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Most Churches Are Welcoming and Affirming

We please God and do well to others by loving them without compromise. We fail in this when we re-write the rules for ourselves or others. A real woman, similar to our imaginary visitor—same-sex attracted, living with her girlfriend at the time of her writing—speaks to each of us from the honesty and depth of her heart:

To those of you who would change the church to accept the gay community and its lifestyle: You give us no hope at all. To those of us who know God’s word and will not dilute it to fit our desires, we ask you to read John’s letter to the church in Pergamum. “I have a few things against you: You have people there … who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. … Repent therefore!”  You are willing to compromise the word of God to be politically correct. We are not deceived. If we accept your willingness to compromise, then we must also compromise. We must therefore accept your lying, your adultery, your lust, your idolatry, your addictions, YOUR sins. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (emphasis in original)

She concludes:

We do not ask for your acceptance of our sins any more than we accept yours. We simply ask for the same support, love, guidance and most of all hope that is given to the rest of your congregation. We are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We are not what we shall be, but thank God, we are not what we were. Let us work together to see that we all arrive safely home.

A Sister in Christ

This is indeed a difficult issue for many today. But we don’t help anyone by carving out two stark and polar opposite positions—welcome or reject, affirm or excoriate.

The truth, like life, typically lies somewhere in between the extremes. Getting there is not always easy, but it is worth the pursuit and struggle. We have no choice but to be like Christ our Lord, “the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

The proper balance is found in being crazy full of grace and crazy full of truth.