I don’t often post other
people’s blogs on here – but this one is different.
The voice of one young
person in the American Midwest, crying out to the Church to embrace gay people
and same-sex relationships before the Church loses this generation.
The catalyst for her was
a song, “Same Love” performed in her town in front of 5,000 young people. The song spoke truth to them, unlike the conservative
Church she has been used to.
But she wasn’t writing
this because she is gay – she has a boyfriend. She
didn’t write this to stand up for gay rights – no, her concern was wider than
that:
“My point in writing this isn’t to
protect gay people. Things are changing—the world is becoming a safer place for
my gay friends. They’re going to get equal rights. I’m writing this because I’m
worried about the safety of the Church. The Church keeps scratching its head,
wondering why 70% of 23-30 year-olds who were brought up in church leave…
My whole life, I’ve been told again
and again that Christianity is not conducive with homosexuality. It just
doesn’t work out. I was forced to choose between the love I had for my gay
friends and so-called biblical authority. I chose gay people, and I’m willing
to wager I’m not the only one. I said, “If the Bible really says this about gay people, I’m not too keen on trusting
what it says about God.” And I left my church. It has only been lately that I
have seen evidence that the Bible could be saying something completely
different about love and equality…
You CAN have a conservative view on
gay marriage, or gay ordination. You can. But I want you to have some serious
conversations with God, your friends that disagree with you, and maybe even
some gay people, Christians or not, before you decide that this one view is worth marginalizing
my generation. Weigh those politics against what you’re giving up: us. We want
to stay in your churches, we want to hear about your Jesus, but it’s hard to
hear about love from a God who doesn’t love our gay friends (and we all have
gay friends). Help us find love in the church before we look for it outside.”
Please, please, please,
read the whole thing and listen to the song which prompted her to write this
profound and moving letter to the Church – our Church.
Follow this link and be
inspired…. http://dannikanash.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/an-open-letter-to-the-church-from-my-generation/
