Found this article on The Rubicon to be challenging and fascinating :: Growing up gay in the churchFor too long, the gay community has been marginalised in societies all over the world, not least in developing world contexts. They have been rejected and brutalised by society. In western society things have gotten a lot better recently but the overtones of disapproval and rejection are still to be seen around us.This is the Salvation Army I am proud of! A place where the marginalised and rejected can find love and acceptance.
The thing that saddens me the most is that the one place people who experience this rejection should be able to come for safety, is the place that can be one of the biggest perpetrators of this bigotry; The church.../
/...The major issues that we should be considering when dealing with gay people in the church and in society are the issues of love, grace, acceptance, salvation and justice.../
/...I find it intriguing that gay society in the 70s adopted the rainbow as what is now one of our most well known symbols. Many Christians were upset that their symbol of God’s promise to the world had been hijacked. The gay community largely chose the rainbow because of its many colours, and we wanted to symbolise diversity in humanity. However, I see it as largely prophetic that this promise of God’s eternal and irrevocable love, grace and mercy to humanity is chosen as the banner for this particular community.
Read the article and make up your own mind on the subject... oh and give all the lovely people you know with rainbow guitar straps a big hug and tell them that you love them and accept them just as they are :-)
3 comments:
I talked about this before, and theres no reason why they shouldnt be accepted, romans 3:23 says ALL have sinned, nobody has done worse than anyone else, from gods point of view, we all suck at te not sinning. I've been to youth fellowships where gay people have been made welcome, and they have become christians, and god helps them with their feelings, they are obviously no longer "practicing" gays.
celibacy is a spiritual gift and no surprises, it is a gift given to these people, they are made comfortable not being in a relationship.
Gospel for the whosoever, not gospel for the straight.
thats my view anyway.
i think it's a sad state of affairs when our churches start throwing people out because they refuse to show love to someone who's that little bit different. Isn't that what Jesus was all about?
i believe it's ok to be gay and christian. i have several gay christian friends who love God. The scriptures like leviticus, refer to the old law. if we are going to point out that prohibition, then we had better follow the rest of the laws. AND, I BELIEVE that the scripture are referring to temple prostitutes. AND, what if paul saying unnatural that it's unnatural for a gay person to be with someone of the opposite sex. we can't be arrogant and claim we have the "right" interpretation when these interpretations came in a modern, enlightenment period. saying we hate the sin and love the sinner sounds so cliched to gay people and sends a message of not loving the whole person. let's err on the side of love, compassion, valor and tolerance. Let's accept ALL with open arms with no expectations! Ok, i am stepping doewn off my soapbox, for now! LOL!
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