I’d like to take this moment to address a sub issue of my earlier blog on forgiveness to address one of the constant issues I still see tearing the church and the country apart. That is the issue of accepting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people.
Down through the years, I as a young Christian have been BOMBARDED with conservative rhetoric that teaches everything from outright hatred of homosexuality and any and all alternative lifestyle people to the notion that if we simply pray hard enough that the demon that possesses them will simply be “bound” and that they will be free.
I’ve discovered in what I refer to now as my “Old Age” that God neither hates alternative lifestyle people nor do I believe in a “momentary demonic entity” that possesses them to seek out what they do. They are simply humans, loving created in the image of God just as every other human is.
Christians are face slammed with scripture daily taken out of context and used to bludgeon us over the head to support a political agenda, an agenda of personal vendetta, or just to justify a personal prejudice. “Oh but Little Bill, the bible is clear about homosexuality!” “Look at Leviticus!”
Let me at this point begin to divulge my commentary if you will on the espoused notions of the conservative church culture.
Leviticus is a book of the bible given by God to Moses to give to the Hebrew people ONLY. It is the guiding rule of law for the Hebrew people to live a life different than that of the surrounding tribes and be an example to the world. The commands of Leviticus, in order to live a Godly life in a Jewish household, must be upheld in its TOTALLITY! We if we choose to follow the Levite laws that means first… Every male convert MUST be re-circumcised. We must do away with every unclean thing in our house, all unclean food, clothing, and items that have every even touched an unclean thing. We cannot perform any act that would make us unclean or… We are to be put to death so as to not infect the rest of the tribe. This… as some of you might recall… Includes eating pork: No pepperoni pizza, no hot dogs, no pork loin sandwiches, no breakfast sausage, and no bacon. No eating shellfish: No shrimp, no clams, no nothing. No shaving your beard: it is a treasure by God to man. No wearing a mixed fiber shirt or coat: No cotton rayon mix, no wool cotton mix. No cheeseburgers, you cannot serve flesh in the milk of its mother. All of these things are “Abominations to the Lord” according to the Levite laws.
Christians however like to flaunt the grace we have by attempting to pick and choose the old laws we wish to follow or not. We also like to think we have a right to legislate these laws on everyone even when we don’t choose to follow them all either.
Obviously in my prior blog I said God forgives all sin, then I am willing to adamantly stand on the notion that God forgives LBGT people too.
And here’s my reasoning why.
Acts 10 is a key inspirational passage to me on several levels. First and foremost, it is the foundation of the church reaching out to Non-Jewish people (because it was still thought to be solely a Jewish movement up to that point) and the first person they accept is a Roman Centurion.
In this passage, Cornelius is studying the Hebrew Scriptures for something more meaningful than what the temple God’s of Rome or Greece offer him. He is a man of high station with legions of soldiers under him. He has either earned his position fighting through the ranks of the Roman army or was born into a military family and was bestowed the rank when he came of age. I have pretty good feelings that it was the former.
A Roman centurion had certain obligations. Namely, that he was to train men under him and that included demanding sexual favors of the younger men under him. He would have been required to give tithe to the temple God’s of Rome as part of his station and this meant more than likely that he was engaged in acts of temple prostitution where in you were sometimes randomly given a participant to have sex with. No choice on male or female.
To add, Cornelius was most certainly uncircumcised as a Roman citizen. Not something Roman’s practiced. By Levite law, for him to convert to follow the life of a Hebrew, he would have to allow himself to be circumcised by a rabbi. A painful prospect.
It is therefore safe to assume (I think) that Cornelius had some homosexual activity in his life as at least required by his station.
He also was required to put to death any political dissident in his area. Peter, as a follower of the crucified Jesus and leader of the early church movement, would have been regarded as a political dissident. Yet… Cornelius prays.
Peter receives a vision; a blanket comes down from heaven filled with all manner of creepy crawlies. The bible isn’t specific, but I can’t help but picture a blanket full of lizards, snakes, spiders, slugs, centipedes, and all other kinds of irksome things. God tells Peter “Arise, kill and eat.” Peter tells God “I’ve not eaten anything unclean” God continues to say “Do not call unclean what I have made clean.”
That’s the profound statement. “Do not call unclean what I have made clean” God tells Peter.
So Peter goes to the house of Cornelius. He meets him, a man who has likely practiced all manner of wanton sexual acts and all manner of depravities. A man who has no remorse about killing anyone. He would not be a Centurion if he did.
And Peter shares the Gospel with Cornelius… And Cornelius accepts, repents, receives the Holy Spirit, and is baptized.
At no point does Peter demand Cornelius to submit to being circumcised. As a matter of fact, Peter leaves him to study.
We don’t know how Cornelius lived his life after this experience. We don’t know if he kept the faith, we don’t know if he struggled in his walk, we don’t know if he was still mandated to temple prostitution or if he rejected it outright and went to study. We know that he was accepted into the family of God. This man who by all accounts more than likely had some if not a lot of homosexual activity in his life.
“Do not call unclean what I have made clean.”
I’ve been taught for years that God cannot love a homosexual. God cannot use a homosexual. God does not WANT a homosexual. My personal experience is quite the contrary.
At one point in my life, I was married to a deacons daughter of a local Church of the Nazarene. I admit an odd combo for a Pentecostal boy. Sadly, after the Godly marriage counseling and attempting to go through a Godly marriage… It ended, rather horrifically.
Broken and angry with God, I moved back home to Oregon from Idaho. I admittedly still regard Idaho with loathing. No offense to current residents, but my experience there was horrible. I wanted NOTHING to do with God, with church, with faith, with family values, with conservative ideals. I in fact HATED God for the things I felt he stripped me of. You see, she left me to find a “better man” and I knew she already had before it ended.
In an attempt to fill the vacuous sucking hole in my heart, I turned to a dire need to fill my carnal lust. I used to fold little Origami animals and leave them at coffee shops with my pager number on them. Geeky dorky (yet really hot) girls would call me for a get together and we’d chat… Eventually have sex.
A lot of sex…
I do not say this to brag but as a disappointment in myself, but for the stretch of a year from legal separation with my ex-wife to the finalization of my divorce, I slept with from3 to 6 girls a night. On the university campus, it can get pretty lonely for a dorky girl. A geeky guy who’s good with his hands can be very attractive. I found that when I engaged in that lifestyle, it sucked the life out of me.
I had moved in with a Lesbian friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) largely because I wanted at least one female friend that I felt I had NO chance with.
One day, I was escorting my current flavor of the evening out the front door. I kissed her good morning and goodbye and sauntered back inside to shut the sunlight out. There on the couch my friend sat as the TV played. Of all things ironic, a Latter Day Saints commercial came on. She said to me “Hey Bill, do you remember when you were a Christian leading bible studies with street kids and gamers?” “Yeah.” I said. “Were you happy then?” she asked rather demurely. “Vaguely I remember being happy.” I sighed. “Are you happy now?” she asked. “No… I can’t say that I am.”
This is the part that kills me.
“Maybe it’s time you go back to Jesus and ask him to forgive you for what you’ve been putting HIS temple through.” She rather plainly said to me.
Had it come from any of my other Christian friends… I might have said forget it… I might have said go to hell. But from my Lesbian friend, if it is was that obvious to her… It must be true.
I cannot help but love, adore, and cherish her forever for that and turning me back to Christ.
I support my Gay friends who want to live a monogamous life with one another. I will probably get a great amount of flak for saying this. I might even lose some friends for saying this. But I support the right for LBGT men and women to marry and live a happy life together in a healthy monogamous relationship. And I believe God loves them every bit as much as he loves me.
If God can forgive a man after putting his temple through that much abuse… He can forgive a man or woman anything. Anything!
God’s Peace
People I support:
Lesbian and a Christian. http://youtu.be/bdFU1lspR-s
Gay Christians in Minnesota. http://youtu.be/KL1r2-DDMSo
Gay Episcopal Priest. http://youtu.be/82xim9MzArc
Christian singer Jennifer Knapp. http://youtu.be/g2OOjo5ui40
3 time Dove Award winner Ray Boltz comes out with his new single. http://youtu.be/2X9rNkvIw2U
Lord save me from your followers trailer. http://youtu.be/8QQtfjnvdJQ
Music in my head.
River on fire by Adam Again
1 comment:
That was freakin' honest and awesome. Bless you 'bro!
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