On an episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart defined “the gay agenda” as…
“Gay marriage, civil rights protection, Fleet Week expanded to Fleet Year, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for when it’s raining men, Kathy Griffin to host everything and a nationwide ban on pleated pants.”
After this week I would add one more: to simply be treated with respect by Christians.
Earlier this week on Facebook someone wondered out-loud what my agenda was for doing a blog series on homosexuality. A few people always think I raise these kinds of questions because I like controversy.
Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. What I like is clarity.
If I had any “agenda” at all it was simply to bring together my friends from various communities I’m a part of (pastor friends, non-Christian friends, CCV attenders, church leaders, etc.) to lend their insights so we could all find a little more clarity on this hot-button issue.
I think what we successfully accomplished this week was bringing to light two central fears:
Fears from evangelical Christians
It’s quite evident that evangelical Christians fear that their fellow Christians will somehow lose their conviction regarding the authority of scripture. This causes them, I think, to overstate their opinions to somehow jar others away from falling down a slippery slope.
Simple things like acknowledging the possibility that people are born gay, or that homosexual “families” can in fact be “families” seem to be major league “make or break” issues, when in my mind they really don’t need to be. As one insightful commenter put it, “Homosexuality is a sin, but the propensity for homosexuality is not.” I wholeheartedly agree.
Fears of evangelical Christians
The other fear that surfaced was the fear from homosexuals regarding evangelical Christians themselves.
I saw this not so much in the blog comments, but in the blitz of emails I received from homosexuals (or dear friends of homosexuals) who, justifiably so, have serious, legitimate fears of Christians.
The stories of name-calling and mistreatment are nothing short of sad. No wonder so many have written off churches as legitimate places to seek God. We Christians need to remind ourselves that it’s God’skindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), so while we attempt to lead homosexuals to Christ this should be what they experience from us.
One final thought…
For the homosexuals that read this blog, there’s a whole bunch of Christians around here that want you to know that you are respected and loved. We’re creeped out just as much by the crazies in the Christian community as you are.
You know that, right?
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