Hoo-boy. What a week.
And not in that “Christmas-is-a-week-away-and-I’m-not-done-with-my-shopping” sort of way. No, this is far more serious.
It’s been a week where “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” has been replaced by division and strife, and ugly words – words like “racist”, “intolerant”, “hater”, to name a few – have been hurled across social media.
It’s been a week where “all is calm, all is bright” has been drowned in a deafening chaos of opinions and accusations, accompanied by darkly illumined knee-jerk reactions.
It’s been a week where “joy to the world” has been turned into anger, disappointment, and bitterness.
It’s been a week where gentlemen have been unable to “rest ye merry”. It’s been a week where “all ye faithful” have been less “joyful and triumphant” and more defensive and defeated. It’s been a week where it’s been difficult to hear those angels “sweetly singing o’er the plains”, where “tidings of comfort and joy” have been few and far between, and where “God and sinners” are far from reconciled.
I say again, Hoo-boy.
This morning, a friend of mine posted a response to the famed Duck Dynasty GQ interview titled “What You Believe About Homosexuality Doesn’t Matter.” In a matter of minutes, this link was popping up on various friends’ status updates and comment threads, with one friend-of-a-friend introducing it as “from a TRUE Christian!”
Yet again, Hoo-boy.
So I took a deep breath, and with much prayer and what I believe was the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I offered this response. Maybe it will help some of my fellow Christ-followers navigate these murky and messy waters called “life” and shine a bright light into a dark place. Maybe it will help us be “wise as serpents and gentle as doves” as we speak truth, extend grace, and offer hope to a world that is in desperate need. Maybe it will help us be “true Christians” as we follow our Leader with humility and faith.
I realize I don’t know you personally, but I do know that we disagree on this issue. Your words about a “true Christian” wound me deeply. Because, you see, I love Jesus more than anyone or anything else. And I have devoted every day since I was 5 years old to knowing Him better, seeking to honor Him in all that I do, and helping others to experience the joy and peace that He brings me. And to think that because I disagree with you on the issue of homosexuality, you would cast judgement on me for not being a “true Christian” is hurtful. However, in love, and with the goal of seeking understanding, I offer my response that I shared on another friends’ wall to this same article.
Dear Mr. Blogwriter,
Please don’t ever tell me that my convictions “don’t matter.” That God’s word and His truth “don’t matter.” That His standard of righteousness and purity and holiness “don’t matter.” That Paul’s words to the Corinthian church – or any of his other churches – “don’t matter.”
What you can do, however, is to remind me that we are called to “love one another deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” You can remind me to do this because we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” You can encourage me to extend grace and “put away all bitterness, malice, wrath, slander…and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” You can remind me that love is first “patient and kind, not self-seeking”, but then “does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.” You can remind me to “speak the truth in love.” As I recall, those words are in Paul’s letters, too – some of them were even written to the Corinthian church – and I would say that yes, in fact, they do matter.
You can tell me it’s okay to rub shoulders with so-called “sinnners”…because I am one, too. You can tell me it’s perfectly acceptable to get my hands and feet dirty as I reach out to those who are “unholy”…because someone once did the same for me. You can tell me it’s my divine mandate to love the unlovely, validate the unworthy, encourage the downtrodden, and support the weak…because that’s what our Savior did for us.
And yes, what He did matters. It matters A LOT. It matters for eternity.