Before discussing anything controversial, one thing must be clarified, namely that the church, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is guilty of mistreating homosexuals. Assume for a minute, that homosexuality is wrong. Think murdering families wrong. This still does not give the church the right to discriminate against, shun or persecute the community. Jesus’ ministry is riddled with examples of loving the unlovable or showing kindness to the merciless. He stayed with Zacchaeus (Luke 19); He talked with a promiscuous Samaritan (John 4); He saved a prostitute from being stoned (John 8); even on the cross, Jesus prayed for His murderers to be forgiven (Luke 23:34). No one claiming to follow this same Jesus can justify treating another individual with hate or contempt. This means that Christians as individuals as churches as whole communities have sinned against the homosexual community through every unloving word spoken or violent act committed in the name (or not in the name) of Jesus. As Christians, we cannot say that we stand for loving our enemy (Luke 6:27) and our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 19:19) but build a list of those who doesn’t deserve to be loved. This is simply ungodly. Regardless of whether homosexuality is right or wrong, the church has wronged homosexuals. As a Christian, I am grieved by this reality, and I am ashamed of what my fellow brothers and sisters have done in the name of our Lord.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Proceed with Caution: this is a "Jesus" post
The following is an excerpt from a paper I wrote recently for one of my classes. I hesitate to post it because of its controversial nature. I don't want my blog to turn into place for angry debate. However, homosexuality has been a topic dear to me for a long time. Avoiding it because of potential conflict is arguably more destructive than risking hot tempers. And so, without further ado:
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3 comments:
I feel the same way, Karissa. Jesus is love. Thanks for sharing. Aimee
I'm so glad to finally read something from this perspective! I don't think there are enough inclusive Christian voices out there.
Yes! Exactly! This is a big issue right now, what with the controversy over my college's rival, Shorter University, releasing a personal Lifestyle Statement to their faculty, saying that they face termination if they don't reject premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality as wrong. The HRC even picked up this story this week, and has started numerous petitions. Shorter, as a private Baptist university, is not doing anything illegal by creating this mandate for their staff--but they are now getting national recognition because a number of people, myself included, feel that they are sending a dangerous message that is wrong on all counts, a message that a lot of their faculty and students don't even support! Google it if you haven't, it's kind of scary to read about. The new administration for the college that put this into place has so far not done anything to say that they are reconsidering their mandate. This just hits me so hard because this is causing so much dissension in the town I went to college in. They are doing a disservice to the LGBT community, the community of students and staff that are now involved in a witch hunt and being looked at negatively in the public eye, and Christianity as a whole. Discriminating and encouraging hate against any group of people for any reason is not serving God in any way, in my opinion.
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