Just As I Am

"God loves you just as you are." That's the claim. That's the "good news". It's heart-warming, even liberating. And, of course, it isn't actually true.

There is a really fascinating article in The Atlantic entitled Being Gay at Jerry Falwell's University. The author tells how, while at Liberty University, he realized he was gay. The primary point of the article is really interesting. "Not all Christians are homophobic." Not his words; mine. Here's what he did say: "I was expecting him to be ... well, a homophobe. But as I put on my seatbelt, I realized that all that time, I was the one who was afraid. Not him. I'd been warned my whole life about homophobia, but no one ever said anything about homophobiaphobia."

As it turned out, with very rare exception, the Christians, both student and faculty, at Liberty University (you remember Liberty University -- Jerry Falwell's school -- Jerry Falwell who blamed 9/11 on gays) treated the author, Brandon, with respect and love. You know, like Christians are supposed to. They didn't castigate, attack, hate, deride ... anything that you would expect from what we are all told are a pack of dirty, anti-gay, homophobic, hateful right-wingers.

Now, if you read the comments on the article or the comments from others elsewhere about the article, there are the standard complaints. "They should have called on him to repent!" "They should have kicked him out!" I would submit that, first, while unrepentance might mandate exclusion from a church, Liberty University is a school. But I would also suggest that Brandon himself knew that he should repent. He tells the example of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Jesus told the (false) accusers, "He who is without sin cast the first stone." Obviously didn't happen. And then Brandon tells those thrilling words from Jesus to the adulteress: "Neither do I condemn you." See? Jesus doesn't condemn sinners! How heartwarming! "See? God loves you just as you are." But in truth neither Jesus nor Brandon stopped there. Jesus went on to say (and Brandon continued to quote), "Go and sin no more."

Referring to the woman's adultery and his own homosexuality, Brandon writes, "Anyone who is even slightly familiar with Torah or the Book of Romans would have to admit that both activities are regarded as sinful." And almost everyone knows this is true. He goes on to say, "Jesus, a first-century Rabbi, would have also held this belief. And yet, when the abstract sin is given a human face, Jesus responds with acceptance and mercy ..."

Should the folks (students and faculty) at Liberty University have called on Brandon to repent? Probably. And, of course, we don't know if they actually did or did not. I would have a hard time believing that they didn't. But it would appear that they did so with the right attitude, the attitude of love. (On the other hand, they appeared to tolerate a whole lot of male public nudity there, so ...?) Not the point. Don't go there. The point is that the biblical perspective mandates that our primary motivation be love. That ought to be our hallmark. That ought to be the thing that makes us distinct. Love does not demand that we accept those we love "as they are". That's just stupid. Love accepts those we love but hopes for the best. Using an extremely simple human example, genuinely loving parents do not accept their children for who they are; they seek to clothe, feed, encourage, and educate them to be something better. Love expects the best. When you are not the best, love doesn't accept you just as you are; it hopes for something better. Jesus didn't accept the Pharisees or the moneychangers (as obvious examples) or even the woman caught in adultery as they were. He called them on their sin and encouraged them to change it.

I like what Brandon said about the human face of sin. I think he's right. We need to love them while encouraging them to "go and sin no more." And by "them" I mean all of us sinners.