5. Be informed about the latest changes in this area in our culture so you will be prepared for what your church members may be relating to or experiencing a pull from.
For example, many are now re-examining Scripture regarding homosexuality based on a message released earlier this year by Matthew Vines.
Church leaders should know how to respond to this in both love and sound theology, with an emphasis on love.
6. Know the dates the LGBT community works from.
June 28 is the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which helped launch the gay rights movement in America. As a result, June is designated Gay Pride Month, and many cities now hold Gay Pride Parades during the month of June. Oct. 11 is National Coming Out Day in which Americans are urged to come out of the closet and publicly align themselves with a homosexual identity.
During these times, your church may want to organize special outreaches just to tell them you love them, or even just pray for the people participating with the focus on their understanding that God loves them.
As time goes on, it’s going to become more comfortable to face this issue than to ignore it.
A demand is being placed on the Church to come to a deeper place of understanding of what unconditional love looks like while we honor people and adhere to biblical truth. As we lay aside the approaches that indicate ignorance and forsake our anger for compassion, I believe we’ll give God room to change this discourse in our culture.
When it is apparent the Church is equipped to reach out with love and grace, she will invite honesty from those who struggle.
We know this biblical truth to be a reality: Through confession, the power of temptation and sin is broken. By confessing our sins to one another, we find restoration and times of refreshing. And a time of refreshing is what we desperately need when it comes to this issue.
