A Choice?
There are a lot of things that leave me speechless, but some truly take the cake. One of those was listening to people discuss the potential "Lesbian, Gay, Transexual, and Bigender Heritage Month" in my hometown. While I'll admit, Norman has always pushed the progressive side of things as a college town, this kind of blows the rest out of the water. Why? I also saw some comments from an individual regarding the recent "purple pride" day for LGBT students. The comments were, incendiary to say the least, but refreshingly honest (despite their hate filled content). Both have been reactions to the recent rash of suicides of LGBT students (high school and college) that people link directly to their sexual orientation/preference (the overall high teenage suicide rate would have no correlation at all). If you've read my blog for a while, you'll know that I'm not some raging homophobe and that I am a Christian. Here's what I've been thinking for a while and I'm finally going to put a lot of it down in words...
First, while I appreciate people's desire to see everyone have a "special time" (like Black History month) there is no need for it for every single group! Simply because I'm white and of German decent doesn't mean I think we should have a "White German Heritage Month." I mean, get real. If there is history for a group, it's going to get studied! Seriously, I went through all the good, bad, and ugly history of my ethnicity (and many find themselves repulsed to claim any Germanic background because of said history) and was not offended by it. Did I always appreciate the fact that so much of that history was negative? No, because it is what it is: history. I don't ask for tolerance in the guise of inclusivity, but rather that the simple facts of importance ("If we don't know history we are doomed to repeat it") be taught. If that means covering the atrocities committed by Germany during WW2, Martin Luther King, Jr., or the contributions of the Arabic peoples to language so be it! The facts are the facts, we don't need a special month to "study" or "become aware of" some interest group. It's not "inclusive" but rather exclusive in that it puts the emphasis on people of a certain type leaving out all the rest. Is that a bit harsh? No. The issue is what the time serves. In the case of a special LGBT Month, it's only about assuaging guilt by association and massaging a special interest group with an agenda that they want pushed. Period. Just like I would be pushing my agenda if we had a "Presbyterian Heritage Month" covering the irrefutably huge impact Presbyterians (and the Presbyterian form of government) influenced the United States (did you know that in reality the federal government is really just a modified form of the Presbyterian system of church government?). Would that be justifiable? perhaps, but the thing is it's not needed nor desirable.
Second, while God calls us to love all people, love means correcting those who are wrong! Our school system here in El Dorado has banned sugary foods/drinks from all campuses. Why? To help kids be healthier. They go so far as to not allow groups to bring in sugar filled beverages and food (like free donuts at SYATP or JumpStart) because they are committed to seeing change happen as much as they can. The same thing is true of AA: they don't band together to celebrate their drunkenness but to change that. All members push each other and they're given mentors to help guide them through recovery. I would be beyond a jerk to give someone dealing with substance abuse the substance they're addicted to! But, the church has a camp of those who preach total inclusivity which is the same thing. Is it empowering someone to let them kill themselves? Is it loving to let someone be wrong and believe that is right? Is it just to promote an agenda that is radically opposed to that of the originator of the church? The simple truth is, I would never let my kids believe that 2 + 2 is 5, but would instead correct them because the answer is always 4. It is irrefutable in it's truth and precision. Even by the world's standard truth, homosexuality is a deviancy that will be extinguished because it doesn't adapt to the realities of existence in procreation (meaning that if it is genetic, it will be gone within the next 1000 or so years because there is no continuation of the species). However, God gave the church the truth, which is a life raft for those who are drowning, the cure for the disease that ails mankind. Yet many neglect it in favor of the philosophy of the day, why? We would rather be seen favorably here and now than later when it really matters. Or perhaps we believe God grades on a curve and we'll get by because "no one's perfect."
The scary truth is the more we tell people that "it's okay to be whoever you want to be and live however you want to live", the more we consign to hell and consider worthless. Had you ever had that thought? By not sharing the only truth in this life, you are saying the LGBT (or whatever group!) community isn't worth the love of God and really needs to go to hell. That's not the idea most of the "inclusive" people have, but it is the truth. Jesus said He came for the sick, while hanging out with the outcasts and those who the world made fun of and hated. If we really love people, we will share that same Jesus with the sick, even if it means we're considered bigots, hateful, or otherwise. Yes, trying to do your best imitation of Fred Phelps is a sure way to prove you don't have love, but showing someone you care while speaking the truth into their life is never hateful.
Here's my last part of this thought train: "Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven." Do your words and actions in public deny Jesus? Are you choosing people's approval over God's? Or the toughest question: do you love people enough to tell them there is a truth and that truth isn't the way they're living?
When someone is drowning we don't try to push them under water. When someone is trying to break free from addiction we don't enable them to continue that life. When someone is abused we don't ask them to stay there because "it might get better." Instead, we look to the root cause and offer love, help, and compassion. Is that the choice you're making for people in your life today?
First, while I appreciate people's desire to see everyone have a "special time" (like Black History month) there is no need for it for every single group! Simply because I'm white and of German decent doesn't mean I think we should have a "White German Heritage Month." I mean, get real. If there is history for a group, it's going to get studied! Seriously, I went through all the good, bad, and ugly history of my ethnicity (and many find themselves repulsed to claim any Germanic background because of said history) and was not offended by it. Did I always appreciate the fact that so much of that history was negative? No, because it is what it is: history. I don't ask for tolerance in the guise of inclusivity, but rather that the simple facts of importance ("If we don't know history we are doomed to repeat it") be taught. If that means covering the atrocities committed by Germany during WW2, Martin Luther King, Jr., or the contributions of the Arabic peoples to language so be it! The facts are the facts, we don't need a special month to "study" or "become aware of" some interest group. It's not "inclusive" but rather exclusive in that it puts the emphasis on people of a certain type leaving out all the rest. Is that a bit harsh? No. The issue is what the time serves. In the case of a special LGBT Month, it's only about assuaging guilt by association and massaging a special interest group with an agenda that they want pushed. Period. Just like I would be pushing my agenda if we had a "Presbyterian Heritage Month" covering the irrefutably huge impact Presbyterians (and the Presbyterian form of government) influenced the United States (did you know that in reality the federal government is really just a modified form of the Presbyterian system of church government?). Would that be justifiable? perhaps, but the thing is it's not needed nor desirable.
Second, while God calls us to love all people, love means correcting those who are wrong! Our school system here in El Dorado has banned sugary foods/drinks from all campuses. Why? To help kids be healthier. They go so far as to not allow groups to bring in sugar filled beverages and food (like free donuts at SYATP or JumpStart) because they are committed to seeing change happen as much as they can. The same thing is true of AA: they don't band together to celebrate their drunkenness but to change that. All members push each other and they're given mentors to help guide them through recovery. I would be beyond a jerk to give someone dealing with substance abuse the substance they're addicted to! But, the church has a camp of those who preach total inclusivity which is the same thing. Is it empowering someone to let them kill themselves? Is it loving to let someone be wrong and believe that is right? Is it just to promote an agenda that is radically opposed to that of the originator of the church? The simple truth is, I would never let my kids believe that 2 + 2 is 5, but would instead correct them because the answer is always 4. It is irrefutable in it's truth and precision. Even by the world's standard truth, homosexuality is a deviancy that will be extinguished because it doesn't adapt to the realities of existence in procreation (meaning that if it is genetic, it will be gone within the next 1000 or so years because there is no continuation of the species). However, God gave the church the truth, which is a life raft for those who are drowning, the cure for the disease that ails mankind. Yet many neglect it in favor of the philosophy of the day, why? We would rather be seen favorably here and now than later when it really matters. Or perhaps we believe God grades on a curve and we'll get by because "no one's perfect."
The scary truth is the more we tell people that "it's okay to be whoever you want to be and live however you want to live", the more we consign to hell and consider worthless. Had you ever had that thought? By not sharing the only truth in this life, you are saying the LGBT (or whatever group!) community isn't worth the love of God and really needs to go to hell. That's not the idea most of the "inclusive" people have, but it is the truth. Jesus said He came for the sick, while hanging out with the outcasts and those who the world made fun of and hated. If we really love people, we will share that same Jesus with the sick, even if it means we're considered bigots, hateful, or otherwise. Yes, trying to do your best imitation of Fred Phelps is a sure way to prove you don't have love, but showing someone you care while speaking the truth into their life is never hateful.
Here's my last part of this thought train: "Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven." Do your words and actions in public deny Jesus? Are you choosing people's approval over God's? Or the toughest question: do you love people enough to tell them there is a truth and that truth isn't the way they're living?
When someone is drowning we don't try to push them under water. When someone is trying to break free from addiction we don't enable them to continue that life. When someone is abused we don't ask them to stay there because "it might get better." Instead, we look to the root cause and offer love, help, and compassion. Is that the choice you're making for people in your life today?
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