“Coming out with my affirming position has driven me to prayer and the devotional study of Scripture more than almost any experience in my life. I’ve faced the reality that I desperately need reminding of who Jesus is and what he has done for me. I desperately need the Spirit of God to give me wisdom and strength for every moment of every day. Coming out as an affirming Christian demands radical trust in God. Radical trust - while it sounds sexy in Christian books and blogs - is actually pretty terrifying. Throwing your entire person in dependence upon Jesus Christ without any assurance of what he will do is a scary, scary thing. But I’ve learned a little bit through the process, and that is that Jesus is good and trustworthy. I can trust him always.”
When I first began dialoguing with the leadership at my church, I was caught up in Side X teachings as so many gay Christians are when they first start to acknowledge and attempt to cope with their orientation. A lot has happened since then and in a desire to continue to live with honesty and integrity that conversation has turned to exploring theology surrounding the gay debate. It was one thing when I was meeting with the pastors for spiritual discernment and guidance… its another thing to meet with them knowing full well that we are faaar from anywhere on the same page as it pertains to this issue. If nothing else I’m learning an awful lot about grace and discernment… how to maintain personal integrity while respecting my spiritual leaders.
Can’t wait to hit up the mountains tomorrow!! Colorado here I come!
(via atop-the-world)
The central locus of my identity, which shapes all other aspects of it, is Christ. But no one, upon honest self-reflection, can realistically claim that this entirely does away with all other aspects of one’s identity. Christ is the foundation which shows how other aspects of my identity can and cannot be expressed, but other aspects of who I am do say something significant about me.
In response, some say specifically that one should not regard homosexuality as a significant part of who one is; the line of reasoning here seems to be that it is exclusively a matter of temptation, and thus is something one fights against (the same variation, differently framed, says that being gay means engaging in or being open to engaging in homosexual activity). For some, this may be true to their experience, and I would agree in that case. It is not, however, my experience (on which, see the interesting thoughts Melinda Selmys offers on her blog)
A further nuance is to claim that any sexual identity is inappropriate for a Christian. While there are interesting questions about whether it is good that sexual identity exists in our culture, the simple fact is that it does exist; further everyone is assumed to be straight until proven otherwise. Someone who meets me will be more likely to assume that I am struck by a beautiful actress than by a beautiful actor. So if I’m going to be classified—and we often classify for a good reason, in an effort to know something or someone—I would rather be classified truthfully.
"
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?” - Psalm 121:1
(via thinknorth)
woah!!! eerily accurate!
(Source: iamatck)
“Then today I wake up feeling easy
and I find I’m on the more familiar roads
I got a darkness wrapped inside me
But now it ain’t so hard to let it go
So keep a candle burning in the window
I’m almost home”
‘A Pound of Flesh’ - by Radical Face
Answer:
1. I’m Side A. Ultimately, I believe that when you study the various “clobber” passages in context, the bible doesn’t in any way condemn loving, monogamous, committed, essentially marital relationships between two people of the same gender.
That being said, I must admit that I still have a few points of hesitation as I contemplate the issue. Most of the strong spiritual influences in my life hold to the traditional stance as does the past 2000 years of church history. In all honesty, I feel somewhat arrogant as I consider the possibility of progressive revelation - that our generation has been enlightened with theological understanding that prior believers somehow missed. Why on earth am I able to see a more ‘enlightened’ view of the text by exegeting it more accurately… while so many incredible theologians of our day don’t come anywhere near the same conclusions - but instead react quite vehemently.
Even so, I feel strongly that I must live according to my own convictions - and those convictions reflect the belief that God does indeed bless two people, regardless of gender, who join together in a desire to commit in love to one another and partner together through life as they pursue Christ.
So, to the last part of your first question, I’d have to say yes. If a guy such as you’ve described were to become part of my life, I’d most certainly consider relationship possibilities to see if it might lead to marriage.
2. Yup! I’m the red powerpuff girl on the left with the fake tattoo that my friend drew on my arm during the drive to the race.
#gay Christian
We’re the Powerpuff Girls. We fight crime. That’s what we do!
My buddy’s (on the right) boyfriend got a-hold of our Warrior Dash team photo and did a little doctoring.
