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Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Where I stand

I’ve been thinking about this blog post for awhile now. It’s been on my heart and mind but I kept forgetting to put this out here. I know some of what I am going to say may upset, and shock some people. While for some it will be no big secret. But as someone who is called by God to speak the truth, I feel I need to put it out there.

First let me say that when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, I am on no one’s side but the Lord, period. This is something I’ve prayed, fasted, and sought Him concerning countless times. My view is not of my own personal feelings.
So what do I believe? I believe the “act” of homosexuality is a sin. It is a sin like lying, stealing, cheating, and fornicating. Do I believe some folks are born homosexuals? No but I believe we are all born with a sin that we will struggle with and homosexuality is one of those. Do I believe being homosexual means a person is going to hell? Absolutely not. I don’t believe all Christians are going to heaven either. Do I believe someone can be freed from homosexuality? Yes because I believe with God ALL things are possible. What scripture did I use to come to my conclusion? Well I went to Genesis in the beginning. I believe God was clear on the order of things when he gave Eve to Adam. Are you against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” Yes I am. I believe sexual orientation does not affect someone’s military performance. The military has a set of rules and guidelines for everyone to follow while in uniform. Who someone lies down with at night, is not my problem. They let the whoremongers openly serve so why not the gays. How do I as a Christian deal with someone who is homosexual? I love them, encourage them and pray for them like I do everyone else in my life. We go out to eat, watch movies, go to shows, I tweet and facebook them etc. They are human just like me and I love them.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me rebuke some things I see on both sides of the issue that annoy the spit out of me.
1)Just because I believe homosexuality is a sin, doesn’t make me a homophobe. You know I really hate that word. Because “phobe” implies fear and I don’t fear homosexuals at all. I don’t hate them either. Why is it when it comes to this issue, if you don’t agree, you are an evil, hatemonger? We can disagree without one hating the other. I’m against fornication but I don’t hate fornicators.

2)Christians, please stop acting like we have a monopoly on God. I don’t like signs like, “God hates f#gs” and etc. Really? I mean the last time I read my bible, it said for God so love the world. Not just those who are straight. Stop it!!! We need to focus more on showing God’s love. How can you draw people when you tell them God hates them? Who would want to serve a God like that? I am heartbroken to hear that young people are killing themselves after being bullied by mean and hateful people. That is not of God.

3)To some of my gay brothers and sisters, I get it, you are gay. Do you have to remind me and put it in my face all the time? I mean, I’m straight but you don’t see me rocking shirts, driving with a bumper sticker or uses it as an excuse every time someone hurts my feelings. It has nothing to do with who you choose to sleep with. Most people don’t care. I just want to enjoy your company and not hear about your exploits and this and that. I feel the same with my straight friends. What happens in your bedroom should stay in your bedroom.

4)Why do some Christians act like the only sins God is against are homosexuality and abortion? I mean there are signs, bumper stickers and protests against these two but what about the others? So did we just give a pass to lying and cheating? Now I’m not saying you can’t be against them but if you give a pass to the others, something’s not right. ALL sin is unrighteousness. Yes you who fornicate with your boyfriend or girlfriend of x amount of years. Yeah you who lie to your kids and have them believe in Santa Claus. Yes you who are claiming your sister’s kids on your taxes so you can get more money back. Yup that is all sin.

5)Christians aren’t the only ones against gay marriage etc. I for one have never rallied against it or marched etc. There are atheists, Buddhists, and other religions that are against it as well. Why? I don’t know. Why is the sky blue? That is just the way it is. We may be more vocal but we are not alone.

6)Christians please stop saying gay marriage takes away from your heterosexual marriage. I don’t care if the government starts allowing folks to marry computers; my marriage won’t be any less because of it. Yes I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. But if 2 women decide to get married, so be it. Only God has the final say on what is truly a marriage. We really need to check ourselves and stop giving folks power over the value we place on things in our lives.

7)Gays, please understand everyone won’t like you and guess what, they don’t have to. There is no law that says we have to get along. Folks will be how they want to be no matter what. You just be you, love them and pray for them. Stop trying to force feed things down their throats in order to get them to accept you because they won’t. That is life. There are plenty of people who don’t like me but I choose to focus my energy on those that do.

8)Please stop with the foolish arguments. I heard someone say, “well if you do x, y, z then you shouldn’t be against homosexuality because you are a sinner as well.” Really? I mean that’s like saying I shouldn’t speak out against rape and murder either. That’s foolish. If someone believes something is a sin, they have every right to do so whether they have sinned or not. You can choose to ignore them. We throw around the word hypocrite way too quickly.

So there you have it. With all that said and done, I choose to focus on loving people and telling them of the goodness of Christ. Gay, straight, sideways, whatever, that is what I do. I don't have all of the answers and I don't pretend to be right. I have struggles, I sin and I repent constantly. But no matter what you choose to believe, I trust God. I reserve the final say and judgement to Him. He is the only one that has a heaven or hell to put anyone in. And I believe that even in all of our mess, He loves us and He will continue to show His love by giving us chance after chance after chance up until the very end to accept Him as our Savior so we may live with Him for eternity in Heaven. We need to show more of His love to everyone, not just those we deem worthy because truth of the matter is, none of us are.

7 comments:

bigDEElight said...

Excellent post, in whole. I'm thankful not only for your obedience but the ability to see the issue from both sides. It's extremely hard to be a middle ground Christian (or progressive, whatever they wanna call it) in a world of extremes. Westernized thought forces us to pick an either or, right or wrong. Black or white. Everything is seen in the context of competition whereas Afrocentric thought forces the thought process to view things in terms of balance, that the existence of one requires the presence of the other. I think you're extremely balanced in your analysis -- and that's good.

Queeny20 said...

Yes and as you know I have been attacked on both sides. Not just on this issue but the fact that I am friends with people of different religions as well. I thank God that I am able to look beyond what man sees and look at the soul of a person because that's what we are, souls. They, on both extreme ends can choose to fight, be mean, and call names and see where that gets them. I choose Love and I always will. Q

Lisa Nicole Bell said...

Wow. Love this & love what Big Dee said. Dee, this idea of being an "evolved" or "progressive" Christian really is lost on a lot of people, and it can be incredibly frustrating. I am among that "evolved" set and people often make outrageous assumptions about what I believe in spite of my refusal to push my personal belief/moral system off on anyone else. It's sad that the word "Christian" is so charged now and has come to have so many connotations.

Q, you are a courageous woman who really gets this thing of loving people. You are one of few people of God that I personally know who understand how to THINK with their head and still feel with their heart. You've managed to strike a perfect balance without compromising your walk. That's highly commendable.

This gives me interesting food for thought. I am indifferent to homosexual people and their choices and have several homosexual friends. I guess part of it is that I don't see them as "gay" - I see them as, well, them. And perhaps that's the issue of many Christians...looking at people and seeing a big red G over their head or something instead of really being able to have an authentic relationship with that person independent of their orientation. It's fascinating that you brought up other religions because I have often drawn this parallel as I have friends who are agnostic, Muslim, etc and as long as they respect my beliefs, we have no problems at all. I think the extremists have to remember that there was a time before they were "saved" that they didn't have the knowledge and wisdom they have now. It's easy to point fingers and be self-righteous, but we're all doing the best we can with the information we have at the time.

Excellent post, Q! I'll be initiating this discussion with some friends this week.

Queeny20 said...

Thank you Lisa. I see folks the same way, as them. But sadly folks are always trying to force everyone to take a side. I believe you can feel strongly about something and not put down or cast someone out who doesn't agree. I love people period. We don't have to agree, we don't have to see eye to eye but as long as we can respect each other in the process, it will still be all love. Please keep me posted on how your discussion goes. Thanks for your kind words. Q

Abe said...

I agree with you. With all of the stereotyping going on.. I just want people to know I can be friends with the LGBT community and not be a part of that community. People are people and we all have a struggle to survive in this day and time. Thanks for putting into words what you feel about the topic. I hope this helps others as well.

Unknown said...

Why you quit blogging?

Anonymous said...

I so agree with your statements. Some people put down that which they don't understand. Thank you for saying it.