite sex.  Matthew 5:28-29a says, "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  So if your eye - even your good eye - causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away."  Is Jesus suggesting that we should literally be plucking out our eyes?  Would that actually solve any problem?  If our eye was removed would that stop our brains from thinking impure thoughts?  What this says to me is that we all have a choice to use our eyes to create lust in our hearts or to take control of our thoughts and not fall into temptation. 

So What does this have to do with homosexuality?  To me everything.  Is it sinful for me to be attracted to a member of the opposite sex?  No!  It matters what I do with that attraction.  If a man is attracted to a woman that isn't sin in and of itself but if he gives into temptation and allows his lusts to run rampant that can cause him any number of problems.  We are responsible for our thoughts and can choose to take control or our thinking or damage ourselves and our relationships with others by not valuing them for the person they are and instead objectifying them. 

The problem I see is that LGBTQ people are held to a completely different standard than others.  They are treated as sinful and unacceptable just for the attraction even though no one is able to judge what is going on in that person's head.  Regardless of your beliefs on homosexuality we still have an obligation to treat LGBTQ people with kindness, respect and love.  Romans 3:22 says, "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.  And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are."  Do you hear any exceptions there?  Does the verse say for everyone except for the LGBTQ?  It says EVERYONE who BELIEVES, no matter who we are.  Can we not just treat people in a way that shows them God values them too?  We can leave it to God to determine who actually believes in him and who doesn't. 

How have we gotten to the point where we are now ranking people's acceptability to God?  We offer forgiveness to adulterers, offer redemption to rapists, even going as far as to accept pedophiles as broken and damaged people that need God's love.  We believe that they are offered forgiveness for these terrible and destructive choices that they have made yet we condemn LGBTQ people for the attractions that they have no choice over.  It doesn't make sense.  By rejecting the LBGTQ community we are diminishing the saving power of Christ.  We are ranking sin, telling LBGTQ people that the way they are created is worse than any terrible choices a straight person can make.  We are saying that there are people that His grace is not sufficient for.   What gives us the authority to pick an choose who is an acceptable recipient of God's love and grace?  We don't even have the right to point out anyone's sin to them, let alone tell someone that God doesn't love them.  It's simply not true.  Matthew 7:3-4 reads, "And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own?  How can you think of saying to your friend, 'let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye?" 

You might wonder why this matters so much to me.  After all, I'm a straight married girl with kids.  The reason I think it matters is because I believe it matters to God.  I have seen the hurt, rejection and physical, mental and spiritual abuse inflicted on LGBTQ people by Christians.  Even their own religious families will ostracize them.  The rates of homelessness and suicide for young LGBTQ people who have been disowned by Christian families is heartbreaking.  This is not how God calls us to show love and it does nothing to bring people closer to Him.  I am determined to use my voice to stand up for the rights of God's people, to hopefully begin to heal some of the hurts and to journey further into a better understanding for what God's plan of love is for ALL people.

You are free to comment with any of your thoughts, as long as they are respectful.