"I'm going to stick with God's word on this one."
- comment I received on Facebook, in response to my support of marriage equality
-----------Is this my God?
Over and over again, I hear Christians claim that God and the bible oppose gay rights. And that anyone who doesn't agree with them is clearly not really following the bible. "So the real question," they say, "is whether we're going to follow God's standard or make up our own." Translation: "God agrees with me, and the rest of you are automatically wrong (and probably not even real Christians). End of discussion."
God is on their side, they say. But is that my God?
Does my God live in a bubble, unaware of the bullying that gay kids face in school? Does God know about his own children who hide part of who they are, for fear of rejection by his other children?
Does my God know that the church is the scariest place to come out? Does he know about parents who kick their kids out of the house upon learning said kids are gay?
Does my God talk about "the homosexual lifestyle" without ever realizing how offensive and insensitive that term is?
Is my God ignorant? Does he see it as "us vs them", a debate about "the Christian response to homosexuality"- a question of what WE should do about THOSE PEOPLE over there? Is he so blind that he doesn't realize every church has gay members?
Does my God think "the bible is clear", despite the fact that it never talks about loving, committed same-sex relationships? Does he know that people have come to different conclusions on this question?
Is this my God? Does my God disregard anyone who claims that the bible and their Christian faith have led them to support gay rights? Does he dismiss them as "false teachers", "led astray" by "the world", without even understanding their reasons for those beliefs?
Is my God unaware of the existence of gay Christians? Is he deaf to their prayers? Is he clueless about their struggles and their conclusions on the question of what in the world they're supposed to do? Does he not see that some of them, through prayer, studying the bible, and doing their best to obey God, conclude that no, they need to be single and celibate, and some of them, through prayer, studying the bible, and doing their best to obey God, conclude that yes, God blesses same-sex marriages?
Does my God abandon everyone who comes to the "wrong" answer? Does he disregard their experiences and all of their devotion to him, concluding that no "real Christian" could take the stance they have taken? Does he assume that anyone who disagrees has evil motives for doing so?
Is this my God?
Is my God blind? Is he ignorant? Is he unaware of reality? Is he so caught up in the rules and "God's ideal" that he has no capacity for compassion? Does he refuse to hear anyone's personal experiences when they don't fit into a tidy view of how the world is supposed to be?
Is this my God?
This is a great piece, I really enjoyed it. I have a few friends who fall into the "well that's an interesting argument, but the Bible says no" school of thought when it comes to homosexuality. They are good folk who simply can't see how flawed their talk of the "homosexual lifestyle", and of "redefining marriage", and their declarations about what is "good for" people, truly is.
ReplyDeleteI shared a quote on my status I got from RHE (1 cor 13 ...love is, but with 'God is' instead):
ReplyDeleteGod is patient. God is kind. God does not envy or boast. God is not proud. God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps NO record of wrongs. God does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
a 'friend' fired off this status in response.
"Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you." - Deuteronomy 28:63
God is for His own glory. He does as His perfect will desires. "The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy" (Psalm 145:20). He does as He pleases to fulfill His greatest desire: that His own glory would be maximized.
we are worshipping two different Gods here. we really are. and THAT God, I want nothing to do with him.
Great article! I noticed you have numerous articles that
ReplyDeletewould be of interest to teens and families. We have a website,
www.FamilyFirstAid.org, which I believe would be a great resource for your
website visitors. Please check it out and consider adding us as resource to
your blog list.
Thanks,
Brenda W.