With all the commotion going on in this country over controversial issues with the law and such, I figured I'd chime in. Let's start with a question first, for all you Christians barking for a mandate of morality in this country...
"Do you believe that the Gospel works?"
If you're a Christian you should believe that the Gospel is true and works, and you should believe it because you've seen the Truth and transformational goodness of the Gospel in your own life. Many Christians may respond to that question with, "Of course the Gospel works!" Well, this presents another question. If you believe that the Gospel works, then why isn't it working like it should in America?
If our mission is to convert people and be right, it is easy for us to be very wrong about being right. Loving people by arguing with them and condemning them is not love in any way. Those are the characteristics of the devil, whose full time gig is to condemn and manipulate people into damaging lives. Want to see the gay community wake up to the love of God? Stop condemning them and love them. Just stop it! They need a friend who will love them into a lifestyle of heaven on earth, not another finger pointing at them cursing them. They don't know God, do you really expect them to live like they do know God when a large representation of God in this country is grumpy religious people that don't know Love?
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." (NKJV)
Love does not seek its own. God doesn't love us with the agenda of getting us to memorize bible verses and do the good church life. God loves us because that's who He is, He is love and love is the only substance He has and gives. Yes He wants us to know His goodness through His written Word, through His presence, and through a community of followers of Jesus, but when we love people for the purpose of trying to convert them, it's not love. It's manipulation and the world can see right through it and they are sick of it.
When we love people without an agenda it creates space for Love to do His job, and Love does it better then we do. The majority of America has heard the basic Gospel message, but they have not seen it walked out in power and love. Ask yourself this question, "Is Jesus a safe place for the broken and hurting people of the world?" You bet He is, He is the safest place for those people. If a very flamboyant gay person walked up to Jesus He would love them, hug them, and not judge them. He would welcome them to dine at His table, and He would do it with a genuine heart. Jesus would kindly and patiently love them into change.
So we who follow Jesus are supposed to look just like Him. 2 Corinthians 5: 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (NLT)
What are we saying when we say, "Come back to God?" Well, when we condemn people it has nothing to do with God. What we are doing when we implore they come back to God the right way? We should be living in a way that our lives say, "come back to love." And the only way to truly get them to come to unconditional love is to love them unconditionally.
Now honestly ask yourself this question. If a flamboyant gay person walked into your average Christian church do you think it would be a safe place where they could be themselves and be loved unconditionally into their true heavenly identity?
We should look and act just like Jesus in all ways and with all people. Love is the most transformational power on the planet, and Love is who God is. The way that you act towards those that live contradictory to your beliefs reveals how you think God truly is. If you think God is angry and condemning then that's how you'll act towards the world.
How did God act towards us when you were living contradictory to our true identity in Him? Romans 5:8 But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. (Message Bible) Why did God do that for us? Because unconditional love is what changes people.
Love is who He is. God does not condemn people to hell, people choose their own hell. God doesn't punish people, He put ALL punishment on His Son on the cross. Yes we have consequences to our actions, but we punish ourselves with our poor lifestyle choices. Hell wasn't made for people, it was made for the devil and his angels. God doesn't send people to hell, people chose their own destiny of hell by refusing love. So how do you get people to wake up to the Good News? You love them, without strings attached or an agenda.
I have seen multiple gay people change their lifestyle and surround to the Love Himself. I never judged them or used fear to try and change them. I just loved them and brought them into encounters with God's power and love. I also have friends that are gay right now, and I'm not friends with them to try and convert them to believe like me. I just love them and let God do what He does best, love people into change.
When we will re-present Love as He is to this country, we will see people come running to Him. Love is entirely irresistible and He is the answer to a full scale transformation of the United States of America.
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