Unnecessary Stereotyping

Pick an example, any example. Find any sort of value statement in the media today about Christians versus the homosexual community, and I suspect you will always find it to be the same message. People who are opposed to "gay rights" are lunatics. Sane people, heterosexual and homosexual alike, favor "gay rights" and are just nicer people than anyone who is opposed to "gay rights".

One big problem, you see, is that there is a lunatic fringe out there that feeds the stereotype. They are truly the homophobic, narrow-minded, hateful people that are depicted in the examples. They are mean-spirited, illogical folks who often rally under the banner of "Christianity" while they ignore the teachings of Christ about how to treat people that they perceive to be their enemies and that the hallmark of Christians is love, not some angry morality movement. They are the "Fred Phelps" types that are just as embarrassing and offensive to true Christians as they are offensive to everyone else.

The other problem is that too many Christians don't really think through the problem. They see that the Bible clearly holds out homosexual behavior as sin (along with a whole lot of other stuff, don't forget), but they don't think about what the proper response to that sin would be nor even why they would respond at all. The only responses they are offered is the wrong one of the lunatic fringe or the wrong one of the "just accept gay behavior as normal" side.

The problem is actually echoed in just about every corner of Christian morality. We have a fairly decent grasp on "good" and "bad", a fairly common idea about what is moral and what isn't, but we don't think much about why this or that is immoral or how we should react.

There are reasons for Christian morality beyond simply "God said it." That's sufficient for us, I suppose, but it's not the only answer. God is the Creator. He knows what makes the human being work well and what makes the human being work poorly. He knows that sexual sin, for instance, causes all sorts of problems that aren't exactly related to morality at all (see, for instance, 1 Cor. 6:16 -- "Do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her?" That is a problem.) All of the moral law has ramifications to the human being that are not merely because "it's wrong." It's wrong ... sure ... but it's also bad for us. A loving God is attempting to help us operate better by telling us, "Don't do that; it will hurt you." All of that is apart from the damage it does to the glory of God, which we fall short of when we sin and, when we do, bear unspeakable debt to God. That's bad.

If, then, homosexual behavior isn't merely immoral but bad for them, wouldn't it change our reaction? Wouldn't it change how we respond to people in sin, regardless of what the sin is? It should. Revulsion is not the proper response. Outrage is not the proper response. The proper response is loving concern.

Of course, if the person in question is not a believer, then their immorality, whatever form it takes, isn't the big problem, and trying to make them more moral is irrelevant. They don't need to be better people. God isn't in the business of making bad people into good people. They need new life. They need a relationship with Christ. Trying to make them "good" isn't it. They need the gospel.

If the person in question is a believer, we have specific instructions on how we should react.

Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:1-2).

If you can figure out how "demonstrate and shout angry epithets at them" fits in with "restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness", you're a better person than I am. If that qualifies as "bear one another's burdens", please don't offer to bear my burdens with me.

We live in a world that hates Christ. So be it. We will be misrepresented by those people. So be it. But somewhere some of us need to stand up and demonstrate love instead of hatred for the homosexual. We need to be concerned about the damage, cautious about their direction, distressed about the anguish they face if they continue, and troubled for their well-being. "Outraged about their immorality" isn't going to assist in any of this. We can't make the world represent us properly, but surely we can work at speaking the truth in love ourselves, can't we?