Monday, December 7, 2009
Gay Christians
I grew up in church. I would have called myself Jesus freak. Every Sunday and Wednesday I was in church. As an outspoken believer I wasn’t afraid to tell people how I felt and what I believed. People that were nonbelievers tried to tempt me with the “bad” things of this world. I would not budge in my faith. I felt like I was a part of a big family. I also remember the day the church broke my heart. In a hallway behind the sanctuary I had a conversation with another member of my youth group. I can’t recall how we got on the topic of gay people, but I do remember all the hateful things he said. He went on a rant about hating gay people because they are gay, refusing to be anywhere near or associated with anyone that was gay, and how people that are gay are condemned to Hell. I tried to reason with him, I always thought God loved everyone regardless of their differences. I always thought that if Jesus was here on earth he would be kind to everyone. I know I would never want to be like someone that is hateful towards me. This is where the term “Being Christ-like” seemed to have exceptions. This conversation genuinely upset me and changed the course of my life. I realized he wasn’t the only person in the church that felt that way.
I began to ask questions. I started to really research what the Bible said. I could tell my youth pastor was getting frustrated with all my questions. I was equally frustrated when the run around of answers would always end with “Because the Bible says so.” That was my least favorite thing to hear next to verses that would contradict themselves. I ended up asking more people questions and listened to how different people interpreted the same Bible verses. John 3:16 is one of the first verses that I learned and memorized, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” When I interpret this Bible verse I assume that whoever believes in Jesus will go to heaven. Almost any Christian you read this to would pleasantly agree until you bring up the topic of gay people. To date I have met many Christians are accepting of gays, lesbians, and trans-gendered people. These people don’t look at being gay as instant “Hell in a Hand Basket.” I am so proud of people that are so loving and caring. I feel their Jesus would be proud. I understand that not all believers are as accepting and I can understand why. You know what you are taught. In all my years of church I don’t remember any sermons about gays unless it had a negative slur. From experience they automatically start quoting other Bible verses that say other things to try to prove my interpretation wrong. This makes me question even more. For example: If you met someone who said their name was Steven and he told you how he grew up a poor child, then a year later he told you his name is actually Daniel and he lived a privileged childhood with plenty of money, would you believe him? NO! In my book he would loose all credibility. I feel the same way about many Bible verses. You can’t tell a person two opposite things then expect them to know what you want.
Christians that are hateful towards people in gay relationships are hurting their own relationship with God. You shouldn’t hate anyone and even if you don’t agree with someone’s lifestyle choice. You wouldn’t want to have anyone tell you who you can or cannot love. Everyone lives their lives the way they want to, some in private. I have been in church my whole life and I saw first hand people that would cheat, lie, steal, or have sex out of marriage. It seems like these people are always the ones that cast the first stone. Some would do one of those things, feel bad, and then ask for forgiveness. Many of those people would constantly “sin” with the intention of acting now and asking for forgiveness later. No one is perfect. I don’t think that people should beat themselves up over all of those actions either. Everyone should be able to live their lives the way they want to and not have to worry about pleasing everyone else. We are taught from a young age “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” I don’t like resorting to that saying but if you find it completely impossible to be civil with people in gay relationships it may be your best option.
When a group of people all read the same thing they can take the same words and twist them into different meanings. They may not do that intentionally but it is inevitable. You can be reading the exact same sentence and someone else and make it say something different to prove your point. You can even read it in a different tone and change the meaning. People from a nudist church may support their actions with the bible by saying there is a bible verse telling you not to dress boastful. They think that verse means you are not supposed to show off by wearing clothes. Where people in a different church may say that is taking what the bible says and twisting it. Who decides whose interpretation is right? This is where interpretation gets tricky. The Bible is very debatable because you can make it say what you want it to say. So who is right? No one knows for sure. Everyone just assumes their interpretation is right because that is what they are taught. Most people don’t go research for themselves and even if they do, who is to say that they are right? I found this quote helpful because it helps describe how things can be changed or lost in translation. When a text goes from one language to another one word can make the difference in the complete meaning of a sentence. We struggle with this issue every day in our real life. You can get a text message and read it wrong. Something that was meant to be peaceful or a joke can end up hurting someone’s feelings because they put a certain tone to it. One sentence can make a difference, but thousands of translated passages can change the whole story:
“However our biggest challenge lies in the fact that the English language is very limited when compared to the Greek dialect. This problem was highlighted with the word “love” In the Greek language there are at least three different words to describe various forms and attributes of love, while in English we lump all three words together with the single word “love”. This is not very descriptive and cannot begin to convey the levels of intensity with which we may love someone or something. With this in mind, you can see inadvertently during translation, verses can take on a meaning that was never intended. In other words, God’s perfect word may get muddied when man attempts to give the Lord a hand in translating His book. This is apparent with the scriptures that many attribute to homosexuality.”(Elaine)
Times are changing just like they have for thousands of years. Things people believe change. Things people do change. It wasn’t too long ago the church as a whole didn’t agree with sports and competition. Sometimes I feel some people just pick religion apart and follow what is convenient for them. People follow some things in the Old Testament and not others. People follow some things in the New Testament and not others. If everyone followed the bible word for word it would be a very different world right now. I feel that the church will change its opinion on gay marriage. I believe in 10, 20, or 30 years everyone will adapt and gay relationships will be perfectly normal. What happened to African American people sitting in the back of the busses? What happened to having separate bathrooms, restaurants, water fountains, schools, and towns? It seems silly to look back on our history and see how far we have come. Interracial marriage and relationships were looked down on severely. Views evolve over a short period of time, they always have. Hating people that are in gay, lesbian or transgendered people is a waste of time. When times do change I don’t want to look back and regret how I treated someone or miss out on a relationship that could have enriched my life. Our problem as people is we are so set on what we were taught that sometimes we look at others and decide that because someone thinks or is different they are wrong. If we can all just be civil with one another we can make this world a happier place.
Works Cited
"The "Clobber" Passages." Gay Church Gay Church, 2005. Web. 4 Dec. 2009.
I began to ask questions. I started to really research what the Bible said. I could tell my youth pastor was getting frustrated with all my questions. I was equally frustrated when the run around of answers would always end with “Because the Bible says so.” That was my least favorite thing to hear next to verses that would contradict themselves. I ended up asking more people questions and listened to how different people interpreted the same Bible verses. John 3:16 is one of the first verses that I learned and memorized, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” When I interpret this Bible verse I assume that whoever believes in Jesus will go to heaven. Almost any Christian you read this to would pleasantly agree until you bring up the topic of gay people. To date I have met many Christians are accepting of gays, lesbians, and trans-gendered people. These people don’t look at being gay as instant “Hell in a Hand Basket.” I am so proud of people that are so loving and caring. I feel their Jesus would be proud. I understand that not all believers are as accepting and I can understand why. You know what you are taught. In all my years of church I don’t remember any sermons about gays unless it had a negative slur. From experience they automatically start quoting other Bible verses that say other things to try to prove my interpretation wrong. This makes me question even more. For example: If you met someone who said their name was Steven and he told you how he grew up a poor child, then a year later he told you his name is actually Daniel and he lived a privileged childhood with plenty of money, would you believe him? NO! In my book he would loose all credibility. I feel the same way about many Bible verses. You can’t tell a person two opposite things then expect them to know what you want.
Christians that are hateful towards people in gay relationships are hurting their own relationship with God. You shouldn’t hate anyone and even if you don’t agree with someone’s lifestyle choice. You wouldn’t want to have anyone tell you who you can or cannot love. Everyone lives their lives the way they want to, some in private. I have been in church my whole life and I saw first hand people that would cheat, lie, steal, or have sex out of marriage. It seems like these people are always the ones that cast the first stone. Some would do one of those things, feel bad, and then ask for forgiveness. Many of those people would constantly “sin” with the intention of acting now and asking for forgiveness later. No one is perfect. I don’t think that people should beat themselves up over all of those actions either. Everyone should be able to live their lives the way they want to and not have to worry about pleasing everyone else. We are taught from a young age “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” I don’t like resorting to that saying but if you find it completely impossible to be civil with people in gay relationships it may be your best option.
When a group of people all read the same thing they can take the same words and twist them into different meanings. They may not do that intentionally but it is inevitable. You can be reading the exact same sentence and someone else and make it say something different to prove your point. You can even read it in a different tone and change the meaning. People from a nudist church may support their actions with the bible by saying there is a bible verse telling you not to dress boastful. They think that verse means you are not supposed to show off by wearing clothes. Where people in a different church may say that is taking what the bible says and twisting it. Who decides whose interpretation is right? This is where interpretation gets tricky. The Bible is very debatable because you can make it say what you want it to say. So who is right? No one knows for sure. Everyone just assumes their interpretation is right because that is what they are taught. Most people don’t go research for themselves and even if they do, who is to say that they are right? I found this quote helpful because it helps describe how things can be changed or lost in translation. When a text goes from one language to another one word can make the difference in the complete meaning of a sentence. We struggle with this issue every day in our real life. You can get a text message and read it wrong. Something that was meant to be peaceful or a joke can end up hurting someone’s feelings because they put a certain tone to it. One sentence can make a difference, but thousands of translated passages can change the whole story:
“However our biggest challenge lies in the fact that the English language is very limited when compared to the Greek dialect. This problem was highlighted with the word “love” In the Greek language there are at least three different words to describe various forms and attributes of love, while in English we lump all three words together with the single word “love”. This is not very descriptive and cannot begin to convey the levels of intensity with which we may love someone or something. With this in mind, you can see inadvertently during translation, verses can take on a meaning that was never intended. In other words, God’s perfect word may get muddied when man attempts to give the Lord a hand in translating His book. This is apparent with the scriptures that many attribute to homosexuality.”(Elaine)
Times are changing just like they have for thousands of years. Things people believe change. Things people do change. It wasn’t too long ago the church as a whole didn’t agree with sports and competition. Sometimes I feel some people just pick religion apart and follow what is convenient for them. People follow some things in the Old Testament and not others. People follow some things in the New Testament and not others. If everyone followed the bible word for word it would be a very different world right now. I feel that the church will change its opinion on gay marriage. I believe in 10, 20, or 30 years everyone will adapt and gay relationships will be perfectly normal. What happened to African American people sitting in the back of the busses? What happened to having separate bathrooms, restaurants, water fountains, schools, and towns? It seems silly to look back on our history and see how far we have come. Interracial marriage and relationships were looked down on severely. Views evolve over a short period of time, they always have. Hating people that are in gay, lesbian or transgendered people is a waste of time. When times do change I don’t want to look back and regret how I treated someone or miss out on a relationship that could have enriched my life. Our problem as people is we are so set on what we were taught that sometimes we look at others and decide that because someone thinks or is different they are wrong. If we can all just be civil with one another we can make this world a happier place.
Works Cited
"The "Clobber" Passages." Gay Church Gay Church, 2005. Web. 4 Dec. 2009.
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