When critics of Christianity bring up bad examples, we must learn how to graciously respond (Colossians 4:6).
Suppose the subject of homosexuality comes up and someone shares a story about Christians being hateful toward gays.
We should:
1. Explain that the people involved may call themselves Christians, but they don't represent true Christianity.
2. Share positive examples where we or our Christian friends have shown love and concern for gays.
3. Explain that we believe God's commands against homosexuality because they are loving and wise, warning us about sins that damage our lives and draw us away from God's love.
4. Explain that we know we'd be more popular with culture if we approved certain behaviors, but we'd be truly hateful not to warn people of sins that damage their souls.
5. Explain that we have never treated a gay person unkindly, and we'd confront and correct any of our Christian friends if we found out they were being unkind to gays (Galatians 6:1).
Anti-Christian rhetoric can sound quite convincing, but it's built on extreme examples that are rare and not representative of genuine Christians.
Be prepared to graciously but firmly defend your faith, dear Christians, "so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander" (1 Peter 3:15-16).
Dear Christians, make sure you understand what the Bible teaches about Homosexuality. You can find a collection of helpful devotions here: Biblical Teaching on Homosexuality.
This is really difficult. It is challenging to love the person but hate the sin. People are often confused by acceptance of them as a human being as acceptance of their sin. "If you love me you love all of me", "God made me this way it can't be wrong", etc. I struggle with how to appropriately show love without it being confused as acceptance. Jesus ate with sinners, how did he practically separate the person from the sin to avoid people's confusion that it 'must be ok'?
ReplyDeleteYou raise some good questions. And these are questions that many of us are asking because our culture is encouraging people to choose LGBYQ lifestyles. I recently read that it's popular for jr. high, high school, and college students to come out as gay because it sets them apart and they get positive attention.
DeleteI have several friends who have gay family members and they seek to maintain a loving relationship, but they don't do anything that shows approval of their lifestyle. For example, they don't attend weddings or allow them to sleep together in their home.
I have a family member who came out as gay, and since we had studied the Bible together, she knew what I believed. So when she told me, my response was "I love you." But she completely cut off our relationship. I actually believe that it's more often the gay person who cuts off contact than the Christian.
I encourage you to pray about the specific situations you find yourself in with the people you know. I believe God will show you how to show love without showing approval.
P.S. I thought of this after publishing the comment above. In regard to Jesus, I think He always addressed sin when He met with people, whether Pharisees or tax collectors. He didn't avoid them, but neither did He avoid telling them when they were wrong.
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