An open letter regarding Marriage.

Whether you believe that marraige should be reserved for one man and one women or not, there should be one aspect that we can all agree on. A person's sexual orientation does not warrant a ticket to beat down alley or verbal lashings. 

-Bullying

It is wrong.  Period. 

It’s a downright shame that anyone anywhere would mock, taunt, or bully another human being made in God’s image.  As a matter of fact, I believe that it says more about the lack of character in the person doing the bullying than the person taking the barrage of insults and/or beatings. 

That said, I think we need to make one thing clear in regards to bullying:
To differ is not to hate. 
In other words, when you run across a person that does not believe what you believe, it's called a difference in opinion.  Do not confuse bullying with people having a mind of their own and expressing varying views in a thoughtful way ... when you do, it cheapens the entire notion of what true bullying is and makes you look downright silly.

-Following the Leader:
There is a motto that I live by. "I am Following the Leader." 
In John chapter 8, we find Jesus in a predicament that I am sure would have left most of us tongue-tied.  A women was caught in the act of prostitution and brought before Jesus with a hair raising question. "The Law says to stone fornicators, what do you say?"
After a Bob Ross moment in the sand, Jesus says, "Go ahead and throw your stones; as long as the person throwing the stone is without sin."

One by one, each man walked away...

Who was left was Jesus alone with the prostitute...

(Can you imagine witnessing this scene!!)

Instead of insulting her further, He sent her away with a message: "Go and sin no more."

Here, I believe, Jesus has set the gold standard when dealing with sin. 
He both (1) embraced the girl and (2) confronted her sin.

---Is this bullying? 

I will not even take the time to answer that question. 
But what I will say is that when the Bible is clear on a matter, whether it be homosexuality or heterosexual issues outside of marriage (which are equally condemned in the Scripture just as this current issue) ,we are called to follow The Leader. 
This means juggling the pattern lived out & taught by Jesus in John 8.  Many use the phrase, "hate the sin, love the sinner."  Call it what you want, I call it following in the footsteps of Jesus.  And if this is perceived as wrong, then I have to be OK with that. I will always choose to walk the trail blazed by Jesus over a shifting world made of shifty people. 

-Getting personal:

Saying this, I would like to make a confession about bullying.
I do believe that Christians have handled the issue of homosexuality poorly (generally speaking).  Gandhi has been quoted as saying, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”  Although this quote was uttered during a different time and place, unfortunately it applies today and many in the homosexual community would agree wholeheartedly with Gandhi here. 

-So I would like to apologize for all of my brothers and sisters in the Lord that only half-get-it and walk around like their is a pew stuck up their butts.

As I sit and write, I find it both scary and disheartening for me to know that people are walking around confused about how Christ really lived, spoke and taught. 

Only seeing His representatives misrepresent Him, sends my heart right into the abyss. 

The only condolences that I can offer is by way of a short story that I heard many years ago and is still with me to this day.

The story goes that a man was talking to another man about Jesus.

"Don't talk to me about your Christ!" the one man said angrily. "Your priests walk around with big crosses on their chests and little compassion in their hearts..."

The man sharing about Jesus paused and then said, "Can I ask you a question?  What if I stole your coat, boots; hat and put them on, then robbed a bank and took all of the money?  Then I was chased by the police, but outran them. 

-What would you say if the police came knocking on your door and charged you with robbing the bank?

The Angy man said, "I would deny it because it was not true!!"

Ah!  But what if they say that they recognized your coat, boots; hat from a distance and charge you anyway?"

The point of the story is both vivid and powerful:

If the world has only seen a blurred image of Jesus it is because they are looking at His broken followers. 

Instead, look to the real thing. 
I am the first to admit that I get it wrong a lot.

That is why I spend time pointing people away from myself and toward Jesus.

In conclusion, I believe this post has led to a challenge:

-Follower's of Jesus, don't just sit back and choose to follow God's Holy Law and forget to follow the Royal law of Love.  The 2 were never meant to be separated. 
-For those that find people disagreeing with you.  Use wisdom to decide on whether you are being bullied or not.  Not everyone you meet is an ignoramus just because they do not agree with you.

--I hope you enjoyed this post!

I felt the need to write about these kinds of issues for many reasons.  One is because I feel a tension in the church and in the world due to the lack of clarity on hot button issues. And the other is due to the fact that the Church as a whole does not do a great job at answering significant issues like the ones being raised in a rapidly changing world.  I believe that the Bible is as significant as ever and offers the answers to mankind's deepest questions...it just takes a person to take the time to care enough about people to answer them.