What Would You Do? (In Responding to LGBTQ)

 (Note: This is written in response to a question from a LGBTQ study regarding the benefits and harms of conversion therapy which asked the question, "What would you do if someone you knew came out to you as LGBTQ?")

To answer the question posed here, I will tell you what I have done with those I know who have announced their LGBT inclinations- Love my neighbour as myself and speak the Truth in Love to them. (Matthew 22:34-40 and Ephesians 4:15)

    I would first want to ask what exactly is meant when they identify with any of the terms encompassed in that acronym. (i.e. I want to hear their story first of all- truly listen and try to understand.)

     I would assure them that they are loved no matter what- every person is made in God's image and eternally loved by Him- and they are infinitely important and eternally valuable and worthy of love and respect. Because of my faith in Christ and the love and forgiveness I have experienced from Him, I also love all people and seek to extend His grace to them. 

     I would also want to understand what their spiritual beliefs are regarding Jesus. If the person is not a Christ follower, I would tell them about the love God has for all of us and the sin in our lives that have separated us from Him. Adam and Eve sinned in the beginning and brought the curse of sin upon the planet and people. The wages of sin is death- spiritual death eternally separated from The Lord in Hell. God doesn't desire any to perish but for all to come to repentance. He loves us all so much He sent His Son to take the punishment we deserve by dying on the cross in our place. Jesus then rose again to prove He's God. If we will turn to Him in faith and trust Him for forgiveness of all our sins and follow Him in repentance, He will save us from the penalty of Hell we deserve and receive us into eternal joy in His presence in Heaven instead.

      And if the person already is a Christian or if not, the message is still the same. The Gospel is our greatest need and that's what we need to focus on first. No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian or transgendered- all bow to Christ on the last day so let's make Him Lord while there's time. (Philippians 2:9-11) 

    Yes, we all have our struggles in this life and we all deal with temptations to sin. And I do believe the question is not about what orientation one feels drawn towards- it's about what one does with it.

I can empathize with friends who have unwanted same sex attractions who also strive to serve and obey The Lord Jesus with everything, including their sexuality. I can empathize as a heterosexual single man who is celibate just like them because I know sex outside of marriage is a sin and God has defined marriage as the union of one man to one woman for life. (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19, Hebrews 13:4)

    And I know the community of those who hold to faith in Christ and also identify as LGBTQ+ veer to different paths on this issue. I have friends who affirm faith in Jesus yet some choose to engage in homosexual relations and others choose to be celibate in keeping with their convictions. For the former, I have had to gently and respectfully explain why I cannot agree with them that God permits homosexual relationships or lust. This doesn't mean I don't love them or respect them. I am still happy to do anything I can to help them but I can't enable them in perpetuating sin. I would not want them to do that for me, so this is just what Matthew 7:12 commands me to do in the Golden Rule.

   For the latter, I commiserate with them and try to encourage them in their walk with Christ and commitment to celibacy. And I pray for those in both camps. 

     Above all, I want to remind them that Love doesn't rejoice with evil but it rejoices with the Truth. And the Truth is Jesus- He's the Way, Truth and Life. And Jesus is better than sin. Jesus is better than lust. Jesus is better than sex. Jesus is better than any human relationship. Jesus is better than anything else I desire.  

I want to want Him and want nothing else. I confess I am certainly not all I should be but by the grace of God, I am not who I once was either. I am a sinner saved by God's grace and because I have been set free by His forgiveness and love, I can do no less than to love others and extend the same grace I have received. 

    And regardless of one's choice about Jesus, the love remains and the respect remains and the prayers remain. 

   I look forward to the day when Jesus will return and set everything wrong right again and all our desires will be rightly oriented for Him and His kingdom. He is our ultimate Hope as we look forward to Heaven where everything sad will come untrue and all the light and momentary troubles we go through here will not even compare to the glory to be revealed.

(Note: Here are a few articles that offer Christian perspectives on these ideas.

https://www.equip.org/article/whats-the-problem-with-conversion-therapy/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-lgbt-movements-dangerous-hypocrisy-on-conversion-therapy/?amp

The Spiritual Friendship Web site is another great resource too. https://www.spiritualfriendship.org)

Sin Man (song)

 What do you get for the God who has everything? What can we ever give Him that didn't first come from His hand? Well, the one thing we can give Him that He won't force is our love and devotion. And all we have to bring Him, even the righteous things we think we've done on our own, are no more than filthy rags in His sight. (Isaiah 64:6) As Jonathan Edwards said, the only thing we bring to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary. And when we give those sins over to Him, His grace forgives us through faith in Christ's death and Resurrection and removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. We're saved by grace and not by works. (Our good works done after we're saved demonstrate our faith though.) God took care of all our sin, man! Praise The Lord for His gift!

"Sin Man"

(Parody of "Tin Man" by America; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/24/2020)

(James 1:17, 1 Chronicles 29:14, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7)

(Verse 1)

One in James verse 17- all good things are the gift of God- read it yourself

Chronicles- first book- Dave prays to bless God- 29:14- comes from Himself!

(Chorus 1)

Oh, God never did get nothing but our sins, man

That He didn't, didn't already have

And 'cause Lord Jesus defeated all our evils

On the cross and returned from the dead

His peace believers receive

(Verse 2)

Then in 2 (Two) Corinthians 5 down- it's found

For our sake Christ bore our

Sin and so sinless becomes sin 

so we'd be Christ's righteousness

(Oooh! Oooh!)

(Chorus 2)

Oh, God never did get nothing but our sin, man

That He didn't, didn't already have

And John Edwards said the only thing we're bringing 

To salvation's the sin that we have

Which makes it necessary

(Repeat Verse 2)

(Repeat Chorus 1- with last line changed to:

So please believe in Jesus!)

(Oooh! Oooh!)

The Salvation That We Get (song)

It can never be overstated how much salvation is all the free gift of God. While I do believe there is a call upon humanity to respond to the offer He's made, it's important to note that even that response is something The Holy Spirit evokes as a result of The Father drawing us to The Son as He is lifted up. We contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation in the way of works. Sometimes this can become a mighty, mighty stumbling stone, boss- but it's something we must accept. And that is a very good thing indeed because none of us are good enough on our own strength to make it to Heaven. God says the requirement for entry is perfection (Matthew 5:48) and only Jesus has met that. He died and rose to pay for our sins. There's no need to scavenge about to scrape up good deeds to earn anything from God because we can't do enough. We never have to knock on wood because The Saviour got on wood for us- we just have to receive by faith the salvation that we get.

"The Salvation That We Get"
(Parody of "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/7/2019)
(John 3:16-17, Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Psalms 14, Psalms 53, Psalms 130, Matthew 5:48, Leviticus 11:45, Romans 3 (particularly verse 23), Romans 6, Romans 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 10:12, 2 Peter 3, Isaiah 2:22, Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 53:6, Hebrews 12)

Have you ever friend zoned a (child) prodigy?
Wanda chose that fork- Doog's sad
Have you ever felt they're vain (and) infallible?
Hey, Vinnie- how do you match? Oh!
Well, they've never actually walked on water
But I know Someone who has
Which makes Him One above the rest
It means He's the One Direction
Everyone else- not so good
And I'm glad for Romans 5 and 6
Because though we're all nothing good
Justification is God's gift
Tall you may now stand but God's stacked up so high
Your puny strength won't pass the test
Or as Leviticus 11:45
You've got to be like our God- perfect! Yo!
Well, I measure up as not so good
And I know everyone is bad
It makes me wonder how we could
Put faith in blundering I-
There's the bad news- no one's good
And I'm sad some haven't read
Psalms- 53rd.- there is none good
With one Exception- God Jesus!
If God was counting our sins, no one would be standing
I'd like to thank The Lord Jesus He holds fast
Look at the text- 2 Peter 3- grow in grace of Christ
Might think you tower
Be afraid of that- you might fall down
(I've) never had to knock on wood
'Cause I know Romans 5 says
(By) His grace I stand here 'cause He's good
Amazing wonderful grace- (I'm) ever bad so God's my good
(In) resisting bad, I haven't bled
But rest assured He has withstood
The crucifixion I should get
Never sinned but our Saviour got on wood
'Cause you know Son of God Jesus
Replaced me on the cross of wood
He took my sin there and I'm reconciled through what the Saviour accomplished good
To restore us back to good
(He) took all bad and conquered death
That's the salvation that we get!

Edom's Seed and Israel's Seed (song)

Sometimes little things can give wings to much bigger things- and that can be true both for the negative and the positive. It may be a wonder to us to think of how two brothers could drift so far apart, but yet this is what The Lord prophesied would happen for the nations of Edom and Israel, which of course were founded by Esau and Jacob, respectively. And though Esau and Jacob (AKA Israel) eventually reconciled, their nations continued to be at odds- and a long-standing feud eventually came to a head in the shortest book of the Old Testament- the book of Obadiah. He was a prophet whom God sent to preach to the people of Edom about the evil way they had treated their brother nation of Israel. Edom was condemned to be destroyed for its haughtiness and evil treatment of Israel and ultimate rebellion against God. And God would restore Israel to its land and its things. And as He would later inspire Paul to write about, we must rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. And in everything, as much as it's possible and as much as it's up to us, we should live in peace with everyone. There is a powerful message of love for all people throughout The Bible, of course, and especially for our own brother- let's strive to live at peace with everyone and live together in love and perfect harmony (only possible through the perfection of Jesus living in us, of course)- just like the multiple colors of the fall leaves live together in peace and just like ebony and ivory live together in harmony side by side on the piano keyboard- just like the Master Tuner who plays out His perfect symphony through all His instruments as He choreographs and arranges.

"Edom's Seed and Israel's Seed"
(parody of "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney [featuring Stevie Wonder]; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 11/10/2014)
(Malachi 1:1-5, Genesis 25, Psalms 133, Psalms 137, Genesis 33, Galatians 3:28, Romans 12 [particularly verses 9-21], Obadiah [all 21 verses, but particularly 1:1-5, 1:10-14, and 1:15-21])

Edom's seed and Israel's seed
Share together a turbulent history
25 in Genesis- predicts
The Lord- old serves young!

Esau and bro
Their peoples were estranged- Seir and Zion opposed
The old feud began with Isaac's sons
Esau spurned his gift- Jacob stole it from his brother
The blessing and birthright
Then ran for his life

Eventually- Gen. 33
Bros together and forgiven- harmony!
Such a sight- Psalms 133:1
Oh, Lord- Shine on me!

[(With) Everyone- if it's up to me
(I'm) living in perfect harmony
(like) Ebony (and) Ivory, ooh]

Esau's folks
Those people had disdain for Jacob's, you know
They just stood while Bab-(mmm)-ylonians
Attacked their kin- Edom laughed- they'll get comeuppance
Edom's beat- (it's) prophesied
Obadiah 1:5

Edom thinks so pridefully
"Who can ever bring me down- or (bring) harm to me?"
Gliding high like an eagle you soar
The Lord brings down thee

None survive when house (of) Esau- he's burned
Your own returned deeds!

Everything's all rosy
Israel's returning home, you see
There will be Zion peeps
Escaping (from) burning- (and) it's holy
All hunky and dory
Written in Obadiah- read!

Elohim's Word- He keeps
Giving Israel back land and things
Edom- we learn from thee
Commiserate with those who weep
Romans 12:16 read
Living in Christ in harmony
...................................................