the fight over who gets gay
In a recent article by Brian McLaren, he attempts to deal with an issue which the topic alone immediately draws opinion. Subject matter: homosexuality. My question is, however, is that what his article was about? No. It wasn't. Unfortunately, too many people responded to the article as if B-Mac were making some outrageous claim. It is in the humble opinion of this writer that a closer read should be had in regards to the article.
B-Mac's words articulate a very real and necessary attitude check from the Christian community. Specifically, as a follower of Jesus, as people who are to be in tune with compassion, love, forgiveness, caring, understanding, and hope, you know, the "good news", we need to learn that there are always questions behind the questions people ask. When the Pharisee's tried to corner Jesus and ask him hardline questions, his most common response was another question. If Jesus is more about getting to the heart of the matter, than quickly brushing over issues, shouldn't we then be also? Jesus doesn't want us to do the right thing because if we don't we will burn in eternal damnation. Jesus wants our hearts.
I went to the theater to see Brokeback Mountain. Leaving that theater, my thoughts were not on what an immoral world we live in. My thoughts were on the struggles and hurt feelings and need to be loved by everybody in our world, including people of a homosexual orientation.
It is hard to be a single guy in his mid-twenties who desires more than anything to be in love and have a future with my wife, and thoughts of children, and the pain seems even more unbearable to believe that there are people out there that not only feel that same longing to be loved and needed, but to have to repress it. As followers of Christ, we need to see the needs behind the issues. We need to stop trying to fix people and we need to learn the listen to the heartjoys and the heartaches of our brothers and sisters, whether we share the same faith or not, because the truth is, that whether they acknowledge Christ as the one source of salvation or not, they were still created by God and in His image, and we might find that we share more in common than we've wanted to admit all along..
B-Mac's words articulate a very real and necessary attitude check from the Christian community. Specifically, as a follower of Jesus, as people who are to be in tune with compassion, love, forgiveness, caring, understanding, and hope, you know, the "good news", we need to learn that there are always questions behind the questions people ask. When the Pharisee's tried to corner Jesus and ask him hardline questions, his most common response was another question. If Jesus is more about getting to the heart of the matter, than quickly brushing over issues, shouldn't we then be also? Jesus doesn't want us to do the right thing because if we don't we will burn in eternal damnation. Jesus wants our hearts.
I went to the theater to see Brokeback Mountain. Leaving that theater, my thoughts were not on what an immoral world we live in. My thoughts were on the struggles and hurt feelings and need to be loved by everybody in our world, including people of a homosexual orientation.
It is hard to be a single guy in his mid-twenties who desires more than anything to be in love and have a future with my wife, and thoughts of children, and the pain seems even more unbearable to believe that there are people out there that not only feel that same longing to be loved and needed, but to have to repress it. As followers of Christ, we need to see the needs behind the issues. We need to stop trying to fix people and we need to learn the listen to the heartjoys and the heartaches of our brothers and sisters, whether we share the same faith or not, because the truth is, that whether they acknowledge Christ as the one source of salvation or not, they were still created by God and in His image, and we might find that we share more in common than we've wanted to admit all along..
posted by Michael Anthony | 12:37 PM
2 Comments:
Interesting. I feel exactly the same way. For whatever reason, I feel a lot of compassion towards homosexuals for the same reason you noted: because I desire that lifelong love with my husband, I can't imagine how terribly heartbreaking it would be to feel that way for another woman (in my case) and be thwarted from it from every angle, and treated with hate because of the way you love. These people need our compassion just as much as anyone else. It's difficult to show it, at least for me, because I can't wholly relate to their struggles, but I know there are people who can. I want to see Brokeback Mountain, too, because I think it may help me identify a bit better with the reality of homosexual relationships. At first I didn't want to see the movie, because my instinct was, "How can I support something I don't agree with?" But then I thought about what in fact I would be supporting by watching it. I would be supporting quality cinema, regardless of the subject matter. I would not necessarily be supporting what some call "the homosexual agenda" any more than going to see Ace Ventura supports bestiality. So, because I am poor, I will probably wait till it's rentable, but I do look forward to watching it, even if I have to do so alone! Thanks for your thoughts, Mike:)
inspired you are my friend.
Tery once told me, can we criticize people because they love one another? The sexual act may be wrong, but the actual loving of one another can never be wrong.
And you're right, people need to be loved, want to be loved, and want to love. it's something within us, wired, or perhaps learned, but i think it's wired. i think it's our little piece of God, that comes with the package when we were created.
te quiero
Aly
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