SO, I've been visiting a dear friend of mine for a couple days. Last night he brought me to meet some of his gay friends, they get together one day a week and just hang out and talk and sometimes go out to the gar bar afterwards. It was, a very interesting experience. It was me and 8 gay guys. 5 of the 8 had been married - the shortest was 2 years and the longest was like 15 years, now they are all divorced, of those 5 I think that 4 of them had children. 1 of them was a retired southern baptist minister, 1 was a resigned deacon, 1 was/is a priest, and I think there was one more "religious" person in there. 6 of them were raised in the church. 3 of them still go to bible studies.
For having just met these men, they were all very nice and made me feel welcome (even though i was a girl joining in on a guy's gay group.) They talked about coming out to their parents, family and friends. About the difficulties and the strain that it caused. They talked about how even though they dated girls it was more because that's what they were supposed to do. THere was even some conversation about being condemned from family/friends and the church. ANd how a few of them had lost their jobs because of sexual orientation. Then the conversation turned to complaining about ex-wives lol!
But, as I was sitting there listening to everything they were saying, and soaking it all in - I was just in shock. One of them made the joke, about getting in to heaven, he said "ya, ya know there'll be a sign at the front gate that says homos use rear entrance" And we all laughed but then my brain just started to go.
Why is it wrong? For some reason the "because God said so" isn't really enough right now. I know that God created Adam and Even but not Adam and Steve - and that when two men (or women) get together they can't reproduce offspring in a natural way. But was has made the homosexual population get pushed even further away - more than a prostitute, or an alcoholic, or anything like that?
It just doesn't make sense to me - and there will be a block until it does. Especially because they gay friend that i have has been one of th ebest friends I could ever have - and he displays more attributes of Christ naturally, more than many Christians i have met. It's kind of frustrating and it really twists my brain around.
2 comments:
I think one of the reasons homosexuals get pushed away even more is because its one of the few things that God calls an abomination. I'm not saying thats a valid reason, but I think people conclude that homosexuality is a worse sin than others, which I don't really agree.
I think homosexuality is the same as any other sexual sin. Anybody involved in a sexual sin (pornography, adultery, pre-maritial sex) gets pushed away, or at least looked down uponh heavily, which isn't right.
The reason I group homosexuality with sexual sin is because that's really the only thing about it that I see as outside of God's will. A man can love another man and they can spend their lives together, and thats fine. But if they are involved sexually, its happening outside of a marriage and is not pure. And a marriage is between a man and a woman, so I don't think theres any pure way for two men to behave sexually.
On the other hand, if there is no sex involved, I think its fine (but then it probably wouldn't be labeled as gay). And I think that there should be laws that allow some of the legal benefits of marriage to apply to two people. Not that two men or two women would be getting married, but they could inherit each others stuff or possibly get tax breaks and stuff. I don't know about adoption though, I haven't thought about that much.
Just because someone says they are gay, it doesn't mean they aren't or can't be Christian. If it involves two men being sexually active, it does mean they are in sin, and if they are not convicted of that, then I think it's hard to show evidence that they really have accepted Christ.
I would have to disagree that living in a homosexual relationship without the sex makes it ok in eyes of God. I think belittles the marriage relationship to one that is centered around sex and that was never God's intent. Yes sex is a part of the relationship but it is not the definitive thing.
I would also say that I know it may be difficult to simply accept the idea that God said so but the fact of the matter is that He did. He said in both the Old and New Testaments.
I think the attributes of Christ you see in your gay friend is actually a reflection of what we see in Genesis when we learn that man was created in the image of God. All men and women no matter their relationship with God will in some way (some more than others) reflect who Christ is. I see these same kinds of attributes in many of the lost people that I work with but that does not change the fact that I see them as lost. It also does not change the fact that unless they accept Christ as Lord and Savior that they will spend eternity in Hell.
I would never say that simply that a person is lost just because they are in a homosexual relationship. We can not make those kinds of judgments. What I would say is that they are having some issues with Jesus being the Lord of their life. I believe the Christian who simply says this is who I am is ignoring God's word and will be pay a hefty price for that disobedience in both this world and at the 2nd judgment.
With all of this being said I do not believe that we should discriminate based on sexual orientation. This does not mean that I support gay marriage because marriage is not a right but rather a privilege and as such preventing gay marriage is not discrimination. If it was then by the same logic there is nothing I should be denied because then all privileges should be given to everyone regardless.
I know that my views are not the most pc and that even some conservative Christians would disagree with me on some points. I am ok with this. I believe this is the place that God has brought me to and I have sought the root my beliefs in the Word of God. As such I am confident in what I believe yet I am always willing to hear what others have to say.
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