Discussing Humanity

Homosexuality is a popular topic.  I can’t remember the last time I went a week without having it come up in one way or another.  Just this past week we spent an entire Sunday evening talking about it at church.  It was a good discussion and I think there were many good insights and thoughts that came out of it.  There was even one specific way in which the Holy Spirit used the discussion to bring healing to someone who had experienced fractured relationships due to this issue (not because this person was a jerk to homosexuals like many are, far from it, it was just that in his friendships with a couple people who were gay he eventually was lovingly honest with them about what he believed the Bible said about the act of homosexuality, and even then he only said something when he specifically asked, I digress).  So I do not think that discussions on this topic are worthless or unnecessary.

But next week we will not have a discussion on how to interact with the liars, or the gossips, or even the lusters.  We may discuss lying or gossip or lust.  The difference is that in one case we categorize people by their sin and in another instance we detach the sin from the person.  

A lot of Christians get really worked up by the “gay agenda.”  But who are the ones who make people who are homosexual their own category of people?  I would say often it is us.  We talk about homosexuals.  How do we love homosexuals?  How do we interact with homosexuals?  What do I do if I meet a homosexual?  There is no other group that is so categorized and ostracized from the church by the church as those who are attracted to members of the same sex.  We help make the issue as big as it is by defining people by their homosexuality.

Whether heterosexual, homosexual, Caucasian, Latino, African-American, male, female, tall, short, or whatever else, every person is created in the image of God and is worthy of respect and dignity because of that.  How do we interact with and love homosexuals?  Stop seeing them as primarily homosexual.  Interact with them like they are regular people.  Do whatever you would do when you meet any person.  If we would focus on this instead of what we “do” with homosexuals, we would find ourselves answering our questions without asking them.