Are Christians Obsessed With Gays and Abortion? Yes.

In this post, I address the question of David French in his article Are Christians Obsessed With Gays and Abortion? "http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Christians-Obsessed-With-Gays-and-Abortion-David-French-03-14-2011-?offset=0&max=1"

I think this author misses the point. Perception is reality. Sure Christians may spend their money on humanitarian efforts like World Vision. but just because the Westbound Baptist Church donates to World Vision doesn't make the words coming out of their mouth less hateful. This article is even backhanded in a way. Look at the militant undertones: "...would profoundly understate my antagonistic role in the culture wars...I sue governments and individuals...opposing jihadist Islam, or fighting to end...I make my living fighting the culture war." This author goes on to say, " I travel the country speaking to thousands of Christians about our cultural and political battles, I raise a significant amount of money to fight those battles, and I'm constantly interacting with the media—both religious and secular." Shortly followed by the statement "I chuckle when I hear the common critique of the religious and secular left."

Right. So you A) run around using this terminology and fighting against "the gays" and then B) write people off and condescend them when they say you are hateful.

An excellent book on this topic is unChristian (written by Christian authors who do not support gay rights/marriage etc.) http://www.amazon.com/unChristian-Generation-Really-Christianity-Matters/dp/0801013003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300204791&sr=8-1

Outsiders are literally telling us what keeps them from having a relationship with God and why they don't want to come to church; they view us as hateful. Instead of taking the criticism and doing something about it, we are far too often writing them off in the way that this article does. Perception is reality. Personally, I would rather have a gay couple in the pews listening to the message of Christ than have them stay away because we felt the need to tell them what they are doing is sinful. The fact is we are all sinners. Some sins are just different than others. No one sin is greater than the other. We all need to be in church. It is not we who convict by telling others when they are wrong, it is the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, we should let Jesus speak to these people instead of speaking for him. Especially when this is a topic mentioned only 6 times in the entirety of scripture and always in linguistically or contextually questionable manners. (happy to discuss this; I wrote a research paper on it) If the spirit does not feel the need to convict them on this issue, then why would I? Perhaps there are other sins that may need to be addressed first. Perhaps the sin of breaking a vow to their partner or the adultery would be greater than that of a homosexual relationship. Who knows. Only God. Instead of becoming defensive when someone offers this critique, we should go offensive by being loving and welcoming. You can blame the media for only showing the liberal viewpoint and say that they are misrepresenting us all you want. I say it's our fault for not living our lives in such a way that the media cannot use propaganda to cast us negatively. It is our job to live our lives so that the love and truth of Christ is undeniable. For every finger we point, there are three pointing back at us.

"Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right." -Prov 20:11

-From a Facebook post I made in response to an article shared by a friend; Mark Murdock. Thanks Mark!