The very notion of being Christian and gay seems like a paradox - two seemingly contradictory things that should not be together and most certainly cannot be true. But Jesus continues to shatter my paradigms, understandings, and interpretations. He reveals to me how confining my understanding of things has been. "You're missing the point," He tells me. It wasn't that I was putting God in a box. I'm the one who is in the box - that box of assumptions of what the world is like.
Jesus shattered the disciples' paradigms who were often 'missing the point'. He said that it's not just about the act of murder but rather the anger in one's heart that is subject to judgment. He said that it's not just about committing adultery but rather the lust harbored in the heart. He said that it's not about avenging 'Eye for an eye, and tooth for tooth' but rather turning the other cheek and giving to those who would ask/borrow/steal from you. He said that instead of accepting the commonly held notion of 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy', rather 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'. Jesus shattered the Samaritan woman's paradigm when He said that God's true worshippers will neither worship at Mount Gerizim nor Jerusalem but rather in spirit and truth. The Lord shattered Peter's paradigm when He led him to enter the house of the Gentile centurion Cornelius (who had already been worshipping the Lord without Peter's validation) saying, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'
History tells us that some things that mankind so zealously believed were way off the mark. They were often 'missing the point'. And pride often prevented people from accepting a more accurate view of the world. The Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other way around. The world is actually round and not flat. Gentiles do have a place in the Kingdom of God with Israel. Women are not subservient to men and black people actually do have a soul. God does not live in houses made of stone and the Church is not the building.
Could conventional and traditional thought regarding being Christian and gay be wrong as well?
2 comments:
Hello Two Worlds Collision,
I know you must have had lots of people trying to share "truth" with you about what they believe it means to be a Christian, and I suppose I am no differentm but I would like to suggest a program to you, that we call Instant Access. You can find it on the web at: http://www.fefc.us . The program consists of a series of MP3 files that describe how to live as a branch in the Vine of Christ. The brief overview is "I can't, I don't have to, He can, and He will". I can't live the Christian life, I am not expected to do so, Jesus can live His life through me, and He will. Abiding is about trusting Christ to accomplish His plan through me, and learning to be, rather than trying to always do. I think you will find this teaching very enlightening and a fully bible based truth that everyone needs to hear. Please feel free to share these MP3 files with anyone you wish.
Always remember, that now that you have accepted Jesus as your saviour, your heart is good. Jesus said "the truth will set you free", You are free!
Tom Zimmer
P.S. you can get my email address in the profile of my blog; http://tomzimmer.blogspot.com/
Hi Dex2k, Tom Zimmer, and The Hopper,
Welcome to my blog! I hope you'll continue to come back and perhaps gain another perspective regarding those of us in the Body of Christ living with the reality of same sex attractions. It's been (and still is) a journey for me.
Tom - thanks for the referral over at your blog and thanks for letting me know about Instant Access. I'll check them out!
Hopper - i'm glad you came by and i'd love for you to interact and comment about anything you relate and/or disagree with in here!
Dex2k - If you'd like to see how this started for me, i suggest starting off with the July link in the Archives (on the right side column of the blog). If you've got the time, read through the archives and you can see the gradual progression to where i'm at today. By no means have i reached a destination or a conclusion but i've definitely been drawn closer to God in this process.
Dex2k, if you'd like to connect with people in the gay community, i suggest beginning with getting to know them. Establish some friendships with them but make a decision that you will NOT initiate a conversation about God for at least 3 months (unless they ask you). You can be free to talk about the role of faith in your own life, but that's just you being honest about who you are. But know this, they will sniff out an agenda to "save them" and their walls will go up so just get to know them as people worth knowing and trust Jesus enough to work on their hearts. Become friends with them regardless of whether or not they will eventually get saved or not. And, oh yeah, don't get offended or run off when you hear a hostility towards God and/or the Church from them. Just listen to them. You'll find that their hostility is towards Church people that have rejected them and not necessarily towards the Jesus who loves them.
Lastly, i suggest reading the links on the right side column for my paradigm about "Church". Remember, they are not going to church for a reason. So don't be the Church that they deteste.
Blessings all!
Eric
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