Over the last couple Junes, my posting about “pride” month gave me an opportunity to post about a particular friendship and to process through it (doing so in waves was required). Although my former friend still comes to mind every once in a while, I’ve moved on. I’m getting married next month. My Best Man is a brother in the faith that I love and respect dearly, and I have a few other close friends who have more than filled the gap that my childhood friend left behind. It’s my former friend’s loss, not mine.
However, this loss of friendship did begin to open my eyes to other connections over the years, some of whom I’ve lost (for non-“pride” reasons), as well as others in which the connections aren’t necessarily “lost,” but these individuals are still pro-“pride”.
My childhood best friend wasn’t the only person I knew who claimed to identify as gay. A key mentor figure (of sorts), plus a couple of relatives also fall under this category. As far as I know, none of them know my position on homosexuality. That’s fine with me. They need to know about Jesus first, anyway, and to choose to receive and follow Him as their personal Savior, King, and Lord. (Ironically, one of them knows about Him. But this individual’s religious views have been toxified by other things, including liberalism and confusing God’s gender, among other things.) As for my homosexual relatives, I’m sure they’ve heard about Jesus. But they don’t go to church. They don’t mingle with believers. From what I can tell, it appears that at some point in the past they made the decision to outright reject Him and haven’t looked back since.
I knew other people in college who also dealt with sexual confusion. I haven’t spoken with most people I knew from college for years, let alone these folks. None of this was intentional on my part, but I do believe that as we follow the God of the Bible, He will often gently nudge believers away from people who would ensnare them. After all, it is written:
However, this loss of friendship did begin to open my eyes to other connections over the years, some of whom I’ve lost (for non-“pride” reasons), as well as others in which the connections aren’t necessarily “lost,” but these individuals are still pro-“pride”.
My childhood best friend wasn’t the only person I knew who claimed to identify as gay. A key mentor figure (of sorts), plus a couple of relatives also fall under this category. As far as I know, none of them know my position on homosexuality. That’s fine with me. They need to know about Jesus first, anyway, and to choose to receive and follow Him as their personal Savior, King, and Lord. (Ironically, one of them knows about Him. But this individual’s religious views have been toxified by other things, including liberalism and confusing God’s gender, among other things.) As for my homosexual relatives, I’m sure they’ve heard about Jesus. But they don’t go to church. They don’t mingle with believers. From what I can tell, it appears that at some point in the past they made the decision to outright reject Him and haven’t looked back since.
I knew other people in college who also dealt with sexual confusion. I haven’t spoken with most people I knew from college for years, let alone these folks. None of this was intentional on my part, but I do believe that as we follow the God of the Bible, He will often gently nudge believers away from people who would ensnare them. After all, it is written:
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33, NIV
To be clear: there are times when God will call on believers to go into the world (including to gay communities) to preach the Gospel to them. But the same God also knows each believer’s heart, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. He will not send someone to preach to a people if it will put them in a situation where the worldly will tempt and sway them, rather than the believer swaying the worldly.
“‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable. Leviticus 18:22, NIV
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18, NIV
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8, NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17, NIV
No comments:
Post a Comment