Changed by Christ

My friends – who happen to be homosexual

This article written about a young man’s trial with his “coming out” and how some people around him handled the news. At the time he was a student at Liberty University, where I earned my Master’s Degree. This inspired me to write something to my friends who too have finally trusted me with the news of their “coming out”.

This article was neat and I love my university for hearing how the professors reacted like Christ. No damnation, no judgment, no hatred. Again, homosexuality is no different from any other sin (yes I think it is a sin) same as lying, over eating, hatred, violence, cursing, etc. Just as Christ said to the woman caught in the act of adultery, “where are your accusers?”

Here’s the article Being Gay at Jerry Falwell’s University and below is my comment to my friends:

There’s nothing about your homosexuality that scares me or makes me hate you. I have not treated you any different since your coming out and I still love you, just as I always have. Your sin (in my understanding) is just different than mine, but we all sin and are imperfect. I hope you see that all Christians are not hateful, regardless of how some have treated you. You still come over my house and my kids still love hanging out with you. Although it took you a year to tell me, I’m glad you finally did, because we have never hid anything from each other. Love you.

Like in my other blog article I want people to know that no sin is greater than any other, no viewpoint is unworthy of being expressed, and no individual should be devalued in any way at all. We are created in the image of God and our value and worth is derived from the Creator. So there is never a time when we should put someone down because of their view or their culture in which they live. We all have a history of experiences and an education that brings us to where we are today. We may end up with total opposite views of the same subject, whatever it is, religion, food tastes, sports, money, life…. and your view does not contradict in any way my view and likewise, my views can not contradict yours. We can disagree with emotions too. But in no way can our disagreement on views cancel out the value of life that exists in each of us. So true tolerance is being able to still see value and worth in the person while 100% disagreeing with their opinion or view of concepts or ideas. When you wear your views or opinions as a label or definition of who you are, that is when the disagreement causes pain.

For example, I am white. If I wear my white skin as a label that defines me, when you attack whiteness, I may be offended. So it is easily understood why someone who is a homosexual will be very offended by my views or my understanding of that lifestyle. The trouble is, I have never looked at anyone who is a homosexual any different than I look at someone who sits next to me on the bus. You probably think that I hate you personally, much like if I felt you hated my whiteness. The difference is, I am comfortable enough in my views and opinions and lifestyle choices that nothing you say about them will make me offended at all. My whiteness, as the example, is there and will not be removed, so you can hate my whiteness all you want and it will not go away.

You are valued in my eyes and will always be valued in my eyes, not from anything you do or anything that defines you; but simply because you are God’s creation.