Seeking Recruits

July 12, 2010

I’m gay and thus fulfilling yet another stereotype of conservatives everywhere, I have an agenda. World domination and a leaner body aside (with particular attention to the saddlebags and love handles) my agenda could be summed up in that: every GLBTQ person would know beyond question they are the beloved of the Most High so as to bring an end once and for all to the internal struggle that holds them captive so that, having now been assured, they would for the rest of their days live in wholeness, and in wholeness be set free to love.

That’s the agenda motivating this blog year after year and why despite those seasons in life when my priorities are jumbled due to personal commitments and concerns, I keep coming back because there’s the awareness that everyday there’s someone who needs to hear again that they are loved, cherished, and of immeasurable worth to the God they have loved and followed all the days of their life. Being gay or lesbian or transgendered or uncertain has done nothing to change that which is true and has been true since the beginning.

You know as surely as do I that….

• Today someone is just coming to the self-awareness that the life they’re living isn’t the life that’s true for them.
• Today someone has experienced rejection, condemnation, and shame that was never meant for them due to the words and actions of their pastor, their parent, or their life-long friend.
• Today a queer youth raised by conservative Christian parents has been told to leave the only home they’ve ever known until they “come to their senses and change their ways.”
• Today a pastor tearfully preached his last sermon to the congregation he’s faithfully served because a vibrant ministry has been judged meaningless by a denominational policy that values a single sexual orientation over a heart that’s responded to God’s call.
• Today a lesbian or gay couple have been reminded with a glance at the morning paper that there continue to be people in this world bound and determined to keep their children from ever knowing what it is to be regarded as a “real family.”
• Today someone was savagely beaten for wearing clothing that reflected their true gender identity.
• Today someone is reeling from another assault on their heart and spirit and questioning if it will ever change, doubting that it ever will, and wondering what the point is in going on.

These are the someones I can’t forget even in the comfort and ease of a life lived with a beautiful wife, an affirming congregation, a supportive community, and a family that continues to love me and stay connected despite any differences that exist between us.

As GLBTQ people we have no shortage of causes and all of them are important but additionally as GLBTQ Christians there’s another aim we seek along with marriage equality, equal rights, the reversal of DADT, and the passage of ENDA. It is that every gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered man, woman, and young person would come to an understanding that God loves them fully, unconditionally, and with no small print attached.

The way we do this is simple even when it’s not easy.

We make ourselves as visible in the world as our own life situation allows us to be. We come out where we can, living as openly as we can, whether it’s in the public square or in the intimate confines of a small circle of friends. We become as visible as we possibly can so those who remain hidden might see they are not alone and so that queer youth can be assured that there are people, both gay and gay-affirming who will understand them and not abandon them when so many others in their life they trusted have closed the door.

We tell our stories of being Christians who are GLBTQ or as straight Christians who are affirming of the lives of GLBTQ people. We tell how it was like to come out and of the freedom we came to know even when we were met with rejection. We tell of those places of light in the church and in the world to bring balance to the darkness that has proceeded from the church and been lived out in the world in all too apparent and painful ways. We tell of our lives and our love for God. And if we must remain hidden we can create a blog where we tell our stories knowing that the narrative of our lives can speak hope and healing even when we can’t speak our name. ([un]Closeted Pastor, formerly known as Closeted Pastor stands as just one example).

We confront in truth and in love the misrepresentation of queer people by the church and the misinformation and stereotyping that comprises the bulk of their stance against homosexuality. While we hope that truth-telling will in time change the hearts of the church and society, for the immediate moment we tell our truth so that those who continue to struggle will understand that there’s more than one interpretation of Scripture and more than one view of homosexuality within Christianity.

We make ourselves visible, we tell our stories, we speak truth where there are lies and confront stereotypes with the diversity of our lives, and finally, we allow the witness of our lives to bring positive change into the world, the church, and into the hearts of those most in need of seeing the freedom and joy that awaits beyond the storm. We refuse to be the tormented homosexuals the church requires of us but instead we walk with confident assurance in who we are, making no apology for our lives, our relationships, or our place in the church. We proclaim without reservation our love for God and God’s love for us and we seek every day to live lives grounded in the love of God and reflective of the Spirit of Christ so that others would know claiming their sexual orientation need never come at the price of forsaking their faith and relationship with God.

This is my diabolical gay agenda and if this is what the church fears then be afraid. Be very afraid.

Posted in Christian Lesbian Identity, Coming Out, Personal Stories