Dear Homosexual Friend,
I’m writing you this note because I just ate Chic-Fil-A. Some of my Christian friends around the country also just finished eating Chic-Fil-A. Some of my other Christian friends got mad at those of us who ate Chic-Fil-A because they said that you, my homosexual friend and neighbor, may view us as intolerant, hateful bigots.
I wrote you to personally inform you that my friends who ate chicken today did so not because they hate you but because they hate bullies.
I know that you understand all too well how it feels to be bullied. Sometimes you just have to stand up to the bully by eating a chicken sandwich! All kidding aside, this is a 1st Amendment issue, not an attack on homosexuals. Let me explain.
No one likes to be bullied. It’s not a good look, for anyone. Basically because a Christian man shared his religious views some people with governmental control decided they would intimidate and harass this man’s business by using the power of the government. That’s bullying. Bullying is bad. The 1st Amendment protects personal speech from government punishment. These Mayors weren’t playing nice so a lot of Christians wanted to tell the government to back off. People in government like to count votes and they understand the power of the purse. So a bunch of people ate Chic-Fil-A today.
I’m sure at times you feel that people who claim the name of Christ are bullies. I’m sure you’ve seen that inbred group of people known as Westboro Baptist Church on TV. They are not Baptist and they aren’t a church. They’re bullies. It seems that the 8 of those people have multiplied like zombies because every time a media source wants to show how intolerant, hateful and bigoted my chicken-eating friends are, they show the same 8 people from different angles. They’re always sure to show you the same 8 signs too. Actually they show you file footage as well to make it appear that there are about 200 signs being carried by these 8 people.
Can I let you in on a secret?
I was actually picketed by those hateful people once. My crime? Attending a worship service at Dr. Jerry Falwell’s Thomas Road Baptist Church. You read that right… Those 8 fruit cakes that the media keeps showing you protested AGAINST another guy the media made out to be a hateful bigot. He wasn’t. I promise. I got to see him up close when I was in college. You would have liked him if you knew him personally. Larry Flint did. Al Sharpton did.
Larry and Al disagreed with Dr. Falwell on social issues but they liked him personally. That is possible. Anyway, do you know what Dr. Falwell had done to deserve getting picketed by the bullies of Westboro? He invited gay leader and president of Soul Force, Mel White, and about 300 homosexual activists to Thomas Road and Liberty University for a discussion. Dr. Falwell fed them and set up civil conversations on the campus. I was there. It was peaceful. Isn’t that crazy? Gasp! Shock! My guess is that you didn’t even know that happened. Funny how that works huh?
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I did eat chicken today. I didn’t do it to be hateful or mean. You know that. You’ve been around me enough to know that I’m aware of your position and you’re aware of mine. We’ve had great discussions and we treat each other with civility.
Okay, so I have another reason for writing. I want to make certain that you know that you’re invited to my church, Captivate Church. I must warn you though, the pastor (me) is a sinner in need of a Savior. He’s said from the pulpit that every day he has to repent and pray for God to lead him because left on his own he was born with a proclivity to disobey God. He said something from the stage before about the Apostle Paul expressing the same feeling in 1 Corinthians 9:27.
Also if you come to Captivate I want you to know that our church is messy. Our people remind me of the box of toys from the movie Toy Story. As you are welcomed in the parking lot it may be by a recovering drug addict. You will almost certainly be greeted along the way by people who have had premarital sex. The usher may or may not be a person who had an affair. Once you sit down you are likely going to be sitting near someone who looked at porn recently. Captivate has tons of stories of what Christ has redeemed people from… prostitution, addiction, abuse, depression, abortion… I hope this doesn’t offend you.
In September we’re actually doing an entire month of sermons based off of the stories of our people. We want to brag on God. He’s cool like that.
Some may consider this embarrassing. We consider it home.
I should warn you though. You may think that because we have so many broken people that Captivate is one of those churches that just tells everyone to ignore their sin and take advantage of God’s grace. We’re not one of those types of churches. Many of those types of churches seem to be satisfied with you showing up. Captivate is about helping people grow up into the promise and potential that God has for every one of us through His Son, Jesus Christ.
You see, that guy in the parking lot who is a recovering drug addict knows that God’s perfect plan doesn’t include drugs. The adulterer who is trying to restore his marriage with the woman across the room knows that God’s best plan isn’t found in fulfilling his sexual appetite outside of his home. The girl who had the abortion knows that her true love isn’t found in any man but only in Christ. On and on it goes…
The porn addict, the alcoholic, the prostitute, the promiscuous young woman and the guy who is smoking weed all have something in common: They are in love with God who has a better plan.
So if you can tolerate the messy people you meet along the way to your seat, buckle your seatbelt because the pastor is going to preach from the bible. In our church people joke that they wear steel toe boots because sometimes the holiness of God steps on our toes. It can seem like a strange thing at first but the people who love Captivate aren’t there because they want to be told how great they are.
The people of Captivate want to know how great God is.
The more we learn how great God is, the less we want our own sinful ways to define our lives. At Captivate we don’t label each other by our sin. Chances are, you’re not going to know who struggles with which problem until you get to know them up close, in the context of loving community. At Captivate and at every bible-believing Christian church the people wear a name tag that is above every name; that name is Jesus. It’s tough carrying His name at times because we know that on our best days we are an imperfect picture of Jesus Christ but in spite of that we are called to re-present him to the world.
So anyway, I ate chicken today. I ate chicken because I want the government to know that people don’t like bullies. I also go to church with a bunch of sinners and misfits that celebrate every week because they are made new in Christ. You are free to come visit too, just don’t judge us, we’re all just trying to pursue God’s best plan for our lives.
Captivated,
Why should we always have to be ones expected to change our beliefs? We believe God’s word. It states that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He LOVES the sinner but absolutely HATES the sin.
Our beliefs are forever as well.
“…intimidate and harass this man’s business by using the power of the government.”
Can you remind me, who used the power of the government against Chic-Fil-A?
Its ridiculous to say this was about the 1st amendment, could you be more passive aggressive with your hatred for gay people? Businesses should stay out of controversial political issues, there’s enough corporate money in politics.
There is nothing wrong with boycotting a company who supports discrimination. Boycotting is one of the only tools we have against businesses. You can’t be mad because boycotting Chic-Fil-A is stifling freedom of speech when the act of boycotting is exactly that, freedom of speech.
Again, nobody has used government powers to reduce or remove American fast food’s freedom of speech. Boycotting is a tool of the people, not the government. Get your facts straight before you try to sugarcoat your hatred.
Malcolm,
You are the first person to whom I’ve responded. I feel a response would be helpful to you and others who may be reacting rather than responding.
I believe you may have misread my article and quite possibly have been unaware of the facts in this discussion. I did not mention any private citizen boycotting a business. Obviously people can choose to spend their money however they wish. I didn’t mention the government and more specifically the Mayors of several cities. I would like to offer you someone you may trust more than myself with regard to the facts…
Jon Stewart and the Huffington Post (at 2 minute mark):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/03/jon-stewart-chick-fil-a-video_n_1736996.html
Finally, it is disappointing that you feel I have hatred in my heart for anyone. In this post I described the church I pastor as a group of misfits and toys from Toy Story. I shared various struggles and pains of those I call friends. Anyone who knows me is well aware that my life does not hold hatred for anyone. You may not believe it but I’d bet if you knew me, you’d like me. I genuinely look for God’s best in every person I meet. People are made in the image of God and if I look past the problems, hangups and screaming I can tend to find something great in every one I meet.
Blessings to you Malcolm. I do hope you check out the clip above…it’s pretty funny.
T
Thanks for the response but I don’t think you addressed my criticisms at all. Basically in paragraph 3 of your write-up, you summarized the whole fiasco as follows:
“Basically because a Christian man shared his religious views some people with governmental control decided they would intimidate and harass this man’s business by using the power of the government”….”The 1st Amendment protects personal speech from government punishment.”
Mayors have the right to speak freely also. Elected officials need not represent the people’s opinions, only in law-making. No mayor used his government powers in any way against Chick-Fil-A. If that were true it would take the form of a law. America’s government was designed to protect the rights of minorities, that’s why majority doesn’t rule in our politics, we elect representatives to protect the minorities. Government makes laws and cops enforce them, that’s how governmental “power” works. Saying something does not equal doing something.
“These Mayors weren’t playing nice so a lot of Christians wanted to tell the government to back off”…”So a bunch of people ate Chic-Fil-A today.”
Right here. This is where you, and a lot of of Christians I know, turn this whole issue into a first amendment issue rather than what it really is, supporting discrimination against same sex marriage.
Thanks for the Jon Stewart link, that was certainly funny, and a good reminder that this whole thing is dumb.
My only wish is that you, and other Christians, would acknowledge that “customer appreciation day” was not about the first amendment, but rather about the gay marriage issue. Its passive aggressiveness.
Malcolm,
Thanks for viewing the clip. It is possible to have a discussion with people who are willing to calmly go back and forth.
The Mayors of the cities in question do have a right to speak but they do not have a right to speak on behalf of their city and threaten action against any business which is exactly what they did. Even Jon Stewart agreed to that point.
In our legal system we have laws defending the threat of force and intimidation. An assault for instance is a law that does not require an act to be carried out, only the threat of the act. This is why a person who hits another person is charged with both “assalt AND battery”. Assalt is the threat of violence while battery is the actual violence. Without the governmental title behind these elected officials they would not have had 20 microphones in their faces when they made these comments. If I were to reverse these same incidents and this were a LGBT group being told by the Mayor of a major city (Atlanta, Dallas, Birmingham, etc.) that their ‘gay rights’ values did not reflect the values of these Southern towns, you would tell me that a recall election should take place and that these leaders should be thrown in jail for intimidation and hate speech. A government official is not allowed to treat one business differently from another simply based on that businesses leaders’ right to speak freely on any given issue.
The gay community has to get away from this emotional and vitriolic language of “hate” for every time someone says “no”.
As for a minority argument, we simply disagree. Elected officials get into office by winning elections with…A Majority. Their actions are to reflect the “majority will of the people” in their district or else they get tossed out at the next available opportunity or even sometimes (in the case of a recall) sooner. The majority always rules. You and I would disagree with the basic question of whether or not homosexuals qualify as a protected minority in the same way as women or people of color most certainly are. I grew up in a home with 3 women and no father so I know a little about women. I also grew up in inner city Baltimore during my childhood and I currently pastor a church in East Baltimore so my entire life has been immersed in minority culture. I know illegal immigrants and yes I know people who identify themselves as homosexuals including family members. This isn’t a question of familiarity or ignorance, it is not a question of hate or love, it’s simply one of biblical expression. We can disagree without being disagreeable.
To be honest with you we work hard at our church to care for the orphan and widow and poor and to fight injustice for the very reason that this world is broken and Christians have a lot more to do than to eat chicken. The homosexual issue is not even a blip on my life’s radar. But, if there is a public issue that is dealt with in scripture, I have to speak to it. I don’t have hate for any person who is far from God. I counsel about half a dozen people a week to whom I give biblical counsel about lifestyle issues of all sorts. In no other case do people accuse me of “hate” because I say “no”.
While I appreciate your wish for people who disagree with you is that they would agree with you, I’m sorry that it is not going to happen. This post has received the amount of traffic and shares that it has because thousands of people agree with its premise. You may want us to be hateful or mean spirited but I think you can look through the post’s comments above to find who is intolerant around here. When people curse at me in one breath while claiming that I’m intolerant (insert puzzled look here), I look below those posts and find Christians I have never met in my life lovingly offering hope. Our side has been pretty stupid at times and even now I’m sure we can find that crazy uncle out there… but by and large the message of the gospel is what is coming through in today’s Christianity. Jesus is about loving broken people but being firm in the eternal plan. There is a loving balance to be found there.
I have made it very clear that everyone is welcome at my church because everyone equally has the built-in nature to disobey God’s plans for our lives. How that disobedience reveals itself is displayed in many forms and I’m not interested in making one display greater than another. If you watch any of my sermons at CaptivateChurch.com you will find that I almost never even mention homosexuality but you will find me getting on our people about pornography, arrogance, greed, selfishness, bitterness, laziness and many other forms of behavior that don’t line up with God’s plan for humanity. I’ve also been blogging since 2003 and you aren’t going to find “hate” here… unless of course I’m hating how Christians aren’t acting in love.
Frankly speaking if it were not for my belief in a God who created everything and set this world into motion I wouldn’t care how a marriage looked. I care only because God cares. Do you believe that a monogamous marriage is built into the DNA of ANY man on the planet? No. Do I preach for men to live out a 1-woman life? Certainly. Is that a struggle for every man to live out without lusting for other women? Sure it is. So if I’m anti-gay for my view of homosexuality, it must follow that I’m anti-male for my belief in a monogamous marriage as God’s best plan for all of us. According to this logic I must hate everyone.
As one of my mentors once said, apart from Christ I would work to make the entire world revolve around me. I tried being an atheist once in my life. At the end of the day I honestly don’t have enough faith to make the leaps it takes to believe that there is no God.
Chic-Fil-A appreciation day for me was about what I said it was about. Free speech. The particular speech that was free happened to be that God created the concept of marriage and gave us boundaries. Mr. Cathy stated that our nation is arrogant for attempting to redefine what God defined for us. My eating chicken on August 1st had everything to do with supporting a great business run by Christians who were being given a hard time by their government. You are free to tell everyone you know that I am a passive aggressive liar but I think that’s a bit harsh since you don’t know me and since I spend my entire life serving the broken world of which I am part. I am no better than anyone I know and in fact I’m humbled most by the fact that I am distinctly aware of my greatest failures and flaws.
I have no business putting down anyone but I am called to lift up someone… the God who made everyone.
Blessings Friend.
T
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I think it accompanies your original write-up nicely. I especially think this is powerful:
“So if I’m anti-gay for my view of homosexuality, it must follow that I’m anti-male for my belief in a monogamous marriage as God’s best plan for all of us.”
I wish more people saw the same hypocrisy that you do.
I don’t doubt you are a kind and loving person and I’m glad to hear you accept all people in your ministry.
My words should have been more directed to those Christians who went to Chic-Fil-A in order to demonstrate their support for discriminating against gay rights. If you were there only to show your support for freedom of speech, I’ll have to take your word for it.
I don’t think its fair to compare the bullying done by a mayor to a national fast food chain to the bullying that young gay people receive today. I would be careful in doing that.
The last thing I’d like to comment on is your statement about atheism. You are dead wrong in that it takes more faith to deny God than to believe in him. I’m sorry but you have the same amount of faith as an atheist towards every other religion’s deity. Out of hundreds of Gods, the atheist only denies one more God than you. It takes no faith to deny something you cannot have evidence for. It takes zero faith to deny the tooth fairy existence (for most of us).
At any rate, keep up the love, do good and we’ll all be happy.
-M
“I wish more people saw the same hypocrisy that you do.”
I’ll embrace that as a compliment?
I’m not anti-anyone. I’m pro belief in a God who has a plan for everyone and a God who sent his only son to become the perfect sacrifice for everyone’s sin. The world knows John 3:16 as it explains the gospel pretty succinctly but most do not know the very next verse: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” – John 3:17. Because Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but instead to save… If I’m a follower of Jesus then my mission can’t be to condemn but to see people saved in Him as well. That means I have to let go of my right to condemn and pick up an ability to love those with whom I disagree.
Bullying is bullying. Hate is hate. Evil is evil. I don’t make too many distinctions in those areas. God is not the author of any of it.
As to the atheism comment I would completely agree with you except for the fact that atheism cannot be done in a vacuum. To consider existence and it’s source you have to consider not only “all gods” as a source for life but also what scientists refer to as “first cause”. We have to ask ourselves “Where was the beginning of it all? Where was the beginning of matter itself. Matter had to come from somewhere. Something cannot come from pure nothingness.” Your faith has to be much stronger than mine if you believe that matter appears simply from non-matter. It also amazes me that in every explanation of a first cause without God you hear “billions and billions of years” as though magically we can toss in “time” into the soup of ideas and “accidentally” all of this world’s order came from disorder. Disorder matter came from nothing. So nothing created something and gave it purpose…. from the tiny Higgs Boson to the seemingly eternal stretch of the universe… all of that detail, complexity and vastness is explained by “chance”. I simply don’t have that amount of faith.
Thank you for civility.
Yes it was a compliment
Regarding your argument for Gods existence and having faith that something came from nothing…
First and foremost, atheists don’t claim that everything came from nothing. The big bang doesn’t start with nothing, it starts with everything condensed and describes the processes by which it expanded. We don’t try speculate about what was before that, like everyone else in the world, we don’t have an answer. So I would agree that it would take faith to say that everything came from nothing, but thats not what we claim.
Furthermore, the law you are referencing (matter cannot be created), is a law that only applies within our universe, it doesn’t apply to wherever our universe may have come from. So its not accurate to say that our universe cannot have come from nothing due to a law that exists only within our universe. I hope that makes sense, I know it sounds confusing.
Lastly, simply saying that the universe came from God doesn’t explain anything at all. Its just a statement. You cannot even call it a theory because you still have a problem, where did God come from? That mystery has no explanation therefore, saying everything came from God is not an explanation.
Your way out of ‘first cause’ is that you simply don’t concern yourself with it?
THAT doesn’t take more faith?
You believe that something can be created from nothing if we go far enough back in time? I’m smiling right now.
“Your way out of ‘first cause’ is that you simply don’t concern yourself with it?
THAT doesn’t take more faith?”
I’m not sure what you are getting at? Not everything has an explanation and you can’t explain things away with a mysterious creator. It doesn’t take any faith at all to admit you don’t know how the universe came to be.
“You believe that something can be created from nothing if we go far enough back in time? I’m smiling right now.”
I didn’t say anything about believing that, or about going back in time. I simply said that you cannot use the laws of our universe to explain things outside of our universe.
If something caused our universe to come into existence, you don’t know what that was any better than anyone else. And a god does absolutely nothing to explain it because you are left with the burden of explaining god.
You are beginning to twist my words friend.
“I’m not sure what you are getting at? Not everything has an explanation and you can’t explain things away with a mysterious creator. It doesn’t take any faith at all to admit you don’t know how the universe came to be.”
You and I may not know the answer but there is one. SOMEHOW there had to be a beginning. When a person denies the concept of a Creator they are only left with the idea that something came from nothing. That’s a fairly large belief. Remember, this began when you suggested that it takes no belief at all to simply be an atheist. I contend that you certainly must carry an enormous amount of faith to hold this position. By coming to first cause we find that everyone has to believe in something. No matter how you slice it we all must wrestle with the idea that matter is not eternal… at some point “something” came from “nothing”. Believing that there is a deity responsible for that process takes a lot less faith than believing that “nothing” gave birth to “something” and by “chance” over a long period of time everything developed the fascinatingly detailed and perfect organization that we have today. That my friend takes a level of faith I simply do not have. We can’t simply ignore that area of existence and pick up the conversation after everything came to be.
“And a god does absolutely nothing to explain it because you are left with the burden of explaining god.”
Giving glory to an all powerful creator God isn’t the same as saying that there is no god and everything can be explained with man’s finite wisdom. With a God component I (as a believer) have less to explain than someone who does not believe in a Creator. I don’t know “how” the creator made everything but I am attributing first cause to a source; God. It does answer the “something from nothing” dilema because I’m applying intelligence and organization to the process, not chance. Have you ever found it ironic that the scientific method requires concrete explanation in detail but we are told that the ‘how’ everything came to be was by happenstance? That doesn’t sit well with me.
“You are beginning to twist my words friend.”
Not at all, just trying to understand your perspective. That’s what healthy dialog is for.
Again, to be an atheist, you do not need to believe that there was nothing and then something. What evidence do you have to say that nothingness existed at one point? Also, “nothing” is not actually nothing.
I don’t think you understand current cosmological theory. I don’t believe that there was nothing before the universe expanded.
If God can have existed forever and ever then why couldn’t matter?
Just because you don’t know the answer to something does not mean you have faith about it. That is outrageous. Guess what, there is a man on Venus who wears a purple hat. Now that you know that you must have a ton a faith because how in the world did a man with a purple hat get on Venus??????
Sorry but I don’t think you have any evidence that we came from nothing or that atheists believe we came from nothing. Just because the bible says God created it all doesn’t make it true.
Again, to be an atheist, you do not need to believe that there was nothing and then something. What evidence do you have to say that nothingness existed at one point? Also, “nothing” is not actually nothing.
** “Nothing” is not actually nothing. /// Sweet. This conversation will go well if the word nothing isn’t ‘actually’ what it means. **
I don’t think you understand current cosmological theory. I don’t believe that there was nothing before the universe expanded.
** Not to be rude but I doubt you understand cosmological theory either. Are you an Astrophysicist? **
If God can have existed forever and ever then why couldn’t matter?
** God is not matter. God created the concept of time itself. God exists outside of the space/time continuum. That is an answer you do not have apart from an intelligent designer. **
Just because you don’t know the answer to something does not mean you have faith about it. That is outrageous. Guess what, there is a man on Venus who wears a purple hat. Now that you know that you must have a ton a faith because how in the world did a man with a purple hat get on Venus??????
** I would have faith that there is not a man with a purple hat on Venus. **
Sorry but I don’t think you have any evidence that we came from nothing or that atheists believe we came from nothing. Just because the bible says God created it all doesn’t make it true.
** My very life is evidence that we don’t come from nothing. Man’s pursuit of a deity in every culture over every period of recorded existence points to the fact that man are created beings above all other animals. I’m not the one trying to find a pigs tooth to prove that an entire species of humanity evolved. Proof is on atheists to show the rest of us how we evolved… with actual proof. For instance, show me the entire civilizations worth of half-species. Instead the entire global scientific community has about 3 half-completed specimens and then a ton of artistic renderings attempting to re-enforce a myth. For the scale and time evolution is purported to happen to mankind we should have ‘Planet of the Apes’- type of proof out there from bygone civilizations. The proof rests with the atheist/evolutionist to prove the counter argument to God. I’m not asking you to prove a negative… I’m asking you to prove an affirmative which would be your counter argument to the existence of God. **
I appreciate the sincerity and love you are trying to convey in your message, however, I want to point out to you a major reason your message is not being received as loving as it is intended. You are comparing homosexuals with drug addicts, prostitutes, adulterers and other sinners. Do you not see how insulting this is? Do you not see just how unloving and ungracious it is to call someone a sinner that needs to repent of his/her trappings and simply “abstain” from their sin? You are saying that, just as an alcoholic can stop using alcohol and become acceptable to God, so a gay or lesbian person can stop living the homosexual lifestyle.
To be more correct, you should be comparing being gay to having blonde hair or dark skin. Then ask a person to repent of that. Then expect a person to abstain from living the lifestyle of a blonde person. Explain to them in a very loving, very gracious way that their dark skin is something God can forgive them from in the same way He can forgive a drug addict. See if your explanation is received with gratitude or with anger.
I know you believe that homosexuality is a sin because there are so many bible scriptures that condemn homosexual sex. Each and every scripture that references it is talking about sexual sin outside of marriage and commitment. BTW, the Bible says a lot about heterosexual sin outside of marriage, too. On this point we can agree…sex outside of commitment is a sin. It is a sin against our own bodies and our own emotions, which is why God asks us to abstain.
However, there is not ONE scripture that talks about homosexual marriage or homosexual relationships. NOT ONE! Not in the OT or the NT. Maybe because it didn’t exist like it does in the US today. Maybe because it wasn’t a social issue then, so God didn’t address it. I don’t know why, but I know it wasn’t addressed. So, why do some Christians assume God doesn’t accept this kind of loving, committed relationship? God is LOVE, and love is a gift from God. And finding a person who you can make a life with and raise children with who understands and accepts you as you are is a wonderful thing that should be embraced and encouraged.
I do agree with you on one important point, however, the Chick-fil-A thing is a First Amendment Issue and a bullying issue. The CEO of Chick-fil-A has the right to believe and express his beliefs, and the outrage is unreasonable and uncalled for. I will support Mr. Cathy’s right to express his beliefs lest these rights be taken away from us all.
I appreciate the sincerity and love you are trying to convey in your message, however, I want to point out to you a major reason your message is not being received as loving as it is intended. You are comparing homosexuals with drug addicts, prostitutes, adulterers and other sinners.
Do you not see how insulting this is?
**** No. First, you should factor in that I believe we are all sinners. Every last one of us. A person who sins is simply a person who has disobeyed God. Because I believe the scripture is clear as to what sexual behavior is acceptable to God and what is not, then homosexuality falls under the same umbrella as all other forms of disobedience called sin. Living apart from God’s plan is living below His glorious standard. All of mankind faces the same delimea when we want to feel that we’re “right” with God. We either decide to change our behavior to match what we know God desires or we can re-write what God said to fit our behavior. In short, I change… or I change God. Sadly in the world of sexuality (all types), people choose to re-define God. So I ask you… If there is a God who went through the trouble of creating male and female… body parts and all…. how insulting is it to God that humanity would work so hard to say that he somehow didn’t know which bodies to put which souls. I would think THAT would be insulting. ***
Do you not see just how unloving and ungracious it is to call someone a sinner that needs to repent of his/her trappings and simply “abstain” from their sin?
You are saying that, just as an alcoholic can stop using alcohol and become acceptable to God, so a gay or lesbian person can stop living the homosexual lifestyle.
To be more correct, you should be comparing being gay to having blonde hair or dark skin. Then ask a person to repent of that. Then expect a person to abstain from living the lifestyle of a blonde person. Explain to them in a very loving, very gracious way that their dark skin is something God can forgive them from in the same way He can forgive a drug addict. See if your explanation is received with gratitude or with anger.
*** We would disagree with the premise of your hypothetical. Descriptive genes for hair or skin color aren’t the same as genes which give us a proclivity toward a behavior. I was clear to mention proclivity in the article for this reason. Simply having a desire is not enough to say that God blesses that desire. Men have desires for many women, not just their wives. Those who give into that desire have sinned and those who do not have not sinned. Sexual behavior requires action, hair color does not, skin color does not, being born male or female does not. A mere temptation is not sinful but rather sin is the acting out on that temptation. Please understand I have always counted myself as most in need of forgiveness. I know how rotten my heart is apart from God. I made that clear in the article. That’s why I stand up and call others to God’s love as opposed to standing up to condemn anyone. As a matter of public discourse however, I do have equal rights with anyone else to voice my belief without being labeled a person of ‘hate’. *****
I know you believe that homosexuality is a sin because there are so many bible scriptures that condemn homosexual sex. Each and every scripture that references it is talking about sexual sin outside of marriage and commitment.
**** Your position appears to be:
a. The bible never blesses a homosexual union and
b. Therefore society does not bless homosexual unions
c. God is silently on board with homosexual marriage because he never addresses it in scripture…(?)
d. God holds this view silently although He did speak clearly as to what constituted a marriage. (?)
e. So God’s complete silence except in cases of disdain for the sexual intercourse means he would be happy to endorse that same behavior if only he had remembered to include that in scripture?
I seem to believe that God has enough foresight to have written down what he wanted for his children. Because He did not I don’t know that we’re in a good place to put words in his mouth as though he were unable to speak. *******
BTW, the Bible says a lot about heterosexual sin outside of marriage, too. On this point we can agree…sex outside of commitment is a sin. It is a sin against our own bodies and our own emotions, which is why God asks us to abstain.
**** He does not ask us. He’s fairly direct. Scripture defines God as a king not a guidance counselor.
We agree only if you are agreeing that God does not (anywhere in scripture) sanction homosexual marriage. ****
However, there is not ONE scripture that talks about homosexual marriage or homosexual relationships. NOT ONE! Not in the OT or the NT. Maybe because it didn’t exist like it does in the US today. Maybe because it wasn’t a social issue then, so God didn’t address it. I don’t know why, but I know it wasn’t addressed.
**** Is it possible that it wasn’t addressed because in the beginning God created male and female and upon creating the female God blessed them as complete. Even the sexual parts seem to line up properly so that his command of procreation could be heeded. It would be fairly mean for God to command people to do something they didn’t have the ability to do genetically. ****
So, why do some Christians assume God doesn’t accept this kind of loving, committed relationship?
**** It’s not an assumption. God created male and female. He speaks of the marriage as a union between Jesus (the groom) and the church (the bride). These are very specific and very different expressions. The marriage is not between a groom and a groom or a bride and a bride. In Christian theology we read that the marriage is a symbol of God’s relationship with humanity. These aren’t trivial things. They are pretty important. Christians aren’t making assumptions. It seems that your postion is making the assumption that God meant something that you agree He did not sanction. ****
God is LOVE, and love is a gift from God. And finding a person who you can make a life with and raise children with who understands and accepts you as you are is a wonderful thing that should be embraced and encouraged.
**** You’re right, God is love. God is so loving that he gave us life and boundaries and Himself. Even in our sin and defiance he gives us opportunity to come to Him. He sent his son to earth and mankind killed Him. God used Christ’s death to bridge the divide between sinful man and his perfect self. God is also just and good and pure. He has set the standards and has called us to live up to them. When we fall short we can be made right by trusting in Christ. With all of that said we cannot encourage actions that defy what God has set as His perfect standard. I didn’t make the boundaries but I trust and see that boundaries are good. God is good and His ways are best. He is loving and I trust that He knows what he’s doing. I’m going to do my best to learn what he says without polluting (adding) or diluting (taking away) from His words. ****
I do agree with you on one important point, however, the Chick-fil-A thing is a First Amendment Issue and a bullying issue. The CEO of Chick-fil-A has the right to believe and express his beliefs, and the outrage is unreasonable and uncalled for. I will support Mr. Cathy’s right to express his beliefs lest these rights be taken away from us all.
**** Yay, we agree. It can be our “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” moment. ****