Love like Jesus

What does God want to say to the person who identifies as LGBTQ+, and how does it differ from what they're hearing from Christians?

Sadly, we live in a world where many Christians are very judgmental, and seemingly unable to love the sinner while hating the sin. That's a phrase that's often used (not one I'm very keen on), but not applied well.

As this ministry has been conducting some research into the experiences of young people from Christian homes who have come out to their family, we have seen examples of this. One thing that seems to be fairly common is the constant reminding of what a let-down they are to God and to their family. People do not need to be told one hundred times about your opinion on their lifestyle.

Absolutely, I agree that parents should explain their values and their faith to their children and express their concern at the path the child is taking, but that need only be a one off conversation. After that point, the key message has to be love. Your child is still your child, and they need to know that your love does not change for them. In the same way, a friend who comes out to you does not need to be told that they are an abomination to God but need to know you are someone who they can be open and vulnerable with. Yes, of course, if they ask you what God thinks about their sexuality, you do need to be honest about your faith, but this can be done in a loving and compassionate way (and doesn’t need to use words such as “abomination!”)

I believe God would say to the person who identifies as LGBTQ+, “My love for you has not changed, you are still precious in my sight, there is still an invitation for you to accept me into your life and I will not abandon you or guilt trip you.”

You see, God is very used to dealing with people who sin – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23.

Think back to when you were living in unrepentant sin. Did you have people pointing this out to you day after day, or people who turned their back on you because of it? How did that make you feel?

If we, as Christians, rejected all those who sinned and did not seek God's forgiveness, we would not have contact at all with the world outside of our small Christian bubble. Our immediate and extended families, neighbours, work colleagues etc. would all be cut off. Likewise, if we consistently have a holier than thou attitude towards them we will lose their respect, and they will reject us.

Mark 2:13-17 (NLT) reminds us that Jesus had no problem loving on sinners and we need to learn from this.
13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So, Levi got up and followed him.
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees[a] saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?[b]”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

One example that comes to mind is that many people struggle to invite their gay child’s partner to their house to eat with them, yet I believe that’s exactly what Jesus would do. If you can show people love, respect, and extend hospitality to them, you can build a bridge. I love this quote (source unknown), “Relationship is like a bridge and confrontation like a truck, you can only drive a heavy truck over a bridge that is strong enough to carry it.”
How do we hope to have good conversations if we don’t have the infrastructure in place, how do we hope to continue to witness to our family and friends in LGBTQ+ if we put up obstacles that do not need to be there?

My challenge for the reader today is to consider whether you to need to seek forgiveness from someone you love if you have not treated them as Jesus would have done? My prayer is that you will be able to build those bridges and shine the light of Jesus into their lives, knowing that Jesus is pursuing them with a passion!