WDL Demo Rss

Being Right vs. Being Christ

For the past week I've been following the Chick-fil-a hubbub by reading headlines and response blogs. I've never considered myself politically educated or particularly desirous of involving myself in current events... mostly because I feel uneducated and uninformed: politically, literarily, scripturally, headline-y. Usually to "get involved" I'll find an article I like, repost it, and quote part of it to show that I read it. That way when someone gets upset about what the article says, I can hide behind the author and the Internet and avoid taking a stand. Today I was jerked out of my cowardice.

Tonight I shared some glazed donuts and chocolate milk with a dear friend of mine. Amidst the dirty tables and the flickering flourescents he shared with me his exhaustion and brokenness. The national goings-on of the past week have been a blow to his heart, but the Chick-fil-a situation is merely the tip on the scales. He's been receiving hatred for months-- ever since he came out a year or so ago. As I sat there, licking the sugar off of my fingers and listening to his stories of being a victim to bullying--verbal and physical-- my stomach churned. Not only because he's my friend and I cannot fathom why anyone would abuse my friend, but because of the overwhelming measure of hypocrisy I feel.

The GLBT community is 100% open with who they are. They think they're right in their beliefs and actions--what community doesn't?-- but that's not what I'm concerned about. They're honest about who they are. There isn't any lying about their desires or hiding their faces. I may not agree with all of their choices, but I am awed by their transparency. I am usually the opposite of transparent. I grew up thinking that being a Christian meant being an example of how life should be lived, of light in the darkness, of truth amidst the lies. This got very confusing when I started having real problems as a young adolescent. How can I "live the exemplary life" when I secretly binge in the middle of the night then punish myself by not eating for three days? How do I "shine light into the darkness" when my depression becomes so overwhelming that I do anything I can think of to stay alive? How do I "separate the truth from the lies" when I knowingly do my body harm by smoking because it's the only thing I can find that will quell my anxiety and panic attacks? By staying silent and smiling over the surface of a rapid undertow of sin and misery I have shown hatred to my brothers and sisters-- gay and straight. You know why?

How many times in the last paragraph did I mention Jesus' name? How many times in the last week have you seen a post that mentioned Jesus' strongest and most powerful words: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself"? Brothers and sisters, we have made the right to be right  and the right to be heard far more important than the hearts and bodies of our own kind. I'm not talking about sexual orientation, I'm talking about species. When we pour hatred and judgment upon our fellow man, we attack ourselves as well. As I marvel at the grace that God has given me in forgiving my secret and embarrassing sins, I am sickened by my own sloth in sharing the same gift with my gay friends. Who cares if you disagree with their lifestyle? Since when is your interpretation of Scripture-- even if, for argument's sake, it's the "correct" interpretation-- more important than the value of another person? Instead of eating your waffle fries on Appreciation Day or quoting verse after verse on the "condemnation that shall befall the homosexuals," why not engage a gay person in transparent conversation that seeks to understand, love, and share with them your own heart? If grace has been lavished upon you by Jesus, why not share it with the hungry?

Christian family, we have a right to our beliefs. We live in a country where freedom of speech is allowed and practiced. I do not want us to abandon our beliefs for the sake of lukewarm postmodernism and wishy-washy theology. But I will not stand by silently and watch as Christians label judgment as "right theology" and hatred as "integrity." Rather than enlarging the gorge between the GLBT community and the Church (which, in my opinion, is precisely what Chick-fil-a has done), bridge it with the love and patience of Christ. Let rightness take the back seat to the possibility of being wrong-ness. Christ was judged by His choice of lewd company, yet He Himself said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice'. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:12-13). I, a sinner, exhort myself and others to take this to heart.

If we love not people, we love not God, and are therefore not Christians; this is no fallacy.