CELEBRATE LOVE

I’ve been pushing this post off because it never feels like I could possibly find the words to articulate it’s importance. More than anything else in the world I battle religion. Simply because I don’t understand how anyone can say they know Jesus and have a relationship with Him yet they treat others as if they aren’t worthy of that. Jesus is love. He died for us- All of us. Not just the straight heterosexual middle class white males able to give 10+% of their income to the mega churches of the south. That means He died for our Muslim brothers & sisters, our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters, and every single human being in the world whether or not they know Him. We cannot be small-minded enough to believe that if someone hasn’t had the opportunity to experience Jesus that Jesus will condemn them to hell. Every story in the bible radiates God’s LOVE. So interpretations are up for grabs and/or discovered through the personal relationship you have with Jesus.  I think “hell” is our choice. We can either choose to walk with God or we can choose a life without faith which I don’t think many would argue can really feel like hell. At the end of our time here on earth when we all meet our maker I don’t think he'll say "nope..next!". Remember the prodigal son? God the Father’s arms are open WIDE whenever we come home. Life is short in comparison to our eternity with Jesus so I think our timeless Lord probably considers the life of those who never knew Him but then meet Him “at the gates” as that trip of the prodigal son. We are never too far gone, even if our whole lives feel that way. When we meet Jesus and we say, “Woah! You’re real?" And we experience His love in front of us, “every knee shall bend” and His children get to spend eternity with Him. Unless of course they meet Him and then still say “nah.” But I really don’t think that happens because I could never deny His love here on earth and that’s just with what I’ve experienced through the Holy Spirit through people. So the moment I get to actually embrace the King of Heaven I’m pretty sure there will be no way to deny anything.

Anyway- I say all of this to say we’re doing it wrong. The church has more power than any other group in the world. Religion rules the world when it should be LOVE. We use religion to murder, spread hate, oppress, persecute, and destroy each other & I’m not exaggerating at all- This post is going to focus on our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters primarily because it’s PRIDE MONTH & LA PRIDE this weekend so what better time than to throw some glitter! 

Many, dare I say MOST Christians, believe that being gay is a sin. (Don’t throw anything or break anything just yet- trust me I’m with you and restraining myself too). I’m also taking many breaks while writing this to remind myself of God’s power when I feel insanely defeated and bruised while talking through this reality.  Many Christians who are “gay affirming” have someone in their lives who is gay and they know that the belief that being gay is a sin is completely counteracting Jesus. Why do we as humans who have this strong faith in God who we have never seen have to experience something personally to be affected by it and to feel moved to make change? 

For example, Trump is President (not mine, but maybe yours) because there were enough white people in the world who have never personally loved anyone of another race, sexual orientation, or religion than their own. That’s a fact because if you truly loved your Mexican, Latino, LGBTQ+, Black, Muslim brothers and sisters, those with disabilities, or females then you could not possibly have ignored the things Trump said about all of them and the laws of discrimination put in place under him that destroys them.

Follow me here, if I came after your mama and all that she is you would absolutely not choose me to be the leader of your household. No way. So, Why?, when this man came after our brothers and sisters did we think he would be a good leader of our home? It’s because white privilege allowed many of us to say “I didn’t vote for him because of those things that he said! I voted for him because I believe in his policies.” That there defines white privilege. You CAN NOT ignore the things that he says he will do to harm our brothers and sisters because you agree with the things he plans for the economy. It was up to us!! And we failed. I’m going to avoid continuing this political tangent in hopes that my point has been made.

Many Christians have said “well the LGBT community isn’t discriminated against. They can come to church, we wouldn’t kick them out or be mean to them but they choose not to come.” Ok…*smacks self in the face twice to come back down to earth* What black person have you met that would be cool with going to a KKK meeting in hopes of finding a relationship with whoever the KKK members are worshipping?

I spend a lot of time on websites of churches around the country. Each one has a values section or a “what we believe” section. Under this tab, it is usually one of the top 3 values that states some rendition of “we believe in the sanctity of marriage to be how God intended it and that gender is God given.” HELP.ME.UNDERSTAND. So if I were gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, etc. and looking up a church that I could go to to feel closer to God but I was born gay and I know that God made me this way WHY would I EVER attend a church that fails to even acknowledge that God made me this way? If I am looking for a church to grow in relationship with Jesus Christ and to build an encouraging community like every other Christian seeking a church, I probably wouldn't find comfort there. In Matthew Vines book, God & The Gay Christian : The Biblical Case In Support of Same Sex-Relationships, Matthew shares that “the God of the Bible required him to hate a core part of himself. It had been the instrument that taught others to reject that part of him too.” How is it that we can be so self-righteous to pretend that we're the judge?!

Important side note: At the time that the word “homosexual” was added into the bible there was a low birth rate. So what do you do as a leader back then? Make it sinful for people to be in relationships that don’t genetically create babies. According to the times the word "homosexuality" was understood to mean “morally soft, prostitution, and out of control lust.” Paul consistently condemns lust and dishonoring your body. The writers didn’t understand that same sex love wasn’t excessive sexual behavior but that sexuality is fluid.

The further you get into your relationship with Jesus the more humble and open your heart becomes. God has spoken to me so many times in so many ways through others' prophetic words promising me that this road will be difficult, and sometimes lonely, but He will walk with me and continue to show me that my purpose includes opening the eyes of the earthly church in the area of oppression against an entire community of His children, the LGBTQ+ community. Just as it was our job with the political election, it is the job of the allies to stand up. It is the job of those of us who haven’t been silenced by the church quite yet because we were born with a sex that matches our socially constructed gender and a sexual orientation that reflects the Disney movies and hallmark cards. It’s our job because we’re safe. So I’m standing up and will stand up every single day for the rights of those who are kicked out of experiencing a relationship with God because His own children refuse to love one another the way that He loves us.

Let’s get personal because I’ve learned that most of us have to experience something personal to give a shit about it. That makes us sound like crummy humans, but we’re all a product of our environment. Many of us grew up in environments that taught what's right and wrong... the wrong way. So here we are, learning together. Being transparent is what we do here and I’m hoping that sharing this opens your eyes a bit so that you can love more and fill up with more of God’s love that you might be missing out on. 

My little brother, my soulmate, my forever best friend, my person- He’s brilliant, loves unconditionally, changes the lives of every single human and even animal he comes in contact with just by being who God made him to be. He was given a soul far more advanced than anyone I’ve ever met. He has more heaven in him and more of God’s power to make change in his 6 foot body than anyone I’ll ever come in contact with. His ability to understand and to provide peace and unity is Godly. He has been a hero and a safe haven for so many of his peers and so many kids he'll never even meet since he was born. He is all of these heavenly things and he has been undeniably since feather boas and diapers—gay.

He showed me what God’s love is from day 1. He has been the Hands of God for me since 1995 & just to add extra icing on the cake he never said no to playing Barbies with me and choreographing dances to Rosie O’Donnell’s Christmas CDs. He is gentle and empathetic and sensitive and kind and he is openly all of these things without fear of a gender and sexual orientation expectation. He is protective and strong, loyal and innovative, an artist and a performer. His leadership cannot be ignored. I say all these things and list these characteristics because I refuse to let anyone define him as simply as “gay”. As my dad always says “the least interesting thing about a person is who they’re sleeping with.”

I’ve watched him overcome physical and emotional abuse/harassment time and time again. I’ve seen scars, tears, fear, and heartbreak.

Giving somebody a single-story existence is the demise of love. There are many times you'll hear someone say “you’re entitled to your own opinion. We can agree to disagree.” No- you are not entitled to your own opinion that condemns others from living with the same rights and peace that you wake up with daily. You aren’t going to enjoy the comfort and peace of a church pew while telling others that they shouldn’t.

You don’t get to use Jesus as a weapon.

Go here with me- imagine being 10 years old. Sitting in a beautiful church where you feel so much of the Holy Spirit and so much unconditional love, or maybe not at all yet but...Then the priest/pastor who you have learned to call “father” and to look up to gives a 25 minute speech about “the sin of homosexuality” and how God intends for men to only love women and women to only love men in a sexual way. By 10 you already know you’ve never had a crush on a girl and you certainly don’t see yourself being a daddy in a home with a mommy as a grown up. It feels so unnatural for you to ever think about kissing a girl but you sure can picture kissing Zac Efron from High School Musical. Mixed messages forever and a community of people sharing that same  belief soon enough leads you to believe that the God they’re talking about isn’t the God you were feeling loved by so you must be all sorts of messed up. Then you pull away losing that feeling you loved and replacing it with pain. A pain that continues unless you are surrounded by people who “get it” and that certainly hasn’t been your experience in church. Even worse, you start to feel like you are God’s mistake. He couldn’t have made you like this. Add this to a bunch of harassing experiences in school where you spend most of your time & trust me you have a 10 year old feeling isolated, alone, unloved, and most likely suicidal because Christians' misinterpretation of God has made you feel like God’s mistake.

Do you see? Our silence behind the freedom of our straight privilege has been doing unbelievable damage.  

This pride month, I’m asking all of my fellow Christians and fellow brothers and sisters to sit in prayer and really pray about this. This is not a “topic” that you avoid because you’re just not really sure and/or it's never affected you. You cannot be unsure of another humans rights and how much God loves them and wants you to love them as He does.

That’s not an “I don’t know” issue.

We need to celebrate each other for all that we are. God made us all in His image so every time you look at somebody who is different than you, why not take in all that God has shown you about Him through them and celebrate!! Celebrate the diversity of Jesus! Celebrate how amazingly beautiful it is that we all get to bring so many different things to the world and we all carry so much of God’s love in us together we could really bring heaven to earth!

I feel wrong trying to write an ending to this piece because there won’t be one. Not in my lifetime. I will fight for my baby brother, future brother-in-law, and for all of our brothers and sisters forever. I will make sure that the love of Christ shines from the church I plant one day and that NO ONE feels unworthy or unloved to enter through those doors. This is what we can do for each other, keep the door open, admire the beauty in each of us, and celebrate each other like Jesus will celebrate us when we meet Him in that glittery rainbow filled heaven one day!

Happy Pride! I celebrate you everyday & I thank God for all that you are. I thank God for giving you the strength, bravery, and courage to be who you are out loud. It takes a lot more of heaven in you to rise & shine everyday than it does in me. I stand up for you, with you, and nothing will silence our celebration of love!