It’s the silence of your friends that you will remember.
A post by Neil Hart on homosexuality, LGBT, lesbian and gay stuff and the Lutheran Church of Australia.
Remember Jim Bakker? He was one of the original televangelists. Then he got done for mail fraud.
Anyway, he has a son. His name is Jay. He’s a televangelist too. Or, at least, he was. He had quite a successful ministry a few years ago. (How does one measure the successful of a ministry? Numbers of bottoms on pews? Offerings?)
So, Jay used to be a success.
But then…
he started speaking the truth.
I have gay friends… millions of them.
I ‘m not gonna be silent.
What about you?
The truth may set you free, but if your following is dedicated to preserving a lie you may find yourself alone for a while. I’m sure things will pick up for Jay. He just needs to find the right Christians, and they are out there.
I don’t want to be silent. I want to speak up. But I am scared, because I don’t have enough knowledge, and I am worried about what other (churchy) people think of me, I don’t want to look stupid. But…
What I do know is that God loves everybody gay or straight. I do know that God would want us to love others, gay or straight, as He has loved us. I do know that God would want us to invite, welcome, anybody, gay or straight to our church. To be thankful, cherish, include, in fact not even give a dam whether they are gay or straight.
And as ignorant as I am, I do know that there are a lot of people out there, a lot smarter than me, but boy are they stupid when it comes to the basic’s of Gods word, and you gotta wonder what their hearts look like on the inside…where only God can see.
i know that feeling… worrying what everyone thinks of me… wanting to be well thought of. Its in everyone. its our survival instinct and its strong. Because of that I think I can start to understand the fear of gay teens as they come to terms with their sexuality.
god makes us what we are.
men make mistakes god doesn t
tolerance towards all would make this world a better place .
i don t follow any particular banner. but its seems to me that christ came to us all. not just a select few.
Hey Greg, not disagreeing with you, but I think our earthly relationships are a bit more important than you seem to be suggesting. I haven’t thought this reply out fully but I heard someone say that God first loved us so we love. An order was given. Theologically I don’t disagree but I think that if we can’t love those people God has placed around us how can we expect to love God who we can’t see. Family relationships teach more about love and commitment than holding onto a theological assumption. And Gay people need relationships as much as anyone else. Marriage relationships are for most people abundantly important – gay or straight. Precisely because the world is a broken place we need relationships.
God does not make mistakes, but this world is a broken place. Man’s choices broke it. God gave us choices to make. To follow Him or not to. To follow Him comes at some cost. It has cost many their lives physically. It cost all of us our lives. Jesus calls us to follow His example and die to ourselves. This life will never deliver all that we want or expect …. it cannot. To want or expect that is to set one up for disappointment. It not about this life, it about preparation for the next. Just as Jesus the Son of God was obedient to His Father we are called to follow His example and do the same with all that this entails: persecution, rejection, hatred, pain, suffering, disappointments……. But becasue we know Him and follow His will we will experience love, joy, peace even though difficult times. A relationship with God and obedience to His will is the only way and takes precedence over any other relationship. Earthly relationships will end but a relationship with God is eternal. It does not matter what people think of you only what God thinks. We get to choose make sure Christ is central in your choices.
I am not saying that human relationships are not important but as humans we do let each other down. In fact human relationships give us opportunities to become more Christ-like: that is die to self, to serve and forgive. God never lets us down, God never disappoints; it our reactions to Him, our choices and our inability to die to self which leads to disappointments. I think all Christ followers have “felt” disappointed by God or let down. I know I have only to discover he had something much better in store for me. Thats when my faith has grown the most: through these experiences. The point is these relationships are secondary to a relationship with God. To emphasis or place a human relationship before a relationship with God is making that relationship a idol. It is Christmas and as we look around we see for some people Christmas is a terribly tough time becasue of relationships that have gone sour. Christ ordained that He was to be central in our lives and in our relationships and we are yield to Him and be obedient to Him in all things.
Im just imagining talking to my kids. I tell them that I love them and that I want them to love me. But I tell them that they should each love me more than they love each other and more than they love their own partners or their own children.
What does that make me? What kind of love is that? Is that what God is like? Is that what he demands?
Your not God Neil so therefore you cannot even make that comparison. That not even close to an analogy. You and I have failed our children, our spouses and our friends. God never has. And yes that what He wants (not sure about the demands) the first commandment makes this pretty clear and the scriptures are pretty clear on this as well. The truth: Without God their is no such things as love, God is the source of all love, the love between husband and wife, the love between fathers and children and the love between siblings and friends. All love at different levels and intensity. However the highest form of love is between us and God. For this purpose we were created. Fellowship with Him primarily allows us to love unconditionally and love not only those who conform or can do stuff for us or reciprocate our love: the ability to love the seemingly unlovable. Christ died for them as well.
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:37-39
Without God their would not be a wife, a daughter or son. Jesus says it perfectly. Seems to me though that you make it into an either or question/statement. I would say you cannot love the people in your life to the maximum unless you love God the most.
Just as your children have the free will choice about love and whom to love so have you and I. I choose Christ first. I pray my wife and children also choose to love God first and above all else.
Thanks for your response. I am really interested in receiving a response to my earlier question about hermeneutics (how you read the bible,,, how you choose certain texts from the Bible above others.)
Being a simple person I don’t spend a lot of time analyzing the bible in an academic way. The bible is a living book to me. I generally read the bible every year cover to cover using different reading plans and different versions, this year I chose the NCV as example. Next year KJV. Amazingly every year the same verses reveal new things to me. Yes I use some expository readings at times if I looking for something I don’t clearly understand, but only after asking God to reveal to me His truth. I also listen to sermons from a relatively diverse range of teachers. The essential element for me is praying prior to studying the word asking God to reveal to me His truths through the Holy Spirit. It’s my relationship with the Lord which counts. Praying to Him and hearing from Him. Obeying His directions in my life. Sometimes revelation only comes after I have been obedient to His leading and prompting and after I have read what I might have journalled years before. Just as we are unique I am sure God reveals Himself to us somewhat differently. The important aspect is that He does. For me I constantly ask that God would continually reveal Himself more fully to me and pray for a willingness to obey his promptings. On some issues I had to pray for a willingness to be willing to be willing to deal with things. It’s not easy but it is good! God knows my heart and my intent. I often say to people be careful about reading Christian Books or other predigested spiritual food. It bit like living on package food or take away; quick and easy but not always healthy. On the other hand I see reading the word for oneself is like organic food straight out of the garden sure It might have a bit of dirt on it and may not be perfect but is nourishing and God knows my heart and intent. The point is I am responsible for seeking God not others. And if you want a really good argument get three academic theologians in the same room. I pray for a child like faith and pray He continues to lead me as He has over the last 5 years, the time I earnestly asked Him to lead me and a committed to follow Him regardless of the cost. And He has been faithful, not always easy sometimes it has been extraordinarily hard but he has seen me through. But I know He wants what is best for me. All praise be to the Lord.
“Even if our house becomes a den of lions to us, we must stand up for our Lord. The peace-at-any-price people have no portion in this kingdom” [Spurgeon, 130]. Our love for Christ must be greater than our love for anything on this earth. “So let the husband love his wife, the father his child, and in turn the child the father, as long as human love does not overwhelm the attention that is owed to Christ” [Calvin, 312]. Some well recognized theologians. Bonhoeffer also make some similar claims and followed up by action being martyred for his belief.
All this above though only confirms to me what God had already revealed to me decades ago; it just took me a long time to put it into practice. Thank God he is patient!!!