Love and relationship: or how do you deal with a homosexual

I am very proud of the Bible college I went to about many things. They put away so many of the silly rules while I was there. They are instituting planned mentoring. They eliminated a mountain o debt while I was there. I really could go on and on about things they are doing and planning on doing that are an inspiration, but there are a few things that shame me. One thing in particular is how they handled a group that came to the campus a couple of years ago. The group is called “Soul Force” and they were participating in the “Equality Ride.” If you are unfamiliar with the group, here is a link http://www.soulforce.org/. This is a group of gay, lesbian, bi, transgender individuals, and those that support them. They go to private schools that have rules prohibiting homosexual lifestyles, such as Bible colleges, and try to talk with students and administrators about changing the rules.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t support a change in the rules. I believe that the Bible prohibits those lifestyles and that we must not encourage sin. Moreover I believe that those attending Bible college should be Christian and so should be held accountable to the rules of the Book. On a side note, I disagree with the idea that Christians should work to get moral laws passed by a secular government so that the government will enforce the Bible’s teachings. This is clearly taught against in the Bible. Paul says in Corinthians, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you'” (NIV 5:12-13). And yet we spend so much time and energy as a church judging sinners and ignoring our own sin. How many big time evangelists have made a career of shouting down the sins of the world only to have it revealed that they are immersed in sin? We should look at the ministry of Jesus for the correct example. He goes to the sinners and even eats with them regularly. The Pharisees tear Him apart over this. There is a difference though. He doesn’t judge and condemn them like the Pharisees … like so many Christians today. No, He loves on them and builds a relationship with them. The best part though is that He never leaves them in their sin. When He goes away they are a changed person. This is what we are supposed to do. Finally, let’s look at something Jesus said. He tells us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45). Jesus never told us to persecute. He told us to expect persecution. Yet here we are in America persecuting people that don’t agree with us. I’m not sure if there is vomiting in heaven, but if there is this kinda stuff has to make Jesus so ill He vomits. Oh wait, I remember there is vomiting and this garbage does make God puke. In Revelation He says that He spews out those who are luke warm. If you pick and choose what verses to follow then you are luke warm.

Now that I have said that let me say what I didn’t like at my Bible college. This group planned on coming as part of their tour a couple of years ago. They sent a letter to the administration informing them of their plans and asking to meet with the administration and to be given the opportunity to meet with the students and tell them how they felt on issues of homosexuality et al. The administration told them they were not welcome so the group said they were coming to protest. I could agree with the administration for not wanting them to meet with students to some degree. Personally I think they should have looked at this as an outreach, but I wasn’t in charge so I wasn’t asked for my opinion. I do think the administration should have met with them personally though and I will say they were completely wrong in how they handled things because of their fear.

As an employee I was informed I would be helping with security on what was fondly called “G-day.” Yes that is “G” for “gay.” The plan was to stake out the entire campus with eyes watching for potential gay threat encroachment. We had all the student wear lanyards with their name tags and no one was allowed on campus without a lanyard. I never liked how this was planned, but I submitted to authority and did my job. Leading up to the event I felt compelled to research the group and my heart went out to certain people to lift them up in prayer. Some of them lost their families when they came out. I began to pray for them. We met for prayer and devotions prior to the beginning of the work every day so I started to bring them up in prayer. I would ask people to pray for them and even printed out bios from the website. This is where I get ill.

Instead of doing what Jesus said and loving them and praying for them this would result in gay bashing. One guy, who was a huge jerk that eventually got fired, would lead of with talking about all the things he would do to them if he could. The boss would laugh and join in. Did I mention that the boss had been a preacher before this and is a preacher again? Yeah. Well the day came. They pulled up in their tour bus and a wall of security guards were waiting to stop them. The head of security greeted them and told them if they came onto campus they would be arrested. I saw some of the people I had been praying for and prayed for them. The school had worked with the city to have a strong police presence. There were spotters on the roofs and in every building. They had a paddy wagon around back and about 20 reserve officers with that vehicle. The group silently prayed and softly sang for an hour or so, then two of them walked onto campus and 20 police officers ran out to stop them and arrest them. Neither of the ones arrested were GBLT but were only there to support their friends. One of them was someone I felt called to pray for. She was a Buddhist, but was probably living a more Christ like life than the people that were gay bashing instead of praying. I prayed for her again.

The group left shortly after that but had planned on coming back. I made sure my post was covered and took lunch myself. I was one of the last to take lunch that day since I worked to make sure others got their lunch before taking mine. I microwaved my lunch and brought it back to eat because the group was supposed to be back soon. In that short time some of them came back. I ended up right in the middle of the group as they waited to cross the road. I saw one of the other guys that I had been praying for. He was a gay black man from a very conservative Christian family. His family disowned him when he came out. His lifelong very close relationship with his mother was severed and he hadn’t spoken with her in several years. I told him I was praying for him and that his mother would being speaking with him again then prayed again while waiting on the light. When I got across the street the guy that was covering while I went to lunch was joking about how I ended up having to walk across with the gay parade. I think Jesus cried.

I have already said this but I’ll say it again. I don’t support homosexual lifestyles. I believe they are sinful. I also believe hate is sinful. As a campus we didn’t advance the gospel one bit that day. In fact, I think we probably hurt it. You may disagree with me, but you won’t ever convince me I’m wrong on this. You might think I’m a liberal Christian that plays tear out the Bible passage I don’t like, but the truth is I’m extremely conservative and try to follow the Bible as literally as I can. I love my enemies and pray for the ones that persecute me. I judge myself and fellow Christians not the world. I’m not perfect, but I serve a God who is.

I am posting this now and in a few days I’ll be posting about how this issue is confronting me again in a different way.