good news for gay adventists
The Good News is that you don’t have to pretend any more! You don’t have to pretend that you are straight. You don’t have to pretend that you have things under control. And you don’t have to pretend that the Bible really doesn’t say anything against gay sex. You don’t have to pretend that you’re not a sinner.
Pretending is a lot of work, especially if you have to do it all the time. And it has other drawbacks as well. It keeps us from forming genuine, deep relationships. Pretty soon we don’t know who we are any more – what is pretense and what is really us. The worst of it is that pretending doesn’t cut it with God at all. He had some choice things to say to the Pharisees who were very good at this game. Remember?
There’s more Good News: You don’t have to be perfect before God will love you. The Good News is that God loves you just as you are. He loves you just where you are. He would have come to die for just you if you were the only one who needed saving. In fact He went to the trouble of picking a feeble little woman to be spokesperson for Him in order to give you that message. Here it is:
Christ would have died for one soul in order that that one might live through the eternal ages.” (Ellen White, Testimonies to the Church, Volume 8, p. 72)
That means that if you were the only sinner, Christ would have died for you alone! That’s how precious you are in His sight.
And there’s more: Not only do you not have to pretend that you are straight. You also don’t have to be straight to be close to God. In case you didn’t know it, it was likely mainly straight people who crucified Christ. So being straight doesn’t get you a lot closer to a real relationship with Jesus. In fact, according to my observation, being homosexually oriented and finally admitting it and turning it over to God gives you an advantage over most of the straight members in your congregation. You see, if you take the route of giving your sexuality to God because there’s nothing much good that you can do with it on your own, you’ll know that you absolutely have to depend on Him in order to make it anywhere. You won’t dare walk alone, but you’ll know He’s always beside you. Right beside you, close enough so you can cling to Him. And cling you must, for dear life, as you know, because otherwise you’ll blow it.
Why does that give you an advantage over most of the members in your church? Because none of us can make it without clinging to Christ for dear life. But it’s so much easier for us to forget when we “only” have sins of pride, selfishness, covetousness, lust, ostentatiousness, dishonesty — you know, the more “respectable sins.” (See, “Calling Sin by Its Right Name” on the GLOW web site.) But if you struggle with sexual sins you know you need to cling to God. And that’s the only way any of us are going to make it to heaven –clinging to Christ closely enough to be wrapped up in His robes of righteousness. And, after all, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
This little life here is a drop in the bucket of eternity. But that’s not saying that going with Christ here is a dreary journey. On the contrary, you’ll experience a sense of freedom and excitement when you finally give it all to Him and forget about trying to justify yourself or pretend that you aren’t what you are — a sinner in desperate need of saving. How do I know? I’ve experienced it!!
No, I haven’t lived the “gay” life in of of North America’s big cities. But I’ve seen myself in contrast to the purity and holiness of Jesus, and that’s an experience never to be forgotten! It’s an experience of dying — which isn’t nice. Death isn’t called an enemy without reason. But after dying comes resurrection and walking in newness of life with Jesus Christ.
Sure, we stumble and even fall every now and then even after we enter into the new life. But He does not cast us off or forsake us. He’s right there to pick us up — even when/if we do something nasty like getting into porn and feeling really filthy as a result. (One of our GLOWfriends members wrote it up nicely several years ago. Check out, “Jesus and Porn.”) Having said that, we’re far better off just walking so close to Jesus that we don’t even get close to something that nasty — having every thought in subjection to Him. If you haven’t experienced that, you’ve got the best of life yet ahead of you.
And the Good News is that you can begin right now!! We enter into the Kingdom right here and now, even though we must wait for the Second Coming to experience all of its fullness. But even a taste of His Kingdom is a whole lot better than anything the world has to offer. If you don’t believe me, you’ll just have to experience it, for spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and you get that discernment only with the new birth. What have you got to lose? What do you have to give up, except a poor, sin-polluted heart? God will never ask you to give up anything that is in your best interest to keep.
The excitement in the world that kept you from being overwhelmed with loneliness is shown up for the poor substitute it really is once you get just one glimpse of our dear Lord Jesus. Begin today, right now, to walk with Him. Just make the choice now and tell Him, “Lord, please take my heart, my sinful heart, for I cannot give it. Take me and mold me into your image. Keep me close to Yourself and show me the way to go, for I do not know the way.”
He will show you, if you pray that prayer! But I wouldn’t be honest if I told you that he’ll show you a path covered with velvet. You may not like what He shows you, but if you will step out in faith and walk in that path, He will reward you –not just in eternity, but here and now! You will have a peace and inner joy that you could only dream of before, and He will lead you on paths of new adventure. Those members of our GLAdventist support list who have made a total commitment will testify to the rewards.
If you’re not quite ready for that, “Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite love, in His perfect purity. In the Savior’s life the principles of God’s law–love to God and man–were perfectly exemplified. Benevolence, unselfish love, was the life of His soul. It is as we behold Him, as the light from our Savior falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts.” (Steps to Christ, p. 28) He has promised, “You shall find me if you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
May you find Him who has come that our joy might be full! (John 15:11)
