I find myself reposting a portion of a snippet from a website called “God is not a Republican” and an article on the recently passed legislation in North Carolina. The entire article can be found here.
Tuesday, North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment that banned gay marriage. Notwithstanding the fact that gay marriage was already banned, the percentage that the amendment passed with was astonishing (58% in favor). The successful passage of the amendment was the result of Christian opposition.
When did homosexuality become the number one enemy of the church? Sure, the Bible says it is a sin: an abomination even. But the amount of hatred and bigotry that foments to the surface of the Christian church in regards to gay rights is astonishing. I can speak to this first hand. I preached against homosexuality with the same amount of fire-and-brimstone energy as any other preacher. Then one day, I grew up.
No other issue brings the church together more than our opposition to homosexuality. We are divided on abortion rights. We are divided on social justice. We are divided on race issues. But homosexuality, we all agree to hate with biblical zealotry. Why? Is it because the Bible says it is an abomination? If that’s the case, why don’t we hate the other sins God labels as abominations?
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.—Proverbs 6:16-19
No. This couldn’t be it.
Do we hate homosexuality because it is “destroying our families” like so many would have us believe? It couldn’t be that either. Divorce rates are just as high in the church as they are in the rest of the world. So, unless all these families broke up because one spouse suddenly realized they were gay, homosexuality couldn’t be the reason our families are breaking apart.
So what is it? The answer is simple. We have warped Christianity into a religion that needs a physical enemy onto whom we can project our latent anger, hatred, and frustration. Much like urban preachers who preach against your “haters,” or evangelical pastors who preach against “liberals,” we have transformed Christianity into a bludgeoning tool. And what good is this tool without someone to hit across the head with? Too many of us get off on condemning our so-called enemies to hell. We think Christianity is about telling others what they are doing wrong instead of correcting our own missteps.
Wow. I know absolutely nothing about this dude or dudette. What I do know is that the line on uniting the church behind hatred just really hit me in the stomach. Church, it is time to be known for our love for one another! It is time that we are the ones that people come to when they need a place to be comforted, to be healed, to be shown how amazing life is! No more hatred or judgement or whatever our newest catch phrase for “I’m right and you’re wrong” is. It is time to be recreated in His image and be the little Christs we are called to be!
Joshua Thinks 