Gays in church

It's been awhile since I last wrote. Lots happening. We had company Friday through Monday - our good friends from S. Asia (the Kopp's). It was good to visit with them, catch up, and just hang out. Jane had to have some medical tests done, but everything turned out okay. LA started work on our pavilion site - got it graded. Now we're waiting for it to be cold enough to spread rock. Then they can start building. This has been testing my patience. Plus there have been several other things going on. Too many to even want to think about right now. So...

Gay's in church. I have to admit, I don't know too much about what it means to be gay. I mean, does "gay" mean you have sex with someone the same gender; or does it just mean you're attracted to someone of the same gender; or what? I have known several "gay" people - I even danced with one at my wedding briefly. My daughter worked with several at GAP, and they were all pretty nice as far as I could tell. She tried to get several of them to come to church... but no one ever would. I wish they had.

Anyway, how I happened onto this subject... John Burke has a chapter about this in his book NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED. I think it's a pretty good chapter. He starts off by saying, "The real question is not whether to let gays into the church, they're already among us. The real question is whether to let them talk about it, so they can find hope and support to grow spiritually, and allow God to do his will fully in them." I agree. From my limited knowledge of the subject, I think some who are gay don't really want to be. And even some who want to be, they really want to be "free" (whatever that means). The sad part is, I think so many people are just 'afraid' of gay people that they don't know what to do. When maybe - maybe we don't need to "do" anything... but just let them talk, and let them seek to find their way like everybody else is trying to do.

Burke also says: "I imagine when gay people hear that God's will is against homosexual sex, you probably feel like God just wants to rip away from you one of the most important things in your life and leave you empty. But I'm convinced that's not true. Whatever God wants to do in your lives will not leave you unfulfilled and empty. It may be difficult, or at times painful, but it will leave you more fulfilled than before in the long run. Yeah, I think that's a fear not only gays have, but EVERYBODY has about getting into a relationship with Jesus. Why is it we so often think God wants somethign bad for us?

Burke ends by saying, "We can never change or fix another person, that's not our job, but we can invite gay people into a place where they might come to trust a God who loves them, then allow Christ to fully do his will in their lives in his timing (not oour wills or our timing)."

I read where some evangelicals are calling for the church to quit talking about the "homosexual issue", because it's too polarizing and it's taking our minds off of things we need to be talking about. I sort of agree, but also, I guess I haven't really been talking about it at all, and I don't think we can say ENOUGH that God loves everybody and as for me, personally, I wish I could make it so everyone - gays included - felt welcome in my church. I guess I just don't really know how to go about doing that though.

Well, lots of work to do today. Rock on, my friends. Peace & revolution. Somebody's gotta do it!