{"id":9734,"date":"2015-05-15T09:44:42","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T14:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/?p=9734"},"modified":"2016-07-09T08:52:24","modified_gmt":"2016-07-09T13:52:24","slug":"are-you-leading-people-astray-by-supporting-gays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/2015\/05\/15\/are-you-leading-people-astray-by-supporting-gays\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Leading People Astray by Supporting Gays?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"agenda\"<\/p>\n

Nothing quite like being told that I am rewriting the word of God \u2013 like if it truly is<\/em> the word of God, do I even have the ability to actually rewrite it?!?<\/p>\n

Nothing quite like being told that I am leading innocent people astray and committing a grievous sin.<\/p>\n

Welcome to my world.<\/p>\n

As one of my wonderful readers said, \u201cThe amazing lengths people will go to, the excuses they will make to avoid those two little commandments Jesus gave: love God and love your neighbor<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I do have compassion on my readers like the one who asked the question below. I am so glad they are here. I understand that most are just repeating what they have been told and taught, and maybe my blog is their first step on this amazing journey of discovering the truth about God.<\/p>\n

\"dear-susan_white\"I welcome them, and I welcome their questions. Let\u2019s answer this one today\u2026<\/p>\n

I write Dear Susan<\/em> posts most every Friday. Sometimes they are poignant, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes tender, sometimes funny\u2026 but hopefully always worth the read.<\/p>\n

Dear Susan,<\/em><\/p>\n

You are leading people astray if you refuse to call sin by its name! How can we be forgiven if we don\u2019t confess our sins? How can we confess our sins if we are told our sins are not sins at all? How can we go and sin no more if we justify ourselves?<\/em><\/p>\n

As a Christian, I love everybody, but that has nothing to do with this topic.<\/em><\/p>\n

You are rewriting the word of God to suit yourselves and you don\u2019t get to do that without repercussion.<\/em><\/p>\n

But worst of all, you are leading those innocent of God\u2019s word to believe it says things it does not and that is a grievous sin.<\/em><\/p>\n

Betsy
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dear Betsy,<\/p>\n

I appreciate your thinking on this and I know it\u2019s what you\u2019ve been taught. You\u2019ve heard it said that particular actions are sins. But what is sin?<\/p>\n

Sin is anything not<\/em> done in faith (Romans 14:23).<\/p>\n

Many LGBTQ people are living out their faith, following God faithfully, in their same-sex relationship. That doesn\u2019t make sense to you, I know, but neither did it make sense to the religious leaders who confronted Jesus time and again when he let people go that they thought were sinning. He instead corrected the religious leaders who were sure they were not<\/em> sinning.<\/p>\n

Sin is not any particular action, but it is \u201cmissing the mark\u201d<\/em> when it comes to loving and following God. That\u2019s all it is.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like to prooftext, because it misses the whole point. But because you rely on the Bible, I will point out that Paul was very clear in the larger passage of Romans 14:1-12 to say if it is not sin to you, don\u2019t worry about it. He concluded by saying, \u201cEach person will account for themselves to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am not worried about the gay person who could not change their gayness if they tried (and they have), but who is following faithfully, listening intently, in a way that most of us without such a cross to bear do not<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Neither am I concerned about leading them astray.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m concerned about religious people leading them astray<\/a>, telling them they are disgusting and vile, that they are in grave sin when God<\/em> has not told them this, but has comforted them to be at peace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You are not used to interacting with your Bible this way, I know, but this is exactly how Jesus interacted with it. (\u201cYou have read this, but I say this.\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Betsy, love as you have been loved. Be radically inclusive because you have been radically included.<\/p>\n

Bless you.<\/p>\n

Susan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing quite like being told that I am rewriting the word of God \u2013 like if it truly is the word of God, do I even have the ability to actually rewrite it?!? Nothing quite like being told that I am leading innocent people astray and committing a grievous sin. Welcome to my world. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2073,"featured_media":8799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,9],"tags":[226,362,364,475,622],"class_list":["post-9734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-religion","category-dear-susan","category-family-support","category-lgbtq-support","tag-dear-susan-2","tag-gay-child","tag-gay-christian","tag-homosexuality","tag-lgbt"],"yoast_head":"\nAre You Leading People Astray by Supporting Gays?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nothing quite like being told that I am rewriting the word of God - like if it truly is the word of God, do I even have the ability to actually rewrite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/freedhearts\/2015\/05\/15\/are-you-leading-people-astray-by-supporting-gays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are You Leading People Astray by Supporting Gays?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nothing quite like being told that I am rewriting the word of God - 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