Hope for the Homosexual???

I just read an article that a friend of mine shared. It's about a town where people who are homosexuals have been bullied... while people who could help... turn a blind eye. This article broke my heart!!! This is just one of many I have read.  Of course we ALL KNOW this is the "Radical Left Wing media" putting these stories out... or DO WE??  I have gay friends who could tell you stories EXACTLY like this one!

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/one-towns-war-on-gay-teens-20120202

You know...  I KNOW that it's not JUST the "Evangelicals" that have a hard time with and are cruel to people who are GLBT... and I ALSO know that it's not ALL "Evangelicals"...   Heck... I still actually consider myself an "Evangelical" type! 
(see definitions #1  #2 and #5 ... skip the rest)

Evangelical

e·van·gel·i·cal

 [ee-van-jel-i-kuhl, ev-uhn-] Show IPA

adjective

1.

Also, e·van·gel·ic. pertaining to or in keeping with the gospel and its teachings.

2.

belonging to or designating the Christian churches that emphasize the teachings and authority of the Scriptures, especially of the new testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the atonement of Christ.

3.

designating Christians, especially of the late 1970s, eschewing the designation of fundamentalist but holding to a conservative interpretation of the Bible.

4.

pertaining to certain movements in the Protestant churches in the 18th and 19th centuries that stressed the importance of personal experience of guilt for sin, and of reconciliation to God through Christ.

5.

marked by ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause.

noun

6.

an adherent of evangelical doctrines or a person who belongs to an evangelical church or party.

But here's what finally threw me over the edge on what I think of this issue arising in our culture. It is the SILENCE toward injustice.  I mean,  WHO SHOULD be the ones to step in FRONT of the stones... not just NOT THROW THEM... but step in front of them??  Jesus' people... that's who! 

Here is a quote from this article that really cut to my heart...

"She would have been shocked to know the truth behind the adults' inaction: No one would come to her aid for fear of violating the district wide policy requiring school personnel to stay "neutral" on issues of homosexuality." 

I do feel that people tend to cater to the "World" rather than to Jesus.

Inaction, seems to be the hallmark of the Christian faith at times...  "Turn a blind eye... because they probably "deserved" what they got!" 

By, "The World",  I don't mean that "Nasty, Worldly Rolling Stones magazine" (sarcasm) that I swiped this article from... What I mean is, "don't rock the boat, don't speak out against the Status Quo and do not upset the "powers that be".  THAT kind of "Worldliness". 
Jesus was NOT AFRAID to do those things. He showed LOVE to the World and He was crucified for it.

Jesus said that WHAT EVER you do for the "LEAST" of these you DID for Me. That included people in JAIL so He wasn't just talking about the "goody goodies" of society and He wasn't talking about "fixing" people! I believe He was talking about loving them.

THEN, He said whatever you DO NOT do for the least of these... You did NOT do for me! That was a pretty serious statement to my heart!
I had to REALLY think about that. 

I don't expect every one to be me or have my convictions. I DO respect other peoples' thoughts on this, even though I might not agree. I just am not going to be silent about my thoughts and I really don't appreciate it when people try to condemn me because of them.  
Do unto others, remember??
 
It took me AWHILE to get here... and I have a lot of "repenting" to do for my folly in the past!
 
Part of what opened MY eyes, is that when I started to share stories like this... I lost friends... I had people unfriend me and block me on Facebook and talk about me and grow distant from me! ALL those people were... "church" people.  What  does THAT tell you??   It really opened my eyes that CHRISTIANS could cut me off just for what I thought about these things. (and again... not ALL Christians.) The scripture where Jesus told His followers that they need to "count the cost" to follow Him, struck me in an entirely new way! 

I believe some people didn't like that I still considered myself "one of them" and yet would speak out on this issue in our society.  They're doing that to Gay people too by the way.  You CAN'T be "one of us" and be Gay. We want our nice safe little Christian Club and if you don't plan on working on that  little "issue" of yours, you better best be moving on! That is certainly how I was made to feel.

I think, for me, the point people are missing is that PEOPLE don't decide who gets to be Christian and who doesn't... or who is a pleasing Christian to Christ and who isn't. As far as I remember the term Christian would mean "In Christ" or "Follower of Christ".  I personally have read in scripture that it is JESUS who knows those that are His, and Jesus who was the One that invited ALL KINDS of people to FOLLOW HIM.

The whole "sin" issue is SUCH a moot point in my thinking!  Usually put forth by the people who promote "Biblical World View" or "Holy Living" as the "only TRUE Christianity"... So in essence, a "Works Salvation"  (or a "works to keep your salvation, or prove your salvation") It often is used as a way of "kicking people out." or for "Church discipline" (don't even get me started on THAT topic!)
I am pretty sure these people will be very surprised on the Last Day (as I will be, I'm sure!) at just how far they were missing the mark. 
Which is the ACTUAL definition of sin by the way.   

The very people who talk so vehemently that the Word of God is perfect and inerrant, fail to follow the passage in James that says,  "For whoever keeps the WHOLE LAW and yet stumbles AT JUST ONE POINT... is guilty of breaking it ALL". That really should stop the whole "Can you be a Christian and...?"  debate. 

The idea of bringing it up CONSTANTLY as that ONE sin you can't KEEP doing and be a part of Christianity is such a joke to me! Whether a thing is a sin or not is NOT UP TO US TO DECIDE and even if it is sin...  JESUS DIED FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD... so just stop it already!

If you want to have a discussion on how you think society and culture thrives and what you consider a "moral" society... Fine, that can be an entirely different discussion... but please leave Jesus out of it. I don't recall Him making that a huge point! When He DID talk about the way we should live, He said things like, "get the plank out of your eye, and Do unto others, and turn the other cheek, and love your enemies and don't even lust because then you've committed adultery...
Good luck with that one!

Also, please do some research before just writing ANY THING off as "sin".  There are MANY interpretations out there on what exactly some of these passages were addressing!

This was a GREAT book I read called "Torn". It opened my eyes quite a bit on a subject I really didn't know much about!
It was written by a Christian man who just happens to be Gay...
http://www.amazon.com/Torn-Rescuing-Gospel-Gays-vs--Christians-Debate/dp/1455514306/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397849306&sr=8-3&keywords=Torn.

Or this book, "Unfair":
http://www.amazon.com/UNFAIR-Christians-LGBT-Question-ebook/dp/B00657R2RQ/?tag=johnshorebook-20

Please at least do yourself the favor of honestly looking into this. Perhaps you, your church our your Pastor does not have every answer right!?? 

So here's the conclusion I have come to.
I truly want to love like Jesus and to speak my heart (which I believe has Jesus in it)... 
I KNOW I can NEVER do that perfectly... but I DO want to try... even if it means people are going to look down on me or shun me out of their lives for that.

I have HOPE in LOVE.
I have Hope for the Homosexual
who hopes in Jesus!
And for those who don't realize they do yet as well!
Because God loves them JUST as they are.

"Just as you are."
Remember that phrase???
We Evangelicals often used it to get people to believe in Jesus!!