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Church Treatment of Gays: NOT the Way of Jesus

Church Treatment of Gays: NOT the Way of Jesus

Last updated on: April 24, 2014 at 10:17 am by Susan Cottrell

Church Treatment of Gays: NOT the Way of Jesus 2014-04-24T10:17:17-05:00 Susan Cottrell

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“A friend I’d had over for dinner just the night before wrote back questioning my faith.”

Kari expressed her heart with me in this letter and, with her permission, I just had to share it with you.

Love. Love. Love.

I began following your blog a few months ago when your husband started posting it on Facebook, and it has become a real blessing for me (as well as a breath of fresh air!) God began to stir in my heart regarding the LGBTQ community several years ago, and as I watched the reactions of the evangelical community to this “issue,” my heart sank time and time again. Surely, this can’t be the way of Jesus, I told myself. As a writer for a very conservative Christian publisher, I have had to “lay low” on what I truly believe in my heart, because, sadly, I could lose my job.

But in reaching out, in finding other communities of faith, in stepping out of the church I held onto for so long, I have found something beautiful and freeing. There is another path, and I believe this is the narrow path Jesus talked about in the Bible. This is the path to true life, one in which we simply keep our eyes on him and don’t worry about what the world says. As a lifelong people pleaser, it has been difficult for me to step up and speak up, knowing the naysayers are waiting like sharks to snap back in a moment.

Just last week, I posted what I considered a very gracious article regarding the World Vision debacle, and a friend I’d had over for dinner JUST the night before wrote back questioning my “faith.” I was saddened that this woman, whom I’d let in my home, fed and loved, who has known me and my character for 15 years, would question my “faith.”

But you know what? In the end, we only have an audience of one. God.

I must remember this when the questions come, when the naysayers say “love the sinner, hate the sin” but then conclude that “love” really isn’t enough.

Keep on doing what you are doing. Your voice is needed and wanted!

Kari

Matthew 22:37-40… Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others.”

Love. Love. Love.

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Susan Cottrell

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