From my tumblr archives (x):
I have something to say. Something that I have been formulating in my mind for a long time, and something that needs to be said.
I support Gay Marriage. I support the right for two homosexual men or women to receive legal rights because of their commitment to one another to be a family, and to publicly announce their love and commitment to the other.
I also believe homosexuality is a sin.
To my gay, lesbian, transexual friends, and strong supporters:
Please understand and respect that I don't personally support this lifestyle. I genuinely believe a homosexual lifestyle- that is one spent in a romantic relationship with someone of the same gender- is not a way God originally designed us. I believe in the Garden of Eden, before sin was introduced into our world and into our nature, there was no homosexuality. I believe that after the fall, homosexuality, along with thousands, millions (who's keeping count?) of sins, was introduced. I believe it is a warped, perverted part of our nature and of our sexuality. In the same way that I think anyone who sleeps with multiple partners outside of a committed marriage, has a polygamous marriage (and yes, I'm aware people in the bible did this, and God frowned upon it), etc. is experiencing a perverted version of sexuality. I use perverted in it's traditional definition "having been distorted from it's original course". In the same way that everything has been distorted after the fall, our sexuality has been, too. I also believe our sexual distortion is no different than any of our other distortions. Our world has a perverted or distorted idea of beauty and worth. Our world has a perverted or distorted view of success and happiness. Sin is sin, and God views it all the same.
I need you to respect and honor my right to hold this belief. But also know that I understand this is not a belief that you should be expected to hold; it's a belief and a practice that can only be carried out if you feel the conviction to submit to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and accept His gospel and Word as truth. And if you don't accept that, then his priority is not your sexual actions; it's your heart and eternal soul he's after. He will address all your sins, including your sexual ones, in his timing. You don't have to feel the conviction to change that behavior to become a Christian, just like I didn't have to feel the conviction to stop gossiping, or to stop having a short temper, or to stop thinking of myself more than others to become a Christian; they are all things that God is slowly working on in my heart in his good timing.
Please understand that me calling your lifestyle choice a sin is not an insult, a slam, a way for me to look down on you with disdain; I look at you no differently than I look at myself- someone deeply in need of the Grace and Love of Christ. I also have a nature and a life full of sin. It might seem insulting to you to call something a sin, but for me it is liberating; I feel free to name my sins because I know they are all forgiven in the Cross. And I know it doesn't feel like a sin, but simply a part of your nature. My pride, temper, and selfishness are also a part of my nature. My sinful nature, and God is doing his best to rid me of them as I desperately cling on (to them, and to Him).
While I believe your homosexuality is a sin, I don't necessarily believe it's God's first priority to fix that sin. God is dealing with a slew of broken vessels. And the beautiful thing about him is that his grace still works in and through these broken vessels. And, ultimately, Christ covers ALL sins, even the ones we may not recognize, as long as we recognize our need for Christ.
To my Christian friends:
It's time to accept something. We cannot, do not, must not try to control the state of the world. We cannot force a moral code or view onto others. We are not called to force the world to be "right", we are called to love others, and to share the gospel. What you are doing by denying homosexuals the right to marry is trying to force the country under a law that only supports the moral code recognized by (the majority of) Christians. But we are not a Christian country. We are a free country. Yes, our founding fathers were Christians- running from a country restricting their freedom to practice as they believed was right. Our constitution is not Christian. It supports freedom- yours to live and practice Christianity and your Christian beliefs, and every other religion or non-religion to practice theirs.
Also, homosexuality, particularly homosexuals in a committed, loving relationship and wanting to publicly declare that sentiment to the world, is NOT our biggest threat or enemy. If we were going to rank sins by gravity (which we really shouldn't, because all are equal in the eyes of the Lord), this is much more of a surface sin. At least this retains some glimmer of the image of God (relational, loving), even if it is a distorted one (man is not good alone, man and woman together complete the image of God, not man and man or woman and woman). There are many "worse" sins that retain little to no essence of the image of God- murder, abusing people physically and verbally, Sadism, etc.
The real issue you are afraid of is the loss of understanding, respect, and honor to sexuality in our society. The real "war" we need to be fighting is the lie that "Sex doesn't matter", "Sex doesn't mean anything", "It's just sex", etc. This is the root of many deeper, worse problems in our society. (This is not a new sin, it's all over the bible, as is homosexuality; our world, contrary to popular belief, is not "worse" than it once was; we have always been a bunch of sinners surviving and learning to live in the grace of God, and slowly being change to be more like Him.) Homosexuality is just a symptom, a side or surface fruit of much deeper problem. Sexuality has been perverted, yes, but denying gay marriage is not going to change that. It's not going to somehow "save" the country or our world. In fact, denying gay marriage is going to do nothing positive.
Let's review what it will do:
- Allow many people to live under the false presumption that things are okay, that they fixed/solved/stopped some solvable problem, when it really runs deep in ALL of us and manifests itself in many different way (we are all living a perverted life in some way, and we all need the cleansing blood of Christ and the power of the Spirit to change us)
- Allow people to live under the false idea that they have some control over the world and sin. Spoilers: we don't.
- Continue to show a face of hatred to many people deeply needing the love of Christ in their life. To the point that many young people will continue to be driven to the point of depression and suicide because of it.
If you believe homosexuality is a sin, you need to ask yourself, where does a sinner need to be? At the feet of Christ. And in the new testament, that is where you find them. If you are not gathering there as well, you need to ask yourself, do you see yourself as a sinner, too, or as someone who has somehow "achieved" righteousness? I'll give you another Spoiler: in scripture those people weren't with Christ, they were opposing him. And if you're not with Christ, what hope do you have?
*Edit: I have already had some wonderful responses to this post from friends who don't agree with my particulars, but want to pick my brain on the topic more, to help them understand better. I would love to continue the conversation. Feel free to email me at erinRwert at gmail :)*
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