“Being” anything, is not sinful. “Acting” out is where the sin occurs. I have warned both my children and those who have come to me for guidance on some areas I have some experience with; “Thoughts are actions just waiting their turn.” So in this example, whether gay or straight, lust, or thoughts, do have eventual consequences if left to wander. However, most of the current “agendas”, both gay and Christian, come from fear, and fear ain’t faith, so I am apt to disregard both in a factual sense.

However, I am both of this world and IN this world. Governmental labeling or endorsement of ANY marriage is doomed to never satisfy the full will of God’s laws. If the etymology of ‘Marriage” is indeed biblical, fine, but don’t make everyone no matter their faith obtain a license for it from the government. Make us get “Civil Union” licenses and let that “very legal” argument die.If not, then suspend all other exclusionary laws that require such a document to avoid the loss of government rights and benefits under them.

That’s a great point, Rick – we tend to do a lot of the “placing” of sin as we come across it. Most of the time, it’s through that lens of, “Well, as I see it, this is a much bigger deal than that sin over there…. so…”

I appreciate the metaphor of a city for this tension. If you look at the buildings from a space station about to leave the atmosphere, you relatively see all the buildings at the same time and same value. If you look at it from a human view, some tower over others in ways that can’t be dismissed.

So toss Jesus into that – He walked the earth and saw everything through human eyes, and yet in being Divine sees the higher view. I wonder how He’ll reconcile all of that in eternity. Then again, maybe that’s the main thing to realize… *He* will reconcile it.

In the meantime, we can point out the buildings (which has its purpose), or we can point out the sky (which has its purpose). Somehow I think God is present in both, and yet doesn’t want us to confuse the buildings for the clouds, nor aim for the clouds and crash into the buildings along the way.

I appreciate you commenting, Brian. Know that you’re welcome here. For what it’s worth, consider how a comment like that can create its own sliding scale, though. For example, to say that today’s morals are higher implies there is a way to gauge morals and their worth beyond what culture thinks of them at any given time. That, in turn, implies there is an objective ideal or standard in the world… which, in turn, implies something or someone objective put that into motion. So in a sense, trying to explain a way a sliding scale of sin ends up creates a fixed point of morality. I love how God is revealed there, even in the midst of our rejecting Him. Thanks for chiming in.

Thank you right back, Tony. Perhaps the challenge is somewhere in there God does have a clear view on this topic (even if we don’t). So when you get a group of people in the room dissecting the Bible through word studies or sharing stories that begin with, “I have a friend who…” it becomes awkward in many ways. Ultimately, we need to let God speak. Then again, He seems to like speaking through His people and His Word. Maybe that’s the real trick – having a fearless conversation where we lean in to listen, but then ultimately try to listen for the Whisper underneath it all and check that leading with Scripture. While all that’s happening, if we could love God and love each other in the process then hard dialogue becomes foundational cement for a relational on-ramp.

Love this line Ken: “Young people need the truth that is only found in the Word of God, and they need courage. And by the way, it takes a lot more courage to practice humility and engage in a thoughtful dialog with a gay person than it does to wave a ‘God Hates You’ sign from across the street, shrouded in the security of your equally arrogant and clueless friends.”

Great thoughts Christianprincess. Thank you for sharing them! The more conversations I have, read about, and witness from culture, the more James 1:19-20 comes into my mind and heart.

Great catch. It seems like we have to remember that Jesus saves and can save anyone would choose Him as Lord and Savior. Maybe the problem is we want change to happen in another person’s life in every way, shape and form before we “rubber stamp” them. I wonder… who gave us that rubber stamp? Does it exist? Arguably, there is great teaching in the Bible regarding church communities… but never to trump the transformational work Jesus can do in all of us.

All of us.

(I think I needed to say that again) 🙂