Ok, so I know I already posted today, but I suddenly had a thought and wanted to write about it. I was reading/commenting on Faith's blog about acceptance. So, anyways, here I go. I have a new friend in my Art History class. And I know for a fact (by his own admission) that he is not a Christian. And I was wondering if we are supposed to accept them for who they are. Or anyone for that matter, whether it be people who are not attracted to the opposite gender. Another reason I am bringing this up is because one Sunday, one of the high school leaders said that she accepted a guy she knew that was gay. And that reminded me of about five years ago when I was at a retreat at my old church. Basically all the girls were put in a room, and the guys in a seperate room. in the gorls room, we talked about ho society is pressuring us to look a certain way and what not. And after wards I went up to the lady who was leading it and asked what she thought of us accepting people who are not attracted to the opposite gender, and she said we shouldn't, becasue it's not what God wants. But i have also heard people that we can acceot them, but dont have to accept their wat of life. I am a little confused, and if you could be of any help, i would love it if you could help clear things up for me.
Peace.
posted by Kayle at 7:25 PM
7 Comments:
Great questions. According to the Bible, if we are without Christ, we are dead in our sins. I was spiritually dead until I was 16 years old. Jesus is THE ONLY way to a restored relationship with God, right? Jesus's death was sufficient for ALL people and ALL sins, correct? We were seperated from God from birth, not because we committed a horrible sin that separated us from Him. That being the case, there is not one sin greater than another...maybe in terms of worldly consequence, but not in terms of how God loves us and what He can forgive us for. God loved ME the MOST when I was deepest in my sin. He will love YOU most when you are in your darkest hour and he loves the murderer, homosexual, theives, abortionists, etc when they are at their worst. We are the only "Jesus" people might see in their lives. The way we treat them and love them is the way they will assume Jesus loves them. So if we fail to accept someone, that someone will feel unacceptable to Christ. Accept people, the worst in them, the worst of them. Love them. This doesn't mean you have to be their best friends, or accept what they do, but they don't live by your standards or your convictions, so accept them and look past their lifestyle. Do not be misled by anyone, do not partake in a lifestyle that isn't consistent with the Bible, but certianly don't judge someone for how they live.
I hope this makes sense. I bet you didn't know you'd get this long of a reply!
1:03 PM
I was indeed hoping for a good, long reply, and this really helped.
Thanks.
9:30 PM
I think Jason pretty much covered it. I just wanted to add that Jesus Himself, dined with prostitutes, hung out with tax collectors, DISCIPLED smelly uneducated fishermen, healed the lame, and so much more. But, so much more important than that, He DIED for those people. Not because he had to, but because he loved the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the smelly uneducated fishermen, the gay people, the gross lepers, the pompous Pharisies, even the men who nailed Him to the cross. I think that is the thing that slaps me in the face whenever I start to feel judgmental of others: that the person I am judging for what ever reason was not only accepted by God, but their debt (death) was payed for by the God of all Creation who spilled His blood for them. We are called to love in the same way. Now, don't get me wrong, the reason Christ died was because of those peoples' sin, and God hates that sin. But He loves the people he created enough to die for them. We in the same way should love the gay people, the pompous hypocrites, the smelly uneducated (whatever), and accept them. And when we accept them, we accept them in spite of their sin. We don't accept their sin, or their life style, we accept the person God loves and died for. I would ask the person who told you that your shouldn't accept gay people whether they feel like they deserve God's grace because they are not gay. And the answer to that question should be "no absolutely not" because all of us deserve death equally, because whether we have fallen short of the Law a little or a lot, we have all fallen short of it, and so we are all equally under God's grace, if we accept it. You should talk to Box, because he knows what he's talking about much more than I do, but I hope that helps :).
8:14 AM
great questions friend. I think Jason and Jake F. nailed it and I think you've got it. But I will add that the best thing I have heard on this is that acceptance is about compatibility not conformity. When you accept someone you are not condoning how they live, you are loving them for who they are. You are saying we could be friends, you are not saying I agree with all that you do. When you are compatible with someone you can hangout and get to know them spend time with them and invest in them and that is what Jesus did. On the other hand when you conform that is when you say what you are doing is fine and you are condoning the choices they are making. Jesus didn't do that. So love and accept, invest and befriend and by doing so gain influence in their life so that when God gives you a chance you can point them to truth and to Christ and they will listen because you are their friend. That is the power of acceptance and that is a picture of following Christ.
8:28 AM
I AGREE WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE, JUST WANTED TO ADD A FEW WORDS.
Romans 3
10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
There is no one who does good,
Not even one."[c]
13"Their throats are open graves;
Their tongues practice deceit."[d]
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."[e]
14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."[f]
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know."[g]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."[h]
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
This means we are all sinners and don't deserve God's Love and truth, therefore we must conclude that we cannot and should not compare one another. We as human beings are not any better than any one else. We (humans) still need to fellowship with one another, in spite of our erroneous thoughts and actions (that including both parties: Those saved in Christ and non-believers, because you must admit; we are not perfect!!!).
5:41 PM
ummm, who are you?
6:42 PM
ummm, who are you?
6:42 PM
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