There is much to learn about the gay
lifestyle and the web site above is a good place
to start. I do not recommend anything here; .I
am an objective observer and I am simply
providing study aids for those who may want to,
or need to, understand the gay lifestyle because
of its affect on themselves or their family
members.
As I read a little in the site mentioned
above, I found that I did not really know much
at all about the issue. I also found that many
ministers admit they also knew little and that
they have changed their positions as a result of
this information. I must admit my eyes were
opened to several things that I thought I knew
but did not.
The gay church mentioned in this site
promotes the belief in being born again and
believing in the finished work of Christ in
reconciling us, as sinners, to God through His
sacrificial death on the cross. On that basis I
cannot come out against such a set of published
beliefs, nor can any Christian who loves Jesus
as saviour.
There are two important issues in my
opinion:
1) we as traditional heterosexual believers
are not well-informed concerning the arguments
and word contexts that the gay community has
researched and provided for study,
2) we practice bigotry and outright hypocrisy
by saying we believe in Jesus commandment to
love our neighbor, even our enemies, and treat
those who are trying the best they can to
practice such a loving attitude in the presence
of our sometimes hateful words and actions.
Before launching out on a campaign against
those with different beliefs and lifestyles as
our own, let us first educate ourselves on what
it is we are objecting to and what evidence is
there for such objections. Let us dig deeper
than the Sunday sermon written by someone little
educated outside of Church dogma. Second, we
should remember it is our Christian duty to
accept believers and unbelievers because they
are children of God, regardless of their
situation or beliefs--they are still God's
children. They are to be loved and treated with
respect as we would like to be treated.
My response, I must admit, here is not what
it would have been before admitting to myself
that I needed more information and reading some
of the materials in the above site. I suggest
everyone struggling with how to think and act
regarding the gay lifestyle stop and proactively
seek out the educational materials readily
available that clearly show the gay relationship
is often based on Christian beliefs:
responsibility and true loving care and concern
for the partner, which is sadly more than can be
said for a lot of heterosexual relationships and
marriages.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not promoting
the gay lifestyle at all. I cannot understand
why it exists, since it does not have any appeal
to me, but the fact is it does exist and perhaps
those involved do not fully understand it
either. This is not a simple matter to deal
with. We all need to prayerfully put our
conditioning aside long enough to let into our
minds some of the truths
based on the experiences of others, both in and
out of such relationships, about this lifestyle.
Shooting from the hip with little or no factual
information about the matter is not acting
responsibly in this matter and can
lead to great suffering and remorse.
I pray we can all develop some of the wisdom
of Solomon and act in accordance with our great
Teacher and Saviour's commandment to love one
another, both friend and enemy alike. That is a
big order but we must keep trying while we still
have the breath of life and the desire to follow
in His footsteps.
With love,
Robert