The Gospel Pursues Justice and So Should We: Loving our LGBT Neighbors

In the wake of Orlando I find myself asking; Is dialogue is possible? Can we stop talking past each other and help? Can evangelicals hope to recover from a reputation mostly earned by decades of silence and harmful treatment?

The answers to these questions are…Maybe. There is a temptation to say no because of the shouting from several directions. But, I must lean into the Spirit of God who dwells within me and reminds me of the nature and character of God, revealed in the scriptures. When I lean in, I know I can never be the one to push away from the table, though I may be asked to leave it. I can listen to my LGBT friends respond in understandable anger, without being offended. I can look for ways, beyond sincere words, to be a part of changing what needs changing.

It is easier to let frustration lead the conversation. It is easier to point out what is wrong, rather than work hard to uncover solutions. It is easier to point to others as the problem and fail to address the lack of intention, in your own heart. I do not want these indictments to be true of me, but I have a confession to make. Despite my good intentions, I do not always communicate the love of Christ, and often fail to offer solutions.

The Identify Network began under the premise that a difference can take place, and the church has the ordained power of the Spirit to make that difference. So I want to take this space to communicate a better way! I want so desperately to lead my brothers and sisters to consider, the incarnational, self-sacrificing love of Christ towards our LGBT neighbors.

Rosaria Butterfield is one voice that helps us make the distinction between the LGBT political movement and our LGBT neighbors, by reminding us they are not one in the same! The distinction is also true of the church. There are so many humble, grace giving, disciples waiting to lead towards solutions in the wake of a culture war that has not produced the message or practical love that Christ requires of us. Disciples that are not indicative of the shouting voices the media loves to propel forward, nor representative of the vitriol we often read through social media. This has been no more clear than the broken responses voiced after Orlando.

If you and I act to communicate the love of Christ, our motives and actions will be questioned. Our actions will not receive love as much as our rhetoric would and “likes” will be few and far between. However, the peace of Christ will be near to you because you are extending the shalom of Christ in this world through bold, incarnational, sacrificial love. This love will open doors to the Gospel, and it will have the impact of changing minds and hearts towards the life-giving, forgiving message of Christ.

Being a disciple that charts this course will be hard, even seemingly impossible. Our message will be entirely unacceptable to those who desire nothing less than complete acceptance of all sexual and gender identities. We will be accused of bigotry and hate, leading to the violence seen through Matthew Sheppard, and most recently, Orlando. We will be considered weak and compromising by many evangelicals and looked at with suspicion by our brothers and sisters that are too uncomfortable to consider new ways to love the LGBT community. The way of the cross is not easy, and we have never been promised acceptance, in fact, the opposite. But, love we must and love we will!

What exactly will this look like? I want to take the time to offer several ways we as Christ followers can communicate his love, and in doing so, represent a different face of Christ to the broken, the weak, the vulnerable and, the marginalized. I want to very tangible here, moving beyond simple expressions of love or desire.

What can we do?

I offer you a couple of very tangible and needed ways for the church to step up. We have remained silent and unmoved by these realities and in doing so, the authenticity of our expressions of love ring hollow. So let us change that!

Many believers fail to see the face of the homeless among us and even more so the face and reality of homeless youth. It is a tragedy lurking just beyond our veil. The Gospel removes the veil and in more ways than one, calls us to see, to look long enough to feel the pain.

Upwards of 40% of all homeless youth in our country identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender (LGBT). 62% (and higher) of these youth are on the streets because they have been kicked out of their homes or victimized by parents for a variety of reasons. Further, 62% of these youth will attempt and commit suicide. Homeless LGBT youth are eight times more likely to attempt suicide when compared to heterosexual homeless youth. Sexual abuse and prostitution rates are also significantly higher among LGBT youth.

The numbers surrounding the crisis should cause the believing heart pain and move our hearts toward a drumbeat for justice!

If Christianity is for life anywhere, we should be marked as a people for life everywhere!
The church has the unique ability to step into the crisis and move the needle to end youth homelessness! We do not have to outsource our responsibility to love and give it to the government. We can demonstrate the incarnation of Christ by stepping into the life of one homeless youth at a time and in doing so we will communicate “you matter,” “we want you.”

May I suggest that we do the hard work of looking up the statistics in our cities and surrounding areas, contact social service agencies, look for private programs we can support or better yet start. Our theology cannot and should not stop us from linking arms with anyone asserting themselves to bring justice to the brokenness.

Included are organizations in our LGBT community, who quite frankly should not see the churches in their community sitting down when they should stand up! It does not harm our faithfulness one bit to offer our resources in this way. I argue we honor Jesus by doing so. If you do not agree, I respect that but offer a solution.

Do not object and stay seated; it isn’t compelling, authentic or faithful to the God we serve and the gospel we proclaim.

What would the impact be if our churches partnered together to give percentages of our missional operating budgets to help end the crisis? How many pastors would be willing to call their people to take in just one homeless youth, per family? Wisdom, prayer, and a deep reliance on the power of the Spirit are essential in the effort, but the radical love of Christ will gain a hearing, and our gospel message will find new avenues for expression.

We can do this! The questions remain, are we willing, do we desire to be known for this?

Another opportunity, and just as risky, is standing up and saying no to the violence experienced by LGBT individuals among us. How can we not be vocal and involved after Orlando?! Each individual is a neighbor, and more significantly a fellow image-bearer wanted and loved by the God who created them!
2011 showed the highest ever recorded rate of homicide of individuals identifying as LGBT and where sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV-positive status were factors involved. This number decreased slightly but has shown an 11% increase in 2014 compared to the previous year. Roughly 87% of all victims of these crimes were also people of color, and 45% of these homicides involved transgender, women.

Nothing about these statistics is comfortable or comforting, and it would be easier to ignore them or find ways to dismiss them. However, ignorance and dismissal should not be the default response of Christ’s body!

Just as we stand for life everywhere, we should seek the reconciling justice everywhere!
Christ calls us to be agents of reconciliation. The front line of this reconciling activity is the Gospel that is the power of God to change hearts and reconcile us to God. Too often there is so much baggage standing in the way of our gospel message. I submit that it is authenticating of our personal witness when we stand up for the broken, the marginalized, the victimized and hurting!

It should not matter to us how someone became homeless, or infected! It should not matter to us that someone has chosen to conform to their gender identity battle! What should matter is the opportunity to demonstrate radical love, that authenticates our personal witness and draws us into relationships where the Gospel can be expressed and demonstrated. Get involved by volunteering at local health clinics. Better yet, invest your church in becoming a neighborhood health clinic. Hold venues for dialogue in your church that educates and challenges rhetoric and actions leading to violence. The only barrier to getting involve is a lack of vision and imagination rooted in a heart that wants to look away. Remember, that each and every individual bears the image of a God who loves them and anything less that that from us falls short of his glory!

Remember, that each and every individual bears the image of a God who loves them and anything less that that from us falls short of his glory!

I pray that we can increasingly be known for our active love instead of our reactive judgment. I pray for brothers and sisters to join us in the cause of changing the conversation and culture in our churches. When we do this, we have an opportunity to change our communities by reconciling them to Christ.

Let us communicate the love of Christ that says, “you matter,” “you are wanted.” This is part of the harvest Christ has called us to! Nothing about the effort will be easy, but I cannot imagine that if we truly attempted to involve ourselves in the effort, it would produce anything less than a light demonstrating the life-giving love of Christ to a world in need of a better and more authentic Christianity.

Will you choose to be a part?