God Loves Gay People, The Church Loves Gay People, I Love Gay People

God loves gay people. The church loves gay people. I love gay people.

The things Jesus said about love and the extent of our love for others makes it clear that we are to love everyone. In fact, when Jesus told the parable which has come to be known as the story of the Good Samaritan, part of the point He was making is that we are called to love all people. Jesus specifically crafted the story to help us understand the comprehensiveness of our love for others should extend to the point that we would even love people we may not be naturally inclined to love.

Over the years I have actually been criticized a few times by people who have suggested I am over-emphasizing the concept of love in my teaching. My response is that it is my intention to speak God’s truth about love—love cannot be separated from truth—with the same emphasis it is given in the Bible; and this is a very strong emphasis.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Corinthians 13:13

However, God has designed sexuality—which is a good thing—to be expressed within a certain context. The context for sexual expression is one man and one woman in a marriage relationship.

It is, perhaps, a bit ironic with all the discussion these days regarding homosexuality that I have had more conversations—uncomfortable conversations—with Christian heterosexual couples who were not living within God’s boundaries for sexual conduct than with homosexual men and women who struggled with God’s boundaries regarding sexual conduct.

One of the issues that has made the topic of sexuality so caustic and difficult to discuss with grace, respect and love is that sex has become an idol in our culture. The fact that certain issues regarding sexuality are held to be “no longer up for scrutiny, debate or honest disagreement” is evidence that sex is an idol (i.e. a replacement for the real God).

I want you to know that before I posted this message I prayed diligently with the hopes that I would communicate truthfully, graciously and effectively. In fact, I have shared this same message on Facebook and last night I prayed by name for all my friends on Facebook. I even prayed for the families of some of my friends on Facebook who are now deceased. […And, by the way, this prayer time took a while. Lol! It was actually a very good and meaningful time of prayer.]

I know some of you will disagree with what I have written here, I respect your right to disagree. Please know I love you even if we disagree. But more importantly, Jesus loves you.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Love and blessings,

Dan

Debating The Issues In Civil, Reasonable and Respectful Ways

A friend sent me a message recently about a matter over which there has been a long history of debate within Christianity.  At the end of his message—after writing some thoughts in which he considered both sides of the debate—he offered the opinion that Christians should learn to put aside differences and focus on the basics of the faith. It was a good thought.

I happen to believe there can be value in debating different points of view. I even enjoy this give and take of ideas from time to time. I find it to be fun. (Come to think of it, this may be why I am not known as the “life of the party” in most social circles.) But I have discovered sometimes people are so invested in their position on a matter that they have difficulty hearing the expression of other points of view.

Occasionally, what happens is these folks cannot engage in the debate without becoming unreasonably angry. It can even get to the point that the angry party launches a verbal attack on the person with whom they disagree.

FYI:  A theological discussion should almost never involve someone jumping up and down, rolling around on the ground, and throwing chairs or other pieces of furniture.

It is a mark of maturity when people learn to talk about matters over which they disagree in civil, reasonable and respectful ways.

Being Respectful And Gracious Even When We Disagree - Real Tolerance

The modern notion of tolerance has somehow come to mean that we will all agree that everyone is right.  In other words, everyone’s personal “truth” is correct. This is illogical and self-evidently incorrect.  The real challenge of true tolerance is to acknowledge that we disagree and, yet, continue to communicate in respectful and gracious ways with those whom we disagree.

Respecting The Basic Dignity of People

One of the ways that we can express love to others is to respect the basic dignity of who they are as persons. This willingness to show consideration or courteous regard to a person can be done even if we disagree with some of the things the person says or does. “Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.” 1Peter 2:17 [NLT]

Is It Possible To "Agree To Disagree"?

Sometimes the fighting and disagreements and the apparent lack of understanding among various Christian groups gets a little tiring to me. I understand that real differences of opinion exist regarding substantive issues. However, I’m disappointed with myself when my faith that states: “and the greatest of these is love”, is unable to find ways to “agree to disagree” with respect, humility & grace.