What Christians Get Wrong About the LGBT Conversation

What if we've gotten love and truth

completely backward when it comes to the

LGBT conversation? And what if the way

Jesus engaged people flips everything we

thought we knew upside down? Welcome to

Provoke and Inspire, where I wrestle

with culture and current events by

asking, "What would Jesus think and what

would Jesus do?" Navigating the LGBT

conversation has become one of the most

pressing and complex issues for

Christians today. Challenging as it may

be, Christians have to learn how to

engage this issue fruitfully and

effectively. Crucially, we have to do so

in a way that is both bold and loving,

which isn't always easy. While a short

video will never do justice to this

complicated topic, I hope to offer some

practical ideas to help you start on the

right path. First, engaging anyone

always begins with the right heart. If

you're going to engage an issue, you

have to start with a broken heart for

that issue. Those who identify as LGBT

are people. They're not issues. Do we

really care about them? Until we allow

God to turn theological concerns into

deep personal anguish, our efforts to

reach people will be harsh and

powerless. As Paul reminds us, if I

could speak in all languages of the

earth and of angels, but didn't have

love, I would only be a noisy gong or

clanging symbol. The next step is

getting the right start. Challenging the

validity of somebody's lifestyle and in

this case their perceived identity will

not be easy. In fact, it's arguably one

of the most difficult conversations you

could possibly have. Until someone knows

that you genuinely love them and are for

them, they are very unlikely to receive

any sort of criticism or feedback. With

that in mind, Christians need to start

by forming genuine friendships with

those outside of the church and perhaps

especially those who identify as LGBT.

This cannot be some crass means to an

end. It has to be a sincere desire to

know and to love the person you have in

mind. You need to serve them, listen to

them, and share your life with them.

Until our hearts are broken. And until

the LGBT are more than just subjects out

there, we will never effectively engage

this issue in our culture. It starts

with friendship. Thirdly, we need the

right perspective. One of the most

pernicious features of our culture is

the notion that to love someone means

you must affirm everything about them.

But anyone with kids knows that that is

absolutely ridiculous. I love my kids

and that will never change, but they do

and say all sorts of things I disagree

with. To affirm their choices would make

me unloving. In the same way, those who

are practicing a LGBT lifestyle are

living contrary to God's design. This is

definitely an unpopular belief today,

but scripture makes that abundantly

clear. If you care about someone and

they're living in a way that ultimately

hurts them, the most loving thing you

can do is to warn them. This is the

right perspective and it's how Jesus

lived. Above all else, he cared about

people and not just people who thought

as he did. There was no us versus them

for Jesus. He loved everyone. But loving

someone doesn't mean you agree with

everything about them or how they think

or how they live. And Jesus rejected the

destructive ideologies and thoughts and

behaviors of his day. It starts with the

right perspective. Finally, we need the

right approach. We are far less rational

than we like to admit. When we are

challenged, our emotions flare up and

our reasons rush in to justify our

feelings. The LGBT issue is highly

charged and deeply emotional. We are all

personally affected. In this case, we

cannot approach this rationally. While I

believe the Bible draws unambiguous

lines around right and wrong when it

comes to sexuality, making this case

like a courtroom lawyer is very unlikely

to change anyone's mind. Jesus spoke the

truth, but he knew that mercy, not

judgment, leads to change. As the

Apostle Paul says in Romans 2:4, "Don't

you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant,

and patient God is with you?" Does this

mean nothing to you? Can't you see that

it is his kindness that is intended to

turn you from your sin? Jesus's design

for our lives are not arbitrary or

cruel. He desires for us to flourish. He

wants us to experience maximum joy. To

deviate from his design is to usher in

pain and destruction into our lives. But

his designs will not make sense until we

know and trust that he loves us and

wants what is best for us. How can we

know this? The cross. We start with the

gospel because this unequivocally

demonstrates that a God willing to

sacrifice what was most precious to him

can be trusted. Look, until we've

experienced this love, we will interpret

religious injunctions as cruel,

limiting, and capriccious. It always

starts with Jesus. Until we have

experienced this love, we will always

interpret God's rules as cruel and

limiting. Freedom always starts with

encountering who Jesus really is. Thanks

for watching Provoke and Inspire. If you

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for everything else. That's it. Peace.