Equality

I feel a heavy weight bearing down on my heart.  I am seeing people taking sides on issues of what is right and what is wrong that should be friends.  Families in turmoil because of a battle that rages day by day.  People putting each other down because of how they feel, specifically in this instance, about equality, homosexuality, and marriage rights.  This is so much deeper than one subject, but since this is what is weighing so heavily on my heart right now, I want to talk about it.

I am a Christian Woman.  I have friends from many walks of life.  I love you all dearly.  I do not feel that fighting with those I love from one side or the other of an issue is going to be a good example of my faith or of the power or love of my God.


I Corinthians 6:9 says:

"Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

I believe that we are all equal.  There really is a level playing field if we talk 'big picture.'

'Unrighteous people' doesn't mean 'homosexuals' any more strongly than it means 'thief' or 'liar' or 
'cheater' or any other wrong thing we humans are inclined to.  I am an unrighteous person.  I sometimes drive too fast.  I'm sometimes lazy.  I sometimes tell a little white lie that Forrest Gump's mama said wasn't gonna hurt nobody.  I sometimes lash out in anger at the people I love the most. I sometimes fall down on the job and let people down.  I sometimes am covetous.  I could go on, but who wants to read an 'air of my dirty laundry'?  You too, whoever you are, are an unrighteous person.  Because I am, I feel that calling you the same thing is no insult; it's simply a fact of life.  Pot, meet kettle; nobody's perfect. 

There has never been any human being born, or created by God Himself that hasn't had a natural urge to push the envelope and break the rules, or justify their life choices, I do it every day. 

Except Jesus. 

Neither the religious leaders, nor the laws of his day could find fault with him.  They had to make stuff up.  They had to indict him by going against all they knew and even taught.  They crucified him in the most demeaning and merciless way they could think of.  And he took it.  And he died as a direct result of it.  He didn't have to endure it, but he poured his blood and sweat and tears out physically to show that he was exactly who he said he was, and that we were, to him, that important. 

Just because I believe that homosexuality is a sin doesn't mean I hate all homosexual people.  To me it isn't about homosexuality, or lying, or stealing, or cheating, or  whatever sin you choose.  I would have a lot of people to hate if I were supposed to hate all people who were unrighteous. Lying is a sin.  I would have to hate everyone, myself included in that case, because I know no one who has never told a lie.  While some continue to ridicule my Savior because they do not believe that he came to do what he did for me, for you; for everyone---it doesn't change the fact that it is so.  He didn't come and offer an ultimatum.  He offered us a gift, and kept intact the right for us to choose what we believe.  I can't bring myself to feel animosity or hatred for people who don't believe the same things as me, or even those who denigrate my beliefs.  I wouldn't want to make anyone hurt the way it hurts me when it happens.  I believe that somehow through my words, by the power of my God, a seed of forgiveness and of faith would be planted in the hearts of the people who are drowning in the throes of a world gone mad, and that the vine that grows from that seed of faith would be a tether by which they could pull themselves free of the bondage of fear, the prison of hate, and the captivity of sin.  I pray that their hearts would be set free, their eyes would see, and their ears would hear of the peace of God that passes all understanding.  Of the peace I lose sight of in the muck of the world, but have only by faith to take hold of once more, which is something I have to do every day.

I am not here on this earth as a judge.  Thank God.  I believe that I am here as a voice of truth, and proof that perfection is not a requirement to obtain freedom and love and peace in a dark, cold, hurting world.  I cannot put into words the grieving I feel for people who fight each other on account of their actions, beliefs and ideas.  I believe that talking people into believing the way I do is impossible, not to mention a horrible idea.  I believe that showing people what I believe by living it with mistakes and sins included, and praying for hope and peace for our souls, no matter what, is the best-the only-thing I can-even should-do.  Please know, that I love you with my whole heart, and that I pray for all of us.  And I will continue to pray as long as I am here. 

God, give peace to those in turmoil.  Shed light in the dark places.  Set free those who ask it of You.  I ask it by Your grace and by Your love.  So be it. -Amen.

May you have peace.  May it guide your heart out of a dark place. If you wish for freedom, may you find it in His grace and in His love.