I have been contemplating what i will be doing on these days [4/15 and 4/16]. I cannot say that, in my position, I have been doing too well in terms of expressing my views of homosexuality. I will definitely be participating in Day of Silence, if no other reason than to say that, as a christian, i wouldn't condone the bullying of another person regardless of race, creed, sex, sexual orientation, or anything else. However, there is literally no one at my school who knows anything about Day of Truth or practices it.
To be honest, I want to partake in Day of Truth, even if i should partake in it alone. I know what a great trial that day could be, but i must also see it for the great miracle that it could also be. Experience has taught me that most gay people are extremely jaded when it comes to Christianity, or have accepted a twisted theology that tries to discredit a truth of God. Homosexuals definitely seem to love to hate those who hated them first, and, to them, it seemed like God abandoned them a long time ago when he preserved the Words of Leviticus 18:22
Do not lie with a man as one does with a women; that is detestable20:13
If a man lies with another man, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads., and Romans 1:21-27
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles..
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves due punishment for their perversion.
But, to the many people that I'm trying to reach with this day, what I want them to know is that God hasn't stopped loving them. These verses have served their purpose of laying down the law that man was supposed to live up to in the old testament. God hasn't changed his view about homosexuality and how it is wrong.However,that isn't all that God has to say about his dealings with homosexuals. When Jesus came down, he set us free from the law by dying on the cross. All of a sudden, our salvation wasn't solely decided by how well we upheld the laws [which would've needed to be done perfectly], but rather on our decision to accept God's gift of his son dying for our sins, and our further decision to honor such a sacrifice by becoming a living sacrifice for God.
Homosexuals are under the impression Christians are anti-gay, and you know what? I think that we are, but we aren't anti-human. Good Christians know that their first and foremost priority is to give themselves as servants to those around them in hope of being a living example of Christs love.
A great Bible verse to remember in terms of homosexuality and Jesus would be found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Don't you know that the wicked will not enter the kingdom of heaven? Do not be deceived: neither sexually immoral, nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlerers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.What is important to note here, first off is that many different kinds of people wouldn't make it into heaven based on the first part of this quote. At one time or another, we were ALL part of this group. We were greedy in our hearts, sly with our words, and adulterous in our minds. We would never be admitted into heaven. However, we can say that there has definitely been a saving grace [see where i added the italics in the quote? XD]: God saved us anyway! The rest of the verse goes on to say that God took us out of that condition by sending his son to die on the cross.
However, i have long since discovered that many homosexuals make their homosexuality the defining factors of their lives. They go to Gay-friendly institutions, read almost exclusively gay-friendly literature. I personally don't see how I can hold an honest debate about God and sexuality when they, or i, fail to acquire adequate information on the opposing argument. Then we'd be a living example of Mark Twain's "Corn-pone Opinions":
Men think they think upon great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side; they arrive at convictions, but they are drawn from a partial view of the matter in hand and are of no particular value. They Swarm with their party, they feel with their party, they are happy with their party's approval; and where the party leads they will follow, whether for right or for honor, or through blood and dirt and a mush of mutilated morals.
I also know that a lot of homosexuals are really thrown by the fact that it seems like their sin is "detestable" as stated in the text. That isn't true-- just look in proverbs 6:16-19.
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes [pride]
a lying tongue
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush to evil,
a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers
God showed me that I could be more than simply defined by my sexuality, and i want to convey that to them. That is what i want that day to be about.
Tonight, readers, i leave you with the result of years of painful realizations and an acceptance of God on my part. I only ask for your well wishes in my endeavors your opinions on the subject [remember-- no Corn-pones!]
Good night, and Good voyages on the road to self-discovery and formulations of opinions that are entirely 100 per cent your own.
I am happy that you are both exploring your faith as well as working to deliver "good fruit" as it were, no pun intended.
ReplyDeleteThat said, a fundamental problem that you face is that it is accepted that heterosexual desires are permissible, but homosexual desires are a sin based upon this understanding of God's word and intentions. Were I gay, this would be both offensive and a deal breaker. Heterosexuals are free to find the human touch and that safe harbor and that person who will help them hang on when moments are tough, but homosexuals at best may be "tolerated" until they are strong enough to get a handle on that "sin."
It's not enough to say, look I have sin too, we all do when were saying one of the chief ways a person defines themselves (that does not harm another being) is wrong.
I do not believe that defining one self by sexual orientation is terribly wrong, in fact it's rather common and taken for granted if one is heterosexual.
Good luck, but I wouldn't be too shocked if many don't see this as good news nor the truth.
I think i should be more clear in addressing that the sins are pretty much the same with Proverbs and 1 Corinthians. See, the playing field is leveled with these verses, and yes, they are still considered a sin that the person has to be set free from.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, i never said that they can't find that safe harbor or human touch, because God realizes what the issue is the lack of male affirmation. One of the reasons i even follow this is because i had other guy Christians who crossed the societal barriers and gave me hugs, hung out with me on a regular basis, and helped me rectify my relationship with my dad. People who weren't buying into the whole "machismo" subculture had to do these things or else i probably wouldn't be so devoted to God now.
and as for the not harming another human being, i couldn't imagine anything farther from the truth. The gay subculture is incredibly narcissistic, breeding a slew of jaded individuals who are more likely to experience a lifestyle of promiscuity than monogamous relationships, seeing as how their attraction is based almost solely on physical appearance.
And the forced entry of anal sex causes tiny tears in the rectum [breeding ground for bacteria] as well as the weakening of the immune system from the injection of sperm into the colon.
But you are right, one can only pray that they are willing to be receptive to this.
"and as for the not harming another human being, i couldn't imagine anything farther from the truth. The gay subculture is incredibly narcissistic, breeding a slew of jaded individuals who are more likely to experience a lifestyle of promiscuity than monogamous relationships, seeing as how their attraction is based almost solely on physical appearance."
ReplyDeleteWell, to start with your labeling gays as "subculture" presupposes straights are "culture" which I assume you're deeming appropriate because of numbers, which based on societal restrictions I would say is definitely not in the bounds of fair.
Next, even if I was to acknowledge your points as "bad" this would be the rough equivalent of judging heterosexuals based on their worse moments as well. Frankly gays have a long way to go before they cause near as much misery as heterosexuals have.
Next, jaded is linked to being gay? Get out.
Narcissistic? Oh that is so, only gay.
As to anal sex, is it OK when straights do it?
If not, please spread that word as strong as the anti gay word, because, there's a lot of straight people that do that as well.
And there's this invention called a condom.
And there's other kinds of sex gay people do, straight people essentially engage in similar behavior.
And what if they just want to hug and kiss?
We can go on and on.
Yes, there are gays that seem over the top, but part of that has come from a serious amount of repression.
There are heterosexuals that are over the top as well.
I don't really see you having the high ground on this, but you do have faith.
And the forced entry of anal sex causes tiny tears in the rectum [breeding ground for bacteria] as well as the weakening of the immune system from the injection of sperm into the colon.