I recently had a conversation with a person that grew up in, what they described as a toxic, Southern Baptist church experience. Later in life, they attended a "more liberal" church where homosexual couples even participated in leadership. This person told me that although this was something that had been very foreign to them at the time...they found it refreshing and freeing. I just smiled (or at least attempted to keep a poker face) and listened. I dared not say a word, one way or another...and I distinctly had the feeling that I was being "tested", or maybe measured is a better word, by how I would respond. Yet, I offered no response.
Afterward, as I processed through the conversation, I kept repeating over and over in my thoughts, "I couldn't say anything...because I don't know what to say...because I don't know what to think!" I very distinctly heard God's Spirit assure me "don't think...just love."
And there it is: God incarnate (aka Jesus) never commanded that we think about our neighbors the way we think about ourselves. No...He said the greatest commandment right after loving God with all of your being was to love everyone (aka your neighbors) just exactly the way you want to be loved.
In light of yesterday's huge Supreme Court decisions, it's not that I wanted to wade in with my two cents worth. I've been wanting to write this post for two weeks. I simply thought the timing was perfect.
Honestly, I still don't know what to think...and I'm learning to be okay with that. If you're disappointed that I'm not taking a more fundamental, hard-line stand against something you deem to be the end of Christian civilization as we know it...I guess my response would be that I concede that you have every "right" to feel that way, just as I have every right to choose to love first. I'm not trying to lose favor with you...I only seek to obey my Savior who set the standard by which I desire to live.
Amen!
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