It's been said that it is only when you come to the end of yourself that you are finally ready to let Jesus into the door of your heart . I was definitely at the end . Joel was at the end . I came to my first conclusion about homosexuality . You are who you are , you can't change your or anyone else's sexual orientation . Nothing , including begging God , brings change to this part of who you are . For all practical purposes it is as much a part of you as your skin color or your height . Soon after that I learned something else ; no one knows what causes homosexuality . We do know that all through history that there have been individuals with a homosexual orientation . Including when Jesus walked this earth .
So , at the end of myself , I opened the door to my heart . Jesus walked in and began to teach me about love , real love , His love . It soon became apparent to me that I ( we ) had taken the most radical , inclusive message of love , grace , and acceptance and morphed it into judgement and exclusiveness . I saw so clearly that I only loved people who were just like me - those who met my criteria for being worthy of love. And because I had so neatly been keeping God in my " God-box " , He only loved those who met my criteria as well . Or as Anne Lamont put it , " You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do . " I had created God in my own image ! It was time for a radical change . As I read my Bible and listened to Jesus speak I began to make a concerted effort to find out just what He had to say about homosexuality . I read and re-read the gospels and I found out what He had to say - NOTHING ! And I knew that it wasn't that He didn't know about it - it just wasn't part of His big 10 hit list of sins ! It became very clear that to Him , it isn't about sex ! It was about relationship and truly acting out of love towards others . I believe that is why the only commandment in the Big Ten dealing with sex concerns adultery . Adultery always results in a breakdown of love and trust and destroys relationships . This is what disturbed Jesus , not whether the one you love is the same gender !
This realization was huge to me ! God does love all people ! He loves gay people , lesbian people , bisexual people , transgendered people , and even heterosexual people ! He loves them just the way they are ! He loves Joel just the way he is ! He even loves me just the way I am !
I knew that my life was about to change . Change in a scary , trust Me sort of way . At the same time I was ready for a change ! Why wouldn't I want to exchange my small self-shaped life for a much larger God-shaped life ? So , I asked Him , " what now ? " And He said , " I think you already know , love people like I love you , and be fair and just and merciful and continue to walk humbly with me . "
Micah 6:8
next post - What this Means
Dear Joe,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you...God is so much bigger than we can possibly imagine and His Love is so tender. He finds us and waits for us,always with so much Love.It has been wonderful to hear and see the amazing way that He is growing you.I love you!
Lori
P.S. Anne Lamott is one of my favorite writers!
10 years ago today we were reunited with our youngest son after him being missing for 7 days. I am so glad that God brought him back to us. I thank God for how our family has grown in love for each other and for others during this time. I am glad that God opened our eyes in reference to gay people. That God show us that He loves ALL people not just the ones like us. Before we knew that our son was gay, I feared gay people even though I didn't know any personally. Somehow I came to believe that gay people were perverts and that they were out to harm our children. Where in reality the chances are much higher to happen by someone in the heterosexual population. During the past 10 years we have met many awesome people who happen to be gay. Our youngest son is such an awesome young man. He is kind, loving, sensitive, intelligent and brings much joy to us and others. I am thankful for the 2nd chance God gave us to love our family and to love anyone whom He brings in our path.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you say Joe.
ReplyDeleteIs it realy "Good News" if there are lists of pre-conditions and biological requirements for inclusion into the Kingdom? I don't think so---it's just more of the same bad news and legalism that we already know lots about. Is it really Transcendent love if I require people to fit my categories for who is "worthy", as a pre-condition to giving that love? That sounds like the same old thing we are already do in our culture. Hardly radical.
And I also have to ask myself, is it really Christ's unconditional love if I have ulterior motives in the back of my mind, that if I love a GLBT individual enough, they will change to be like me? That seems like contract, not love.
Les White