What's Your Motivation?

Apparently, I am motivated by hate.

I know this may shock most of you. My brother might agree, but the rest of you don't know me as the mean teenager I once was.

From the American Family Association, we now hear that those who are opposed to Same Sex Marriages are motivated by hate.

McDonald's has joined forces with gay rights groups, and while I never was a fan of McDonald's, this is the basis for the AFA to call for a boycott. Now, I don't want you thinking that buying one less cheeseburger will really stop the madness. Boycotts are not the best answer, but they are not completely useless, either. However, that is not the issue I wish to discuss. I wish to discuss the real issue at hand.

Homosexuality is a sin. God condemns it in the Bible. It is against His plan for nature, it is against His law, it is against everything I believe in. But...

While I believe in God and do my best to follow his laws (obedience in my freedom in Christ), not everyone on this planet, or even in this country, believes the same way I do. Not even my own father, it seems, has the exact same views. Shocking, isn't it? There are people in this country who worship other ideas, created images, or creation itself. Many other kinds of religion have flooded society with lies, shades of truth, and information out of context. And, unfortunately, they have the right as Americans... no, as Humans... to do so.

I believe that everyone would benefit from a relationship with Christ. The church is His Bride; we are a people that He adores, and wishes to bring home with Him. Even Christ understands that Humans are proud. We are not fond of being in a relationship at all, much less the best one with Him. We like our love to be shallow; we settle for physical pleasure and call it love. We are so ignorant of what real, honest, true Love actually is.

So, as our hate-monger selves, Christians go around trying to legislate the lives of the unchurched. And vice-versa. Which causes a lot of strife. The Bible tells Christians this: 1 Corinthians 5:12-13a "For what have I (Paul wrote this letter) to do with judging outsiders? (those not in the church) Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges." (Notations in parentheses are mine.)

Same Sex Marriages are nothing more than an attempt by a sinful people to give previously denied "rights" to people who are already sinning. If you are the one person in the waiting room while your partner dies in an emergency room, that is not right. To say that only a spouse or blood family member can be in the room is just... inhumane. There are many people who are single or orphans who have none but their closest friends with them. It has nothing to do with one's choice of sexuality. Those basic human rights, to be close to a loved one in a time of crisis, have been denied for many humans. Homosexual couples should not have to demand that courtesy, it should be handed to them with the same care as any human would get. I believe that hospitals have not adapted on this subject to truly serve the public at large. On the hospital side of things, they have the obligation to limit how many people come into strategic areas, but they should not limit whom.

If you choose to live with a person of the same sex and you want to insure your partner, I believe the government has no right to deny that. The insurance companies can argue, but on the basis of health only. They must operate within the laws of the land and the rules in their own policies. It is bad business to deny taking money from customers who need and want your services.

All this is to say that while I have beliefs that homosexuality is wrong, and the people living in that lifestyle choice are going to hell, I do not want the American Government to make laws for or against such behavior. Not the Government's job. (Back to Paul here... we have no jurisdiction over "outsiders", and they have no jurisdiction over the church, either.)

Atheists (which I believe is a religion, but that discussion is also for another time) want Christians to stop demanding God in everything, which is against our relationship. Christians want Atheists to stop ignoring the God of everything, which is against their guesses about the universe. God makes no sense to those who deny that God exists. The tolerance demanded of Christ's followers is not applied to them in equal measure.

Stating the sentence that has already been set for an offense is NOT judging. Those who don't want to hear what I have to say will tell me (yes, I hear this in person a LOT) what the Bible says, but out of context. "Judge not, lest ye be judged." They don't know where to find it, but they know it is in there. This is in Matthew 7:1. Notice how they like to quote good old King James? The education of youth really does stick with you.

I am not making a judgment. I am reciting the sentence that God Himself handed down.

If I told you the penalty for speeding was a ticket, and I could tell you the amount of money you must pay for each of the miles per hour you were above the limit, that is not a judgment. That is a reminder of the sentence. It doesn't change that I want for you to never speed again.

If I told you that the penalty for killing in cold blood is your own death in an electric chair, that is not a judgment. That is a reminder of the sentence. I have not witnessed the murder, bypassed the trial, or condemned you to that death. I have merely stated what law is on the books.

If I told you that the penalty for homosexuality is a life cut short by an unthinkable virus (I think Romans 1:27 shows that God allows AIDS as a result of sin. Not a popular opinion, I know.) followed by a short trip to hell, that is not a judgment. That is a reminder of the sentence. I have not lived the lifestyle choice for you, nor have I argued with you about whether you were born with those tendencies. I have simply shown you where God will judge in the end.

Not believing in God does not stop the fact that He exists, or the fact that you will face Him.

God is the Judge, Jesus is your Defense Attorney. If you don't have THE Attorney, your Defense is lost. God will have no choice, if you are not repentant, but to hand down the verdict that you earned, that last thing you cannot deny... the Judgment that I can predict. No human will escape the Judgment. Read that again, in case you missed it. NO HUMAN will escape the Judgment. We all will have to stand before God, and those with Jesus as their Attorney will receive grace and mercy from the laws they have broken. Those without Jesus will receive the punishments they earned by breaking God's laws. I don't have the right, or the desire, to judge. I didn't write the laws, I can't even interpret them. I break them all the time. We all do, and little white lies are just as sinful as murder, pride and hate. There is prescribed punishment for sin.

There is no defense without Jesus.

The problem I see here is that the world doesn't see the rest of the story. In Romans 1:32, God tells us that those who practice such things (outlined in the verses above) are worthy of death. But then it says that those who heartily approve of such sins and the people who practice them are also worthy of death. If I ever say that it is OK for anyone to be gay, I am worthy of the same death they are subject to. God hates the sin of sexual immorality so much, that if I agree with one who is in that lifestyle, I am going to hell too. Pretty sobering stuff. Notice I did not say that God hates people. He absolutely does not. But, He cannot be in the presence of a willful sinner.

I cannot agree that homosexuality is OK. I cannot sit by and let people in my family and friend circle go to hell, without at least a conversation. I have to say something. I have to try.

I don't want anyone to go to hell, but God says some will. He doesn't want them to go there, either, but He will allow them to make their own mistakes, and give them chances to repent. That is the amazing thing about God's true Love. I think He would have sent Christ, even if it only meant that one of us would be saved. Out of the Billions of humans who have ever lived, I truly believe that Jesus would have come to save only ONE. This salvation isn't limited to ONE, though. You could have it, just as I have accepted it.

If those I love don't listen, I am compelled to try again, even if they don't like hearing what I have to say. I don't think of this as hate. Do you? If your family member is dealing with addiction to alcohol or drugs, do you try once and give up on them? NO. Of course not. You keep trying, hoping they will listen to you someday. They need help, not condemnation. The accusations of hateful motivation come from people who have felt the condemnation, but not felt the help offered in love.

There is also reasoning to shut up. (I know that the "religious right" has a hard time with this) There is Biblical reasoning to take the message elsewhere. When people will not listen, will not repent, and will be hateful to the messengers, that is the time to move the message to another target audience. I cannot change the people who will not see that God's law is superior. I cannot change the fact that homosexuals are still human, and they desire like I do to have basic human respect. I cannot force my beliefs on anyone else. I can love others, and still disapprove of their actions. My goal is to show the love, without ignoring the sin.

So why am I being accused of hate? Satan has taken hold of the Politically Correct trends, and used them to beat up on Christ's followers. Twisted the truth to his own advantage. Made it bad to be good. Sneaky. He has also taken hold of people's fears, and made it offensive to be corrected. In America today, we can no longer discipline our children, arrest our criminals or state ancient rules. When I state God's disapproval of anything, I am hateful. When I show a better way that is contrary to another's pride, I am hateful.

I remember that Jesus said that I would be hated, because I took His Name, and the world hated Him first. The shouting matches will do nothing to calm the hate coming from the outside. I can deal with being hated. I can deal with being accused of hating, even though it is a lie.

Is it hateful to be firm in your beliefs? I don't think so.