The Remedy

Boy Scouts….The Boy Scouts were founded in February of 1910. Recently 60% of the groups’ 1400-member national council voted at an annual meeting in Texas to allow gay children/teenagers to be involved with the Boy Scouts. This to me was an awesome, radical change. It was said, “We’re going to focus on sexual purity, not sexual orientation.”

I’m not sure how it is around the rest of the country, but in my city, the Boy Scout troops find “homes” in churches or other places that can host their meetings and such. My old church is one that hosts them.  There is another church in the community, that I’ll call Church XYZ (to keep the politics out), that hosted a troop as well.

Sadly, almost immediately after the national council decision was made, Church XYZ decided not to allow the Boy Scout troop to use their church any more. And to my knowledge, the troop had no gays in attendance. Therefore, the church decided to stop hosting them due to the NATIONAL decision/opinion of the group as a whole. They truthfully punished the boys (that had nothing to do with this decision) by not allowing them to use their facility. I was outraged! What did that say about the Christian faith?

For the sake of this thought, let’s say that being gay is a sin. (Remember that through this next paragraph…)

So, Church XYZ essentially got rid of the Boy Scout troop because they allowed gays, which was a sin. Simple, right? Wait, but isn’t church “a hospital for the sinners, not a meeting place for the saints”? So, by kicking them out, they are saying that their sin is okay, but the sin of being gay isn’t? Wait, but aren’t “all sins created equal”? Oh, perfect sense…NOT! Even if your/their belief is that being gay is a sin, the concept of kicking gays out of church is ridiculous. Church is a place to love and repent…exactly what gays need to do if it’s a sin, right? They need to accept Christ and change their sexual orientation? How can they do that if they are not allowed/welcomed into the church? By not welcoming them, you are literally saying, “My sins are cool with God, but yours aren’t.” which LITERALLY goes against what the Bible says. The Bible says that ALL SINS ARE CREATED EQUAL. Oh, so you judge those that are gay? Then your sin is EQUAL to person that is gay. End of story. The Bible couldn’t be any more clear.

If you can’t tell, Church XYZ really pushes my buttons by their decision. Their logic is all wrong. The basis of the Christian religion is LOVE. Simple as that. By pushing them away, they are killing the basis of the Christian religion and putting themselves on a pedestal, saying that their sins are okay and God forgives them (everyone sins, let’s just admit it), but that a gay person’s sins are worse and unforgivable. HOW IS THAT LOGICAL? THE BIBLE CLEARLY SAYS TO LOVE…AND CLEARLY SAYS ALL SINS ARE CREATED EQUAL.

This past semester I had to write a research paper for my ENG 105 class and had to have a couple of interviews as sources. I talked to Jennifer, my previous church’s leader of college ministry. This is what she had to say about homosexuality in the church:

“Let’s say homosexuality is a sin. How can we reach sinners if we turn them away? It makes no sense to me when churches turn homosexuals away. If the church is in the business of turning away sinners, we might as well lock the doors and go home.” She went on to say, “My college ministry has had several gay men as a part of the group over the years. Are they sinners? Sure they are. Everyone in the group is. I’m thankful for a loving God who knows us, knows our hearts and offers grace and forgiveness.”

Love. Love can solve all the world’s problems, I truly believe. If everyone loved, I honestly believe there wouldn’t be suffering in this world. If everyone had unselfish love, everyone in this world would have sufficient housing, clean water, and adequate food. Love is something I have learned so much about since moving to my new church. Love can cure all. So, my theory is love. Even if your belief is that being gay is a sin, LOVE. Love them. Why? Because that is what the bible says to do…”Love your neighbor”

As my dear friend said, “Jesus said love thy neighbor, not love thy neighbor unless they’re gay.” I couldn’t have said it better.

But, this isn’t just a post about gays/being gay. Not at all. This goes for anything. No matter what your views on anything are, just love.

Years ago, I remember a young lady that came to my church. She came in a few minutes late and sat in the back. She was covered in tattoos and had a bright red Mohawk. She wasn’t like the normal person that I would see in this church. After church, many members of my church family walked up to her and welcomed her. I remember her saying that she had never been to a church that welcomed her because of the way she looked. How terrible. Love…it fixes everything, right? Right!

I couldn’t be more proud of the Disciples as they have created an “All means All” campaign, meaning that all REALLY DOES mean all! ALL are accepted and loved! The disciples have even tried to get gender neutral restrooms in order to make transgenders (and anyone else) feel more comfortable! Learn more about it here:  http://www.gladalliance.org/

And, I’m going to leave you with a video to get your brain thinking about all this… (just clicked the underlined word “video” and it should pop up in another window)

My rant for today is over. Thanks for reading and remember…no matter your opinions or belief, LOVE is the remedy.

Blessings,

Faith