A Letter to the LGBTQ Community

Dear LGBTQ’s,

I have had the burning desire to write something to you all day. I’ve been trying to ignore it because, honestly, I’m really afraid. I’m afraid because I never argue politics or religion on social media. I’m afraid of what people will think when they read this, but I’m trying desperately not to be because I know that you deserve to hear what I have to say. Although I am terrified as I type this, I’m more terrified at the thought of not typing it…if that makes any sense. For me to not share this letter with you would be selfish because these words might actually mean something to you.

I am a Christian, and I don’t mean that I go to church on Sundays or that I have a super cool bumper sticker on my car with a cross on it. I mean that I am completely, insanely in love with Jesus and He is the one and only reason that I live. Even with that said, you might be rolling your eyes at me. You might be bracing yourself, preparing to endure yet another attack of hellfire and brimstone like I’m sure you’ve been subjected to many times in the past (or maybe not, if you have not “come out” yet).

This is not my intention in any way, shape, or form. My desire is simply to share my heart with you. My desire is to tell you what I believe Jesus wants me to tell you (and it does not include sentencing you to eternity in hell). My desire is to be heard, and my desire is for you to give me a chance.

The most important thing I want to say to you is that I am sorry. Whoever you are—whether I know you or not—I am so, so sorry. I am sorry that there are people in this world who claim to be Christians, but stand on the street corner and throw hate and disgust in your face. They look down at you, they are afraid of you, and they hate you. All those things literally make them the opposite of Jesus. This keeps me awake at night. This bring tears to my eyes. This makes me sick to my stomach. This infuriates me because it makes you believe that God hates you and will never love you. There is nothing more false than that.

I am sorry that Christians have responded to homosexuality by simply saying things like, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” (wow…really clever) instead of sharing the love of Jesus with you and telling you that He has a beautiful plan for your life.

I am sorry that Christians haven’t treated you with the love, respect, and empathy that you deserve. What you deserve is the kind of love that will change your life forever.

I am sorry that there are people who look at you and see nothing but a homosexual. That isn’t fair because people don’t look at me and see nothing but a heterosexual. There is so much more to us than that. Maybe you’re a teacher. Maybe you’re an artist. Maybe you can bake a really mean cheesecake (can you tell I’m hungry?). Maybe you’re just a twenty-something with a really lame blog like me. Whoever you are and whatever you do: you are unique, complex, and beautiful.

I am sorry that people take a verse out of the bible—out of its context—and highlight “homosexuality” while failing to recognize that their sins are there, too (I’m referring to Galatians 5:19-21 if you are interested. If you’re going to take a look, then I encourage you to read the whole chapter—which is actually directed to the church itself—because it emphasizes the importance of needing the grace of God, the necessity of loving one another, and the fact that trying to “obey the law” can’t get us to heaven).

I am sorry that you are the target of the fiercest hate that this world has to offer. I’m not really sure why that is. I don’t get it because people don’t burst out in hate when they find out that someone is a fornicator, an alcoholic, or whatever kind of sinner you can think of. I suppose the only reason might be that a heterosexual can understand the concept of adultery (or jealousy or anger or whatever sin you want to throw in there), but loving someone of the same sex is not something that we can relate to. Maybe it’s because homosexuality can’t be hidden the same way that other people hide their sins in their hearts and behind closed doors. Whatever the reason is, it isn’t fair because we are equally sinners.

Yes I said it. I am a Christian and I am calling you a sinner, but I’m calling myself a sinner as well. I’m not going to tell you that homosexuality isn’t a sin, but I’m also not going to just throw a pile of bible verses at you (which you’ve probably heard a million times) to prove it either. I don’t think that’s the real issue here. If I call you out, then I’ll have to call myself out on all of my sins and, well, let’s just say that they aren’t pretty.

Finally, I am sorry that there are probably a lot of you who may have gone to a church before and were treated as an outcast who had some sort of disease (which is ironic and inexcusable because although Christians might sin differently than you, we are “diseased” as well).

Forgive us, please forgive us for being hypocritical and un-Christlike. 

Like I stated above, I can’t relate to loving someone who is the same sex as me. I can, however, relate to loving my sin. I can’t relate to being four or five years old and not being able to figure out why I was different from everyone else, but I can relate to being completely lost and searching for my identity. Before I fell in love with Jesus, I was a totally different person. I was bound by sin and took part in many things that Jesus died to save me from. I can relate to not understanding why I wanted what I couldn’t have (or what the Bible was telling me I couldn’t have). I can relate to keeping things hidden, and being afraid to tell the people I love what was going on in my heart. And although I have accepted Jesus into my heart, turned from my patterns of sin, and believe that He has saved my soul by dying on the cross for me, I am still an imperfect sinner (A.K.A. a human) at the end of the day. We are all imperfect sinners whether we know Jesus or not. 

I know you probably don’t want to listen to me babble about sin, and I don’t want to. I hope you will bear with me because I promise I have a point here.

June 26th, 2015 is a day that has changed America. The complete legalization of gay marriage in all 50 states is a huge deal. Some of the country is rejoicing, and some of the country is…mourning, I guess.

To be completely honest, I do not give a rip about gay marriage being legal or not. I don’t give a rip because legal or not, gay people will be together (yes, I know marriage is bigger than just “being together”). Legal or not, people will murder people. Legal or not, people will have sex with whoever, wherever, whenever under any kind of circumstance. Legal or not, people will get so drunk that they get behind the wheel of a car and injur or kill innocent people. People will sin whether the law permits it or not.

I’m not concerned with the legality of it all right now. I’m concerned about one thing: you as a person. I’m concerned about your heart.

I am going to say something that you might not believe: whether you are free to marry someone of the same sex or not, you will never be truly free until you understand how much Jesus loves you. I urge you to challenge me on this. No matter how many times I gave into my sinful pleasures, whatever they were, they never ever satisfied me the way that the love of Jesus Christ does.

Now, I will finally get to my point. God does not want us to try and change our lives around on our own, and He doesn’t expect us to. He understands what it’s like to fight the urge to sin because Jesus walked this earth as a human and faced every temptation that we face (2 Corinthians 5:21) so that He can relate to us.

He doesn’t ask that you “give up” being gay so that you will be good enough for Him. That is not what He wants at all. The simple, honest truth is that God is head-over-heels, fiercely, irrevocably in love with you. That will never change no matter what we do, where we are, or where we’ve been. He takes us in immediately when we ask him to—while we are broken, screwed up hot messes. He sent His Son to die for you so that you have a chance to spend eternity with Him, and He would do it all over again just for you.

Straight or gay, God loves you in a way that no one on this earth can ever love you. His love for you is constant, unconditional, and He wants nothing more than to know you.

I want to end this with some encouragement. What I want to encourage you to do is not to just read the bible, learn right from wrong, and try to follow all the rules. That is SO not what Christianity is about. I don’t even want you to try to stop being gay (although I never struggled with homosexuality, I have tried to “stop” sinning. It isn’t possible to do with our own strength and before we have something real with Jesus, so don’t worry about that right now). God doesn’t ask us to fix ourselves up now and then come to Him, He takes us in with open arms wherever we are. What I want to encourage you to do is to ask God to reveal to you how much He loves you. Unless you see it for yourself, it will never be real to you. God’s love changes us; it definitely changed everything about me! Just ask God to show Himself to you, and He will because He is faithful.

If you have made it to the end of this letter, THANK YOU for giving me a chance! You might not agree with what I’ve got to say, but I’m thankful that you have read this anyway. Thank you for giving me the freedom to speak my mind. Thank you for letting me love you enough to share this with you.

I hope it has made you see God in a different light. I hope you can see Him more clearly for who He is. I hope you have begun to understand how much He loves you, now and always!

I also hope you have seen my heart in this letter. I hope I have encouraged you and have helped you to believe that all Christians aren’t hateful. I can say with all sincerity that I love you, and that you are so much more than just a homosexual. You are so special, so loved, and I truly respect you. If you would like me to pray for you, encourage you, or maybe just talk with you, please contact me at any time (even if you aren’t gay)!

Most importantly, please remember that it is never too late to accept Jesus into your life and receive forgiveness. He loves you too much to ever turn you away!

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” -Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭4-5‬

Sincerely Yours,

A Fellow Sinner