Sometimes when you sit down to write, you aren't even sure what to write. I don't think it is writer's block, it is just one of those days where spirituality is not on the surface. Today wasn't a bad day- I managed to deal with a "bug" in my code that had long eluded me and so I am quite pleased to have gotten rid of it. I read the last four chapters of Acts today, but nothing awe inspiring stood out from that. I guess you could say today is an above average day with little to write home about.

I think our challenge is to accept that we will have days like this or worse. Days where all we do is what we are supposed to do and we don't go out to eat or rent a movie or meet a major goal or anything- the sort of day that given too many of which, might lead us into sin or other bondage in trying to cope with the boredom. It is a challenge living these ordinary days, isn't it? Perseverance isn't easy for anyone. It is particularly tough when we give ourselves seasons where we just get whatever we want. I think most people have experienced this phenomena. You just want to feel good, and so for a short or long season you spoil yourself, giving in to various desires in excess of what a disciplined life should. And then, when you come to your senses, you stop it but now things have changed. Now life has to titillate the senses, now the ordinary is not enough. The consequence of an undisciplined life is discontentment when you do decide to be disciplined and it takes a long time to come to grips with the ordinariness of life. Or maybe you just continue gratifying certain desires and avoid some of the boredom?

A Nuanced Perspective On Christians In the Wedding Business Versus Gay Couples

While it is clear to me that it is not right to legally obligate Christians to bake gay wedding cakes, or otherwise force Christians to do something they feel uncomfortable with, I am not worried about what will happen if the law does make it illegal to discriminate, because those with deeper faiths will have no problem serving the gay community. Let me elaborate.

It's kind of a two-edged subject. It really grieves me that our court system is forcing Christians to do something they believe violates their consciences. I understand why they feel that way, and I'm sure I would feel at least a little uncomfortable if I were in their shoes. The thing is, though, that being a Christian should mean having to do things that are uncomfortable. What did Jesus say? Love your enemies? Pray for those that persecute you? If you are told to carry a load one mile, go two miles? See, Jesus was aware that Christians were going to be asked, or told for that matter, to do things they didn't want to do. Jesus made it clear that we weren't just supposed to do those things, but basically do them with gusto. The deeper faith response is not, "Do I agree with what they are asking me to do?" but "Will me doing what they are asking or telling me to do testify to the goodness of God?"

Here's a good question. How does refusing to serve a gay couple a cake going to show those people that God loves them? That's the thing. It doesn't. Maybe the refuser avoids feeling awkward and uncomfortable. When you read the gospels, does it sound like Jesus wanted you to avoid feeling awkward and uncomfortable at the cost of not showing the true love of God to people who need it? I don't think there is any evangelistic bonus that comes from refusing to serve a gay couple. They just think you hate them, and by proxy, that God in turn hates them. I'm pretty sure that is NOT what Jesus wanted.

God Loves Gay People

I have heard this sentiment that God hates gay people from multiple sources, and this line of thinking grieves me to no end. Something needs to be said.

To be clear, I know there are a lot of scriptures that say that God doesn't like gay sex. This is true. However, there are a whole host of things that God doesn't like. He doesn't like infidelity, or even coveting your neighbors wife. He doesn't like theft or murder- or even cussing someone out. Truthfully, there are MANY MANY things that God doesn't like. Does that mean that God hates people who are thieves, or murderers, or for that matter, practically everyone? NO! In fact, I think it is clear from scripture that God doesn't like certain behaviors BECAUSE he loves us. Because God has something better for us than a life of thieving and hating and coveting. It is God's desire to invade every human and transform them into something fit for heaven. That is God's goal. Somehow, the fact that God doesn't like these things has been transformed into a line about God hating people. Let me be clear here- if you are communicating to ANYONE that God doesn't love them because of the sin in their lives, you are utterly failing the mission of God as stated in the gospels. We need to be emissaries of the truth. God may hate your behavior, but only BECAUSE God loves you.

You know, if you think about it, this actually makes sense. If I don't love someone, I don't care what they do. They may do as they please and it makes me no difference. If I don't love you, what do I care what you do? See what is going on here? I realize there are multiple scriptures about "putting homosexuals to death," particularly in Leviticus. However, at that time there was no answer for rampant sin other than death- and if you think homosexual sex was the only sin that God said required a death sentence, you are fooling yourself. There were a whole host of sins that called for the death penalty in the Old Testament, many of which we don't think twice about today. Anyhow, when Jesus came, he provided an alternative solution- God indwelling in man. Also, to be clear, ever since the fall, God has been drawing humanity closer to himself. When we fell, we fell hard. I believe God gave the commands in Leviticus and the other stringent laws because man's heart was hard, and sin had to be dealt with harshly because man wasn't ready for God to dwell inside of him/her. Before Christ, God had been working a very long time to draw man close enough to himself so that humanity could handle having God dwell inside of him. And then Jesus came, and a new revelation about the nature of God came. It is this revelation we need to be sharing.

As an aside, I do believe that there needs to be a clear distinction made between the Levitical laws about morality and the Levitical laws about everything else. I believe that God still cares about the morals behind the moral laws, but the other laws aren't important to the Christian, because they were designed around separating the Jews from the neighboring peoples who God wanted the Jews to be separate from. I say this because some people are trying to say that because the rules about uncleanliness, as an example, are no longer in effect, that God doesn't care about homosexuality, either. That is a misunderstanding about what Jesus did. Simply put, there is a difference between the moral laws and the ones that were designed to keep the Jews from assimilating with the people that lived in the land that God gave them. And to be clear here, no I don't believe in the death penalty for moral law violations. It just means that God still frowns on certain behaviors, NOT that people who commit those behaviors should be put to death. I wish I could leave this paragraph out, as I'm not sure it fits in the spirit of this post, but I feel it is important to note this distinction as some are saying that "Because I know God doesn't care whether or not I touch a pigskin, that also means that God doesn't care whether I have homosexual sex." That is a misunderstanding about scripture that requires clarification.

I want to sum up by saying to any gay person who happens upon this blog and has managed to read this this far on this post, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that Christians have communicated to you that God doesn't love you. I'm sorry that Christians treat you badly, like you have a dangerous communicable disease or something. And while it should be clear from this post that I don't agree with the idea that God made you gay, I do believe that it may have been difficult for you to have avoided coming to the conclusion you are gay. And truth be told, I don't understand why so many people feel this way. It's a mystery to me. I would be underselling God if I didn't say that I believe that God can heal and transform your gayness into being a heterosexual. However, while I believe this is possible, and it is my hope for every person with this burden, I don't believe that is the first issue that God wants to deal with, in a person with this issue. First God wants to tell you that he loves you and cares about you more than you'll ever know. If he can heal your heart, then everything else will follow suit. Now if only Christians could show God's love to everyone as God intended- then we would really be getting somewhere...