I Need a Doctor

I drink the Glee Kool Aid. There, I said it. The show can be a bit racy and inappropriate at times, but I love the way the creators tackle difficult subjects. So far they've covered sex, religion, and bullying, just to name a few. (And with a wonderfully fun soundtrack, no less!) This week's episode saw a big milestone for one of the main characters, who happens to be a homosexual teenager. I'm sure it caused quite a stir in the Christian circles that watch the show, but here's my question: should it, really?


Personally, I'm glad Glee takes on tough subjects like teen homosexuality. I think the demographic it targets needs to know that there are kids who are different from them, and that it's not ok to make fun of those kids. You don't have to agree with the lifestyles and beliefs of all the people around you, but it shouldn't make you shy away from them.


One of my favorite things about the ministry of Jesus Christ on this earth was that he attracted a motley crew of people. Did He let what those people did affect the way He treated them? Absolutely not. Jesus didn't look at those people and see definitions: whore, tax collector, leper, thief. Sure, He knew their past (and our present!). But our God is not a surface-dweller. He looks beneath what outwardly "defines" us (1 Sam. 16:7). He sees the broken and wounded soul that needs mending only He can give.


I'm not trying to outline what's right and wrong here. I think the Bible does that well enough. I am, however, quite exasperated at the "Christian" attitude toward the gay community. From where I stand, it's not very Christlike. We don't look at the drug addict and say, "Hey, you have to get clean and sober; then I can talk to you about Jesus." We don't cast heterosexual couples out of our churches when we find out they're living together without being married (at least, I hope no church does that!). Then, why of all things, do we shy away from the issue of homosexuality like it's the unforgivable sin?


From Matthew 9:

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”


Sinners, friends. This means all of us. Together. Not the mediocre sinner and the severe sinner. In the hierarchy of Christ there are only 3 categories: the Savior, the sinner, and the saved. No one gets preferential treatment based on age, gender, race, creed, or sexual orientation. 


I don't claim to be an expert in any field. I just speak from the heart. If you're looking to go deeper on the issue of homosexuality, however, I recommend Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin. I do, however, want to leave you this week with a challenge. To heed the words of Jesus, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Love Your Neighbor (unless he/she is really annoying)

I'm really starting to get sick of the way Christians treat non-Christians. Or the way we treat each other. And the way non-Christians treat each other. Basically, the way everyone treats everybody else...


Is it really too much to ask for us to treat each other like freaking human beings?!?


These Westboro Baptist people really grate on my last nerve. It's like they were sitting around one day, talking- "Hey guys, you know what would be a really great way to show Christ's love? PICKETING FUNERALS!" And then everyone else was like, "Oh yeah, that sounds like a great idea, and we should really hate on the gays, too..."


I'm sorry, but Jesus gave us some pretty specific instructions in Matthew 22:
"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'
 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”"


There isn't an asterisk there. No caveat saying, "love your neighbor- unless he's gay or liberal or a different race or a different denomination than you- then that loving thing is completely optional." Nope. He said love your neighbor as yourself. Period. It's not dependent on your neighbor; it's dependent on your capacity to love as Christ loves. And that's not an easy thing. That kind of love will stretch out its arms and die for you while you spit in its face. That kind of love will look at you and tell you you're beautiful while the rest of the world calls you ugly.


The thing is, if you're a Christian, loving others isn't an option. It's a command. But you know what? Besides being called to love the ostracized and marginalized "sinners," we're also called to love the Pharisees, the religious zealots who think they're better than everyone else. The bullies as well as the bullied. Meaning, I have to let my resentment for the Westboro Baptist congregation go, and pray that they learn the real meaning of why Jesus did on the cross for us. That we're all the thief to His side and He's offering us all a shot of redemption. Because we all started out in the same gutter.


So I feel for the victims that have their loved ones' funerals picketed by these misguided folks, and I pray for them. But I also pray for the misguided ones holding the picket signs, because they need Jesus just as much as they think the people they're picketing do.


Read the blog that inspired this entry.