I scrolled through Facebook this morning to see what was going on in the world as I usually do. Today I discovered that a few of my friends had posted this picture. These pictures have really become the latest fad, and I have to say sometimes they are terribly funny. This one though, may not be as funny as it is serious.

When I read that picture, at first I was grieved… because once again I feel like it is taking a shot at the people who are really feeling hurt and neglected, homosexuals. But then I remembered the hurt I experienced recently when I tried to in an extremely loving way say that while I voted against Amendment 1, (in favor of treating everyone with equality) I still personally believe that homosexuality is a dangerous and unhealthy lifestyle. Notice that I didn’t call homosexuality a sin, I’ve avoided using that word to describe homosexuality for a while because I think the word sin has a much different connotation than it should. Boy it sounds silly to say that sin has gotten a bad rap, but that is kinda what I am saying. See sin isn’t just evil, murderous, hateful, and putrid but sin is also mistakes, failures, and missing the mark of perfection.

So is homosexuality sin? Well yes it is sin, homosexuality is missing the mark of what is best for a person’s life. Is homosexuality a bigger or smaller sin than the average sin? Well the answer to that is again, yes. Yes it is a bigger sin, and yes it is a smaller sin in ways than other sins. Let me try and explain. Homosexuality, really only “directly” hurts the homosexual and his or her partner. Homosexuality may also hurt the younger people in society who see and may or may not be drawn to or encouraged into such a lifestyle. Now, keep in mind that homosexuality isn’t like murder, rape, spousal abuse, religious abuse, etc. because those sins are sins against people. So in some ways, homosexuality isn’t as big, and bad as rape, murder, adultery, abuse etc. I took a beating from some folks on Facebook a few months back when I unintentionally grouped homosexuality with sins (like lying, cheating, etc.) that were directly hurtful toward others. However, on the other hand homosexuality is worse and bigger than some other sins because it has an internal impact on a person’s own body. I can’t explain it well, but what I am trying to say is this… homosexuality is a sin that will hurt your own body and I’m not just talking about from a physical viewpoint. I believe there is something that happens to your brain when you commit sexual sin. Something inside dies, or at least is damaged. Something inside tells you that you are less than human, and you feel like a toy only good for sexual gratification. I am going to fail to put this in words, but I believe that sexual immorality is somehow dangerous to our very psyche.

Now, I’ve taken a stand and called homosexuality sin. I certainly didn’t do this for my own fame or notoriety but instead because I love and care about people, homosexual people among others! If you are in a homosexual relationship, I want to encourage and help you. You can get out of the lifestyle without leaving the relationship, loving a person of the same sex isn’t a problem. Love is good, it is a Godly character trait! Some of you have fallen into this trap and you want to be free from this lifestyle but truly care about your partner. You don’t have to reject your friend, you can continue to love that person but stop committing sexual sin against your own body and theirs. I can’t imagine how hard this might be, I’m sorry about the road you’ll have to face as you walk toward freedom. I’m willing to be your friend in that journey, privately or publicly, either way I am here if you need someone to talk to.

Now, that I’ve made one side mad… let me and stand for truth again and in turn I’m afraid I may offend or make the other side mad. I didn’t share the above picture on Facebook because I don’t want to just take another shot that will further isolate and hurt the gay community. Instead I’m going to post a link to this blog where I saw those pictures. As followers of Jesus Christ we should strive to live at peace with everyone. As I scrolled through Facebook this morning, I noticed the above picture, and then just a short scroll downward I found this verse from scripture.

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12: 14-15

So, I’m encouraging Christians to not look for opportunities to shoot back in anger against homosexuals. See it is our responsibility to love, it is our responsibility to attempt to “live at peace with EVERYONE.”

Somehow we have to learn to see homosexuals not as the enemy, but as friends and fellow humans who are trying to figure out their journey just like you and I. When they say that we are speaking hate, we shouldn’t shout back at them and scream back at them, instead we should love them and serve them and say “I am genuinely sorry that you find my words hateful. I don’t hate you at all, I love you but I don’t think your lifestyle is healthy. I don’t want to take freedom away from you, but I want to discourage you as much as possible from doing something that will hurt you. When I put up a road block to stop people from driving off a bridge it isn’t my goal to limit your freedom but to protect your life.”

Christian friends, please don’t take this as an angry post against your signs and your words. I’m not trying to limit your free speech, I’m simply pointing out that we should be the peacemakers, not the instigators of more fighting. Remember that you dramatically won the Chick-fil-A battle. Imagine being in a basketball game when you are up 32 points with 30 seconds to go and stop scoring. Imagine being a football team up 42 – 7 and take a knee. Show some love, so that those who want help and deliverance will have someone left to turn to when they want to turn for help. By the way, Chick-fil-A from what I saw handled the situation beautifully! I heard stories of Chick-fil-A’s delivering free food and water to their protesters and of course the lines at Chick-fil-A were incomprehensible. I saw other fast food restaurants with signs up saying “We support Chick-fil-A.” Freedom of speech won on Wednesday August 1st and freedom of speech dramatically won, now be careful not to rub it in. Let’s be loving and supportive toward the homosexual society, they need us to be full of GRACE and TRUTH in these coming days. Our goal isn’t to perpetuate or keep the fight alive, but to stand firm for freedom and to offer love, grace, and truth.. by the way, love, grace, and truth are all found in Jesus Christ.

By the way, some of you are going to take a moment to make this a theological argument. You might try and fuss about me categorizing sins as big and small. For you I say, read John 19:11. If you want to fuss about someone ranking sins, fuss at Jesus.