INSIDE OUT

I belong to a church that believes that practicing homosexual acts is not God's best plan... and I completely disagree with them. Some might (and others have) asked why I continue to be a part of this family and my answer is as follows: I might find another church that will agree with my beliefs on this issue. Yet, I'm quite sure that once there, I will also find a different topic in which we will disagree.

Do I leave every church in which I do not agree 100%? That, I believe, is naive. I doubt that even if there is a general consensus, that I would believe absolutely everything on every level. The only way I MIGHT find a church like this is if I start one myself, create a dictatorship of beliefs, which only I can create, and invite others to follow. Given time, however, it might also be true that five years from now I won't even agree with what I believe today and then where would that leave me?

I do not always agree with my husband, yet we live in harmony and in love and respect for each other. So then, should I not become a part of ANY relationship in fear of disagreeing? This would separate me from any hope for family. Any hope for having a relationship with one single person would be lost. This would bring me towards solitude and this, for me, is not an option. Not for one's whole life, anyways.

So, I recently listened to a seminar from my church called, "Is being gay a sin". From the moment it began to about half way through it, I felt freedom for my homosexual friends and wanted to scream with excitement. What I had once suspected became evidently true: the teacher of the church I belong to has come to the conclusion from the "bisexual orientation theory" that (and I quote), "it appears to be most biblical that we can swing either side.... and this is liberating."

Well, I just couldn't believe it! The more I listened the more I was CONVINCED he has given all reason to stop judging the rights of those who are in love and who practice a form of sexuality, which, not only allows two adults to come together without hurting one soul, but also, allows for freedom within the family of Christ-followers who have rejected them for so long.

But, yet as I listened to the conclusions of this particular message, it appears that the misinterpreted, misaligned, historically confined words in a book has yet again taken away from all logic, from all ideals of love that Jesus promoted time and time again, that takes away from all perfect judgement (which only God can truly give) and have placed it into the hands of authors who were homophobic at best in this regard. The church has turned the authors of the bible into gods. What these authors have spoken has become our very own personal-interpreted god; giving those in "power" and those who claim to have the keys to heaven, the ability to breathe death into the very souls of those whom God is calling to be his. Creating now, even if it were true, not one who knows God and who merely "sins" like the rest of us, but now however, have created a huge group of hurting people who want nothing to do with the God in which they are preached to come to. God is very clear on this. Do not put other gods before me. And yet here we sit. Allowing the words of a few handfuls of men to dictate, predicate, and in the end, eradicate any form of humanity that did not live up to the standards of their time, their culture, and their own historical discord.