Gabba Gabba Hey!

I have been taking a beating so far in my view on what must be done to reach the gay community. It is heartbreaking to have a friend stab you in the back with false accusations of “embracing sin”… as it is frightening to have some come and encourage me as I know I may not fully agree with their view either. My only hope is to encourage all to a closer, loving, and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

There is so much baggage cast out against someone who is gay. I have already met parents with gay children who can hear what I am saying and are finding hope. They understand what I mean as they process the horrible isolation someone who faces same sex attraction must go through. They understand why their son or daughter does not come to church or see why Jesus would not accept them. And that is core to the issue. Acceptance. If one comes to understand he or she is accepted by God, great and wonderful things begin to happen. New Life begins and they change! Yet so often we stand in the door to heaven and keep thinking we are ushering in those Jesus is drawing to Himself, yet instead we are blocking those Jesus drew out. We set on them a higher standard than God set on us. Often we just do not see this yet; there is a type of favoritism in the church that needs to be driven out.

You see this is the issue... when we look at proving one side or the other we either have tempers raised and accusations tossed out... or we have the attempt to legitimize sin (Again I define sin as anything that comes between you and a close intimate, growing, relationship with God.)

Instead, the focus of our faith is and should NOT be sin, but Jesus. For no one can change someone else. I can take a bottle of booze from a drunk but then he is a sober drunk... I never changed them. Instead, we clean the outside of the cup but Jesus cleans the inside. Therefore, it is the same with anything that could come between a person and their relationship with God. When we focus on Jesus, then we no longer see sin! For Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world... yours and mine. We then can see a beloved brother or sister that Jesus died for and gave new life to.

Therefore, it is in no way the acceptance or embracing of sin... it is the embracing of Jesus for all His Resurrected Life that is imparted to us. It is embracing the abundant Life. It is letting all we are that is not Christ fall away and God become all in all of you as a person.

If this is heresy then burn me at the stake. All I am saying is if we focus on sin, it should be our OWN. Yet, even with ourselves, we should face Jesus and not our sin for only Jesus takes sin away. If we are facing our sin we are not facing Jesus, it is like when we face the sun.... We do not see our shadow, but if we turn away from the sun, then we see a distorted view of our self in the shadow.

Even to tell someone he or she is a sinner is futile most the time. A person can rationalize their position and sere their conscience. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a person to change. Only God can corner someone with a question that can only be truthfully answered. If we try then we are making someone settle for less than the inner workings of the Holy Spirit…

We can walk with someone through his or her struggles and pain, his or her joy and success and accept the person unconditionally with the same love God accepted us. So all I can say to those who feel outside is something that was coined by the Ramones. "Gabba Gabba we accept you! One of us!"

To those of you who understand what I am saying or even if you do not, pray for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA