How Living With Gay People Changed My Christian Perspective
I didn’t like gay people. At all.
Going into my freshman year of college I repeated, “I don’t care who my roommate is, as long as he isn’t gay”. I was borderline homophobic. The 18 year old me just couldn’t do it.
August came. My roommate: a gay guy.
I was devastated. This must’ve been a mistake. God obviously hadn’t listened to me. All I wanted was a straight roommate and I couldn’t even get that.
But it taught me something.
Living with a gay roommate made me see the LGBT community differently. Talking with him made me realize I am no different than he is. He sees and feels just as I do.
We are all constructed in the same way we just have differences of opinions. And that alone doesn’t call for judgment, especially as a Christian.
All have sinned
“He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone” (John 8:7).
None of us are perfect. We all have made mistakes.
Just because a person is gay doesn’t mean they are living in sin. Do we not sin every day? Even with a harmless thought?
Being a Christian doesn’t give us the right to pass judgment on another person because of there sexual preferences.
Before we criticize others we have to be critical of our own actions.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3 I suggest reading this whole chapter)
As Christians, sometimes we view ourselves as super saints when in fact we sin just as much, if not more, as those who aren’t Christians.
Unless we have examined ourselves first we cannot examine the lives of others. It is not anyone’s place to be the judge and jury of another person’s sexual orientation, even if it is against God.
Just because you may be a Christian it does give you any special privileges. And just as you have sinned and been forgiven the sins of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender can be forgiven also.
They are no different than the rest of us with two arms and two legs. They aren’t aliens. So what he kissed a boy or that she has a girlfriend.
Yesterday you cussed. The weekend before that you got drunk. But since your a Christian you get a free pass. Right? No. The same goes for me.
What gives us salvation?
My dad and I argue about this a bit.
My rap music doesn’t earn his fatherly nor religious approval. “God doesn’t want you listening to this…It [rap] won’t be in heaven…”
He argues that our salvation is, in part, credited to our actions here on earth. And this is true. The bible does state that faith without works is dead.
But I don’t think my choice of music will be the determining factor as to whether I’ll get into heaven or not.
And neither is a person’s sexual orientation.
Being gay won’t keep a person out of heaven. The only way someone can gain eternal life is through faith.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NIV).
Gays can get to heaven the same way we [Christians] do. They are not barred from entry nor do they have to go through a series of checkpoints to prove they belong in eternity.
“Declare with your mouth.” This is the action; the part where someone verbally acknowledges that Christ is, and the only, Lord.
With these words, a person is making a commitment.
Much like someone trying to lose weight, you have to commit yourself to God. And like any commitment, you have to follow through.
“Believe in your heart”. This is the follow through, when you back up your commitment.
You don’t just say you're going to the gym, you actually believe it and you go to the gym.
The same is with our salvation. If a gay person acknowledges (commits) that Jesus is Lord and believes (follow-through) then they will have salvation.
Why?
Because, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, but the washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5).
Christ didn’t die on the cross because our ‘life chart’ was full of gold stickers. Christ died because we are imperfect. He died because of our sins. He sacrificed himself so that we may be cleansed.
That’s how God saved us. And the same way God saved us straight us Christians God saved gays.
Thanks for reading…
