Hatred and Bigotry

I knew it would come eventually.  This week I was reading an article about the recent challenge in Michigan to the ban on same sex marriage.  I found it helpful and passed it on to the church wide distribution list.  It was an article from Michigan American family Association (www.afamichigan.org) dated March 7, 2013.  As I expected, I got a reply from someone asking to be removed from our mailing list because they did not want to be associated with a church that was hateful and bigoted.



So, this response prompted me to finish something I have started several times.......so here we go.....

1.  Anytime we describe God's best for doing life, in this case as it relates to relationships, it is never hateful or bigoted.  Actually Jesus says that if we follow his lead on doing life we end up with a life that is fully lived, abundant life I believe is the term He uses in John 10:10.  This comment is in direct contrast to what the thief has come to do - steal, kill, and destroy.  Hmmm.

2.  If something is legal, that does not mean it is morally right.  Let me list some examples.

     a.  abortion - the murder of innocent, voiceless, helpless children - legal
     b.  gambling - the raping of resources leaving a person hopeless, broke and suicidal - legal
     c.  pornography - the demeaning of women, perversion of physical love - legal........etc.

Unless the trend reverses, it is only a matter of time before gay marriage is legal across the country.  But that will not make it any more right.

3.  Disagreement with someone about an issue does not automatically mean you hate the person you disagree with.  This is a cleverly orchestrated marketing strategy that has convinced people to think that anytime someone takes a different view of something they must therefore be your enemy.  I am surrounded by people who make sinful choices all the time.  Do I hate abortionists, gamblers, drug addicts, thieves, pornographers, rapists, extortioners, etc......?  No, the Lord came to save sinners from the effects of sin.  And "I is one"........of those who have been saved from sin.  How could I possibly adopt a position of superiority in light of what the grace of God has done in my own life?.......But I do hate what happens to those who practice such things.  Sin, as John 10 describes for us, ends up stealing from our life experience what it is not entitled to by God's design, to literally dismember, rip our lives to shreds, and render us ineffective.  (steal, kill, destroy)  Why would I like that?

4.  The homosexual lifestyle is defended as a reasonable alternative to a man and a woman.  God's pattern for living is between a man and a woman.  You can make up your own rules if you want to.  As a matter of fact God has designed us to be able to choose to live our own way rather than His way.  Read Luke 15:11-31.  He even resources our rebellion for a time.  But the outcome to making up your own pattern is to say the least, always less than what God has planned for us to enjoy in life.  Stating this publicly is apparently what people consider hateful and bigoted.  Hardly.  

5.  The issue is more about "you telling me what to do."  Who makes you an authority on how to live?  Who gives you the right to say your way of life is better than mine?  Jesus comes to show us how to live out God's Word, the Bible.  He is the model for doing life.  It is nothing I ever came up with.  Some suggest that since Jesus doesn't mention homosexuality directly he is not concerned about it.  I would suggest that the gay lifestyle is so foreign to the Father's construct he doesn't even mention it, but instead directs his comments to marriage in terms of a husband and wife.  See Matthew 19:1-12 for example.

6.  I expect more and more pressure to be exerted on me to keep quiet about what God says is the best way to do life.  I imagine it will eventually become illegal to call sin what the gay community wants to call normal.  But to be involved in proclaiming a lifestyle that rescues others from the effects of sinful choices and opens up a great way to do life is worth the price that may be paid in the process.  I suspect the price is about to go up.  As Peter and John experienced after they were thrown in jail for preaching Jesus, they did not stop speaking because of pressure to do so.

7.  Jesus spent most of his time with those who did life differently from the way he did.  Most of his friends, his parties, were with people who did not necessarily agree with his world view.  Why did he do that?  Because he loved them.....anyway.  Most of my family practices, lives, believes quite the opposite of what I do as a pastor and a follower of Jesus.  Those who tell me they are gay, have had abortions, divorces, drug problems, prison records............are all people Jesus loves.  My job is not to get in their face and convince them there is a better way.  Although, unfortunately in some cases, they are being taught that is their job in dealing with  me.   My job is to love them, to pray for them, to spend time with them when I can, to answer questions when they ask, and to wait for them to hear from Jesus on their own.

If that is being hateful and bigoted.....then guilty as charged.

On the Bluewater Frontier...............

Pastor Mike Cadrette

Note:  Here is the cover of one of the best magazines on moral and ethical issues.  This particular issue is focused on the subject at hand. Go to www.touchstonemag.com for more information.  At my place in life, this is the only magazine besides World (www.worldmag.com) that I read cover to cover - if you can do that on a Kindle:).