Acceptance or Hatred? God says, "Neither, and Both!"

I really haven't wanted to dwell on this, but I must. It seems that, according to popular opinion, a Christian must either accept a sin, or hate the person. After all, that's what God does, right?

Wrong!

Look carefully at John 3:1-21. This is what I like to call "the Gospel in a nutshell." This is the executive summary, the elevator speech, the short form of Jesus' purpose for being born, dying, and being resurrected. This is the real "love chapter" in the Bible, because it shows just how much God loves each and every one of us. Yep, He even loved the Pharisees, Judas Iscariot, Pilate, you, and me. He didn't send Jesus into the world to condemn every single sinner. We did that ourselves! God sends no one to Hell; we book that trip ourselves. It's a much easier trip, but the brochure doesn't really give an accurate picture of the destination.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God! (Romans 3:23) BUT God loved us enough to provide the way to save us. All we need to do is accept the terms of the offer. 

 (Romans 3:19-26)

God is love, and God in us causes us to love others (1 John 4:7-14). Therefore, anyone in whom the spirit of God resides cannot hate the drunk, the murderer, the homosexual, or anyone else. We all still fall short, because we continue to live in a world rich with temptation, and we are still arrogant, self-hroghcentered, and stupid. That is our failure, not God's.

So why do so many LGBTQs say we hate them? Why do Muslims who act in a peaceful manner believe we hate them? Too often it's because we remain arrogant, self-centered, and stupid. Too often we are out of tune with the Holy Spirit (the real one, not the emotional high some believe is Him). Too often we are total failures at communication. On the other hand, too often homosexuals identify so closely with their choices that they cannot distinguish between the two. Too often Muslims adhere to the religion of their family and society that they do not see the difference.

We need to ensure we differentiate between the two.

We must not hate the homosexual. We must hate the sin, and we may mourn the trap of reasoning that they fall into, but we must not hate the person. They may see it as, "God made me that way," but we must realize that is no more nor no less true than God making me with depression and anxiety disorder. Both are just as accurate as saying that a man cannot help but be "turned on" by another woman, or vice versa.

If I cannot make that distinction, then perhaps it's far better to keep my mouth (or keyboard) inactive and allow God to work through all lives involved.

Hating Homosexuals and Hens

So today’s the “big day.” Today is the official Mike Huckabee-generated Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. Lines have been reported all over the place, many times out the door, in some cases even down the road (cars waiting to drive through or park, that is).

For those who may have tried to ignore it all, the fast-food chain’s president recently came “out of the closet” and proclaimed support of traditional marriage, i.e., one man and one woman (presumably both born that way).

Many have reacted to this so-called “hatred” with … well, hatred.

What hatred?

Apparently it’s OK to hate and be intolerant of those who disagree with you and your “love” and “tolerance.” But only if you agree with something the Bible says, and I agree with the world.

Consider †his: isn’t that what Jesus told us would happen anyhow, in John 15:12-25 and Mark 13:9-13?

The problem with, in this case, the supporters of same-gender marriage is the same problem that people who support any type of sin (and, yes, sorry, practicing homosexuality is just as much of a sin as adultery, fornication, lust, lying, murder, and — oh, yeah — hatred) have. They want to do something that God says isn’t a good thing to do.

That’s nothing new. John the Baptist told Herod that his marriage to his cousin-in-law, Herodias, was wrong. Herod locked John up (Luke 3:18-20), and Herodias’ hatred of John is what caused her to compel Herod to have him beheaded (Matthew 14:1-12 & Mark 6:17-29).

That was back then, though. Now we “know” that we are, at best, evolved animals. As the script for one old computer game said, “we are chemical processes, and nothing more.” So why shouldn’t we just let “love” (which is itself a chemical process for reproduction, so we can also call it “lust”) be “right?” That’s how we’re made, after all.

Hopefully everybody sees the sarcasm in the previous paragraph.

Now, I know all too well how body chemistry can mess up the mind. I have been diagnosed with depression, panic disorder, general anxiety disorder, and I have the symptoms of several other disorders that make the term “too blessed to be stressed” sound like an alien language to me. Does that mean that I claim anxiety is not a sin, even though passages such as Matthew 6:25-33, Matthew 10:19, Mark 13:11, Luke 12:22-31, and Philippians 4:4-7 seem to say otherwise?

Nope, I’m not claiming that my body doesn’t make me sin. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s not a sin if my physical body produces hormones that cause me to act a certain way. Maybe it is a sin, but grace covers those sins, too.

Whatever the case, my desires and my body do not determine what is sin. God alone does!

Both sides need to stop hating the messengers. The “tolerant” are deceived. Their father is the father of lies (John 8:43-45), and they proclaim his message. Some will turn and see the light, while others never will. Some follow Christ, yet still support those who claim to be homosexual.

I need to make one thing clear at this point. I just said that some claim to be homosexual. The claim often simply mean they are tempted with same-gender attraction, but do not take it beyond that, just as many are tempted to lust after the opposite gender. Temptation is not sin. I do not have the right to accuse anyone who claims to be homosexual of sin. I can tell them what the Bible says, but the choice is still theirs to make, just as it is my choice to fall where I am weak. Many are confused. Some want to throw their blatant sin into the face of anyone who disagrees with them, though, demanding acceptance their way. Sorry, no can do.

So how is all this going to play out? This will eventually die down, and the haters will seem to have a victory, then drag everyone through the mud with the next big thing that feels good with no true godliness. It’s in our nature. Just as chickens lay eggs, the unrepentant sinner will find something else to stir hatred. One day, though, the consistently unrepentant sinners will have egg on their faces as they discover that they don’t rule the roost after all.

REAL Love

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.

Earlier this evening I confessed to a friend that I had forgotten that today was the day where too many guys will get tons of grief from their "significant other" because they, too, forgot the day. My friend, a young lady who recently got engaged, asked if if my wife and I even celebrate the day. I told her we did, after a fashion. I told her that I recently heard someone on the radio mention that today was when many girls and women receive stuff out of obligation. I asked, "what's the romance in that?"

Love should never be restricted to a single day of the year (or two, if you also include the mysterious "Sweetest Day" in the fall). True love is even more than a lifestyle. True love is something that's so much a part of you that it just won't let go.

What is this true love? 1 Corinthians 13 in the Bible describes it. The NIV renders it thusly:

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I know of nobody on this planet who lives up to that definition. I certainly don't. this past week showed me that I'm a far way off from that kind of love. That kind of unconditional perfect love comes from only one source: God!

This Valentine's Day, and every day, Consider This: God sets the example and empowers us to love. Instead of obligating or being obligated just because it's a particular calendar day, simply show and live love!