If the title of this entry offended you, I really want your opinion. I just ask that you read this verse from John, and then leave your comment.

John 3:16 NLT For God loved the world so much that he gave His one and only Son, so that everyone that believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life

You don't have to go far these days to find a religious blog that touches on homosexuality. This is definitely a hot button for most people, and there is no warm or cold on the issue. The same scriptures are thrown out, and the people that scream their point of view yell loud enough that it becomes very intimidating for those that stop to peruse their pages of comments. My concern is that this very vocal and passionate discussion seems to rip the most fundamental idea that I hold of Christ to shreds.

I gather from my limited understanding of the Bible that I am probably a "Gentile." I haven't ever traced my heritage back to anyone past the people that I have seen in pictures, so I can't even validate that claim. I do know this: I had to find Christ, so I was at least a sinner. Even now that I have a stable relationship with Christ, I find myself asking for forgiveness on a regular basis. This reality shows me that I am even now a sinner, saved by grace - daily.

I have been reading the New Testament lately, and am now in Acts (my favorite book.) I am amazed at the beautiful stories of healing and supernatural intervention that take place in that book. People were drawn to Jesus because of what he could do. They might have not known who He was and the significance that His presence on earth held, but they knew of the miracles that preceded his arrival. People would lay in the street to hope to catch even a glimpse of His shadow, seeking the healing that they had been told about. After the cross, they would follow after his disciples with the same zeal.

The common thread that permeates most of the thoughts of homosexuality versus Christianity is that of the definition of sin. I have even thrown my two cents in on occasion and related that this kind of lifestyle is an "abomination." After reading numerous testimonies about people that struggle with this temptation, I am now forced to apologize for my jagged comments. It seems that I am too quick to look past the act that was finalized at the cross. I think that others often get lost in the sea of popular opinion as well, and end up getting swept past the primary cause of Christianity. Jesus died on the cross for my sins. It doesn't mention particular sins anywhere through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that I've read. These four books tell the story from different vantage points of the life of Christ, and all of them mention just one qualifying factor for forgiveness of sins. You have to exist.

Jesus gave himself to the cross for everyone. That includes all of the gays, lesbians, bigots, liars, thieves, prostitutes, and any other un-savory title that we can print up and attach to people. Next we have all of the racial epithets that I could throw out and pollute these pages with, but I hope you are starting to get the picture. I acknowledge that the homosexual lifestyle is identified as a sin, but so is gluttony, greed, hatred, and many other daily practices that are accepted in our society. It pains me to think that my brick wall of protest could block someone out of the kingdom of God. Isn't that the same thing that the Pharisee's did that Jesus stood so vehemently against? Christ was enraged that people were being seen through the veil of laws and restrictions, and His sacrifice was so that we could be seen through a veil of his shed blood instead.

Let me know your opinion, and offer some ways that we can reach out to those that have been rejected under the guise of religion. I think we can start with the thought that all have sinned, instead of just the gays, lesbians, liars, thieves, convicts, prostitutes and bigots. Jesus saved a failure like me, and it would be terrible for me to not want everyone else to experience that same salvation. I guess that the first step is to do this: reach out and feel for the first hand that touches yours. There are a lot of hands that are floating by, reaching out for someone to cling to. If you don't grab them and pull them to safety, who will?