Our Next Challenge

"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.” — Matthew 22:37-40

This has been a challenging time for Christians in the world. Being a part of a church that just left a denomination and helped form a new denomination because of changing cultural values surrounding the gay lifestyle, I know how tough and caustic this argument can be.

Yet it seems to be front and center in our world. When I lived in California, voters were asked four times to vote on a gay marriage amendment. Each time it failed, yet the government of the state seemed to try and push it through. Just last month the matter was taken up by the Supreme Court, and their decision will likely shape policy for our nation for years to come.

For a long time people have projected that a player in a major sport would come out. Yesterday it happened as 34-year-old Jason Collins, an NBA center who has played for 12 years, announced he was gay. As one might expect, it has dominated the news for the past day. Many predict it is just the beginning — that this summer could see a flood of athletes following suit. Personally, I think that might be true.

So the question is how will the world respond. In the case of Christians, historically, it hasn't been very well. And that's part of the problem. It's hard to endure a national or world tragedy without someone who claims to represent Christians going on TV and saying what happened was because of God's wrath against homosexuals. That seems inconsistent with Scripture and with the concept of evangelism. It paints Christians as bigots and hate mongers.

A friend of mine said that people on the outside only know two things about the church, meaning Christians. We want their money and we hate gay people. Those in the church see that as an over generalization, but it's hard to escape the idea that is the public perception. The first part began with the televangelist movement of the 1980s, and it has just continued through to the present day. The second part happens every time someone goes on TV and misrepresents the spirit of the Gospel.

One of my favorite moments in a film comes in the movie "Doubt." It was based on a stage play written by someone who had a horrible experience in Catholic school. Despite that, John Patrick Shanley knows what the message of the Gospel is supposed to be. Through Father Flynn, he says, the message of our savior is love of people, despite what some hardened people like to believe. He tells a young nun, "There are people who go after your humanity, Sister. They tell you that the light in your heart is a weakness. Don't believe it. It's an old tactic of cruel people to kill kindness in the name of virtue. There's nothing wrong with love."

I often feel like that message is aimed at Christians, those that have trouble with the way some choose to portray our faith to the public. I feel like this moment, this wave of debate sparked by Jason Collins, is that next challenging moment for Christians.

There is a sentiment that we've tried to apply to debates within the body — the idea of disagreeing without being disagreeable. I think that's the way we should approach this shift in the cultural tide. While we don't agree with the lifestyle choice and decision made by these people, we are still to show them love.

Showing the love of Christ to an unbelieving, immoral world doesn't mean we condone or accept their lifestyle choices. It doesn't mean that we uphold it as right or just. It means that we let the love of Christ shine through us as we are a witness in the world.

The Bible says they will know us, meaning Christians, by our love. Maybe it's time we lived up to that.