Why Christians Should Be More Like Gays

Yes, that’s exactly what I said.

Before I begin, I would like to share a story with you. My wonderful husband, a true man in that he has character, integrity, innate diligence... works in the fashion industry. And not just as an accountant. He designs and implements visual merchandising for one of the most well known international designers, at their top accounts in the country. He recently tweeted a picture of an amazing pair of women's leather shorts, noting what an awesome piece of clothing they were. Friends of ours were entirely creeped out by this.

They inwardly cringed as they thought about (inhale of all inhales!) a man whom actually has an eye for fashion. 

And my husband quickly caught on to their inner shudderings, and was left feeling awkward and judged... even down right less of a man. He felt like society, and even more so our Christian brothers and sisters, had put pressure on him to be a certain type of man that he simply could not be: a slovenly, beer-drinking sports fanatic.

And why?

Because he cares about how he looks.

This led me to believe that Christians over and over fail at loving mankind just as they are, no matter who they are, what they look like, or what they are good at. You know what we do instead? We allow gender stereotypes and pharasitical rules to elevate us to think that we should look down our nose and shake our head at people who are outside of our comfort range.

Contrast that with the overwhelmingly loving and accepting gay community. You want to dress up in full on feathers and put on make up and have a great time being someone else? You are celebrated. You want to go and wear clothes normally associated with another gender? You are accepted. You want to publicly announce your intimacy with a same-sex individual at the risk of losing your family? They welcome you with their own family.

You know what Christ called each of his followers to do?

LOVE.

Why?

Because he first loved us when we were and WHILE WE STILL ARE messy, imperfect creatures.

Because I have a little secret for you Christians, just because you believe in the Lord does not mean you are perfect. Nor will you ever be perfect until we are fully washed, cleansed and perfected by the good Lord in HEAVEN. Meaning… NOT ON THIS EARTH!

Translation Christians: You are not perfect, and you never will be perfect, this side of heaven.

What are we called to do while we ARE on this earth?

Love unconditionally.

Meaning you don’t love someone because they’ve earned it. You don’t love someone because they are holy. You don’t love them because they are like you or because you like them.

You love them simply because they are an extremely valuable image of the Lord. Because they are simply human.

The point of this post is that I think it's disgraceful that most of Christian society is known for their staunch hatred or disgust of societal outcasts whereas so many gays are accepting and loving of the people around them. (This statement is of course not without appropriate outliers, there are gays who are extremely judgmental even of each other, and there are grace-loving Christians.)

I think some people need to know just how to love others that are not like them. What do you do? More on that, because I believe this should be defined for many people. Sometimes we truly act like the idiots we are because of ignorance. Often times my husband and I tell other Christians that we love gays. (We really do.) But then the next question is, how? How do you love gays? How do you reach out to them?


More on that later. But now let's all think: how do we let our own expectations and personal views limit who we love abundantly?