When speaking about all that is going on today in the USA about gay rights and transgender rights, I have found that most of the time both groups are majorly discriminated against.
A lot of christians seem to think it is best to come against these two groups as a way of showing that we are in favor of christian values and we take a stand for God.
Personally, as a christian I think this is completely wrong and so against what Jesus taught and showed us in regard to how to treat other people.
He accepted and spent time with all kinds of people, mostly people who the religious crowd would not even talk to let alone spend time.
Why is it we think taking a stand against someone or something is the way to show true christian love and acceptance? Why is it in a world with so many diverse people and beliefs we feel the need to openly defend our way as if it is the only way?
As a christian I do believe in living for God and showing His love to everyone. That does not mean everything I do and believe is right. That does not mean other people and beliefs are wrong. No matter what we choose to believe or how we choose to live, everyone deserves to be treated with respect and accepted as is.
A good friend of mine is a firefighter and he shared a paragraph from an ethics class he recently attended. It reads: Equal Services for All. Always ensure that the services you and your crew are providing are equal for everyone on the scene. Never discriminate because of race, color, religion, age, sex, or disability. If you become aware of another firefighter discriminating against someone, rectify the situation immediately, and report it to your chief. Discrimination should never be tolerated.
To me this sounds more like it came from Jesus telling his followers how to treat others.
I believe that standing up for our christian values should be positive not negative. It is not showing what we are against, being mean, condemning, unaccepting and discriminating. It is showing what we are for in Christ, being caring, kind and showing love and acceptance to everyone.
We certainly are not all going to agree on everything. We are all going to make our choices on what to believe and how to live based on what we feel is right or best for us. Yet in those differences there is no reason we cannot respect, accept and love each other knowing that God loves each and every one of us. As Mike Warnke said many years ago “if you’re good enough for God, then you’re good enough for me”. That might not be the best way of saying it but if God loves us all, we should be loving and accepting of others also.
It is time to set aside our differences, set aside discrimination, set aside prejudices and doctrinal beliefs and show the love of God to everyone we meet.
While it is true that Jesus sought out those whom were called “sinners” by the establishment, what we cannot lose sight of is that His intent there was to bring them to repentance for their sin (Mark 2:15–17). In each encounter, He bade people to go forth and “sin no more”. This is a key element in repentance, to turn away from sin and refuse to continue in it. He called them out on their sins, called them to repentance, and ordered them to make it effectual by striving to avoid committing further sin. Of course, no human is capable achieving such a goal, but this doesn’t mean that we ought to stop trying. It means we ought to hate the sin we commit, and the sins of those committed around us. It means that our hearts and minds must change, so that we turn our eyes to the Lord and no other, and that we spend the rest of our lives repenting for our sins and seeking right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is not anyone who is more loving than God, and Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, who came here to set the example for how we are to live under His New Covenant. Note that He was kind, but He was never nice (there is a huge difference). He called a Canaanite woman a dog (Matt. 15:21-28), called the religious leaders snakes, hypocrites, and whitewashed tombs (Matt 23:1-36). He overturned tables in the Temple and chased people out with a whip (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:12-25). He granted forgiveness to the people who sought it, and withheld it from those who didn’t. Recall the rich man who asked Him how he could gain entry into the Kingdom. Jesus told him to sell all of his belongings and follow Him. He went away unhappy because he couldn’t let go of his material wealth and self-righteousness (Matt. 19:16-22). With the exception of the Canaanite woman, He was speaking condemnation to all of the people in those encounters, and in none of those encounters was He nice. He declared the Canaanite woman righteous by the faith she showed Him despite His initial rejection of her.
I’ll finish by saying this. Jesus wasn’t accepting of people and their sins. Everywhere He went He called people out on their sinful behavior and demanded that they repent. This wasn’t a call to repent a single time, this was a call to repent daily for the remainder of our lives. He made statements that drew large crowds of people, and He made statements that drove them all away. In all instances, He was doing nothing more than speaking unvarnished Truth. In light of the topic of this post, He wouldn’t have welcomed members of the LGBTQA+ communities unless they were ready to repent. Never forget that He was God in the flesh, and that God declared their behaviors an abomination.
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Very well put. As Christians, we are so eager to let others know what we are against and not showing the love Christ has for ALL of us. Hate the sin, not the sinner! Thank you for reminding me what we are here for.
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Thanks Richard. Yes, it seems sometimes we Christians forget what we are to be known for….love for one another.
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Whenever I see things about gay rights and transgender issues I find myself wanting to ask the question, “How many babies are born where the medical staff initially are uncertain of the sex?” I understand the figure is in the region of 1 in 3,000. Who are we to judge how these people should be treated when they develop their own personalities?
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Thanks Peter, yes, we do not know or understand everything, but we can love and accept everyone for who they are. Thanks for the comment.
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Yeah! Right on the button!
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Thank you Jem.
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I agree with you, that Christians should treat all people with dignity and respect. In fact, Christians are to be known for their love. In 1 Cor 6:9-11 it says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such WERE some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
What this means is that even 2,000 years ago, when this was written, it didn’t matter what sins people were involved in. When they surrendered their lives to Christ they changed. He changed their desires and provided the Holy Spirit power to change their actions. This still happens today. You see, it is an act of love to attempt to share God’s truth with people…so they can be saved for all eternity. We are to love the sinner–but hate the sin.
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Thank you Kathleen. I appreciate your comment. Love…doesn’t mean we all agree but we can treat others with respect.
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Here we go again with this. Really, Kathleen, you are not the one to bring change, nor does your pointing out everyone’s sin bring change to them. You should just be loving them, in spite of all the sins you see, just as you would want others and God to love you, warts and all. I know you’ve got warts.
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