If I don't condemn, am I condoning?

Here's a better question: why do some Christians feel the need to condemn?

I think they're afraid.

We recently discussed this and more on the Authentically Us Podcast.

Some have seen the quick and effective advance of the LGBT+ rights movement, and they feel threatened. But people don't like to be afraid, so that fear is quickly followed up by anger toward LGBT+ people to give those threatened a sense of security.

I want to try to empathize with Christians experiencing that anger. I want to assume the best about those Christians that in their heart of hearts, they long for gay people to embrace the gospel and God's wisdom.

If that's true, I want to ask those Christians, "Do you think condemning is the best way to convince gay people to embrace God's wisdom?"

I'd remind Christians tempted to condemn that gay people know what the Bible has to say about gay sex. Gay people know what the God of the Bible probably thinks about gay sex. They don't lack an awareness of God's wisdom.

They've abandoned a traditional sexual ethic and often Christianity altogether because of painful experiences in the closet. Because when they came out, they were offered pray-the-gay-away solutions that doubled suicide rates.

Some gay people have rejected God's wisdom because of the double standard of churches ignoring what the Bible had to say about straight sexual stewardship (committed celibacy, unbiblical divorce/remarriage, etc.).

Gay people couldn't help but conclude, "Straight Christians don't take God's wisdom for themselves seriously. They're just pushing God's wisdom on me because they hate gay people."

So if you're a Christian who feels the need to condemn and ultimately yearns for gay people to embrace God's wisdom, could I encourage you to resist the temptation to counterproductive anger?

And instead, could I invite you to recognize the ways Christians have made it difficult for gay people to believe that God's wisdom is good? And then could I invite you to take steps in your church to make God's wisdom good in practical ways?

Could I challenge you to offer gay people something truly better?

Listen to the rest of the podcast at https://anchor.fm/authentically_us/episodes/The-LGBTQ-Community-and-the-Church--Pieter-L--Valk-e1m9dlr.