BEING TRUE TO MYSELF AND TRUE TO JESUS

        I was on the charter bus Monday morning with 39 wonderful Bible scholars (who attend the Monday night/Tuesday morning Bible Study) making our way to Savannah, Georgia for the 16^th Annual Bible Study Field Trip when I received a call from my friend, Max Walser.  Max had seen all the letters in the paper in response to my article on Amendment One and wanted to know how I was doing.  Max has been in public service his entire life and knows what it is to be attacked.  He thanked me for standing up for the truth and said, “You knew this would happen when you wrote the article.”

        “Yes, I did, but as Jim Phillips (who was sitting beside me) told me, you have to be true to yourself.”

        I knew the article would generate a lot of discussion, but I never imagined it would explode the way it did.  The Dispatch can track how many “hits” an online story has and primarily because of the article being shared on Facebook and Twitter it was viewed over 46,000 times.  It generated a lot of feedback!

        While some of the responses both online and in the paper were thoughtful and reasonable, the angry, vitriolic, and hateful ones were disturbing.  I was told many times I was going to hell.  I was called a false prophet, a minister of Satan, and a son of the devil.  My credentials were questioned as a minister and one writer even admonished my church to question my Biblical integrity. 

        The personal attacks do not bother me.  But I was upset when my family and my church family were condemned.  I was told my entire family and my church family were all going to hell.  Last Sunday an anonymous package was left at one of the doors to the church.  It had a letter with my name on it.  The letter was another hate-filled attack.  The package was not opened but turned over to the Lexington Police Department.  The identity of the sender was quickly determined.  It was one of the letter writers. 

        It was evident that many of the responders never read my article.  I received many emails in which the writers gave very detailed Biblical reasons to oppose same-sex marriage.  Never in my article did I endorse same-sex marriage.  I was opposed to the amendment. 

        The issue of homosexuality is one of the most difficult issues to understand.  I have known people who simply have chosen this lifestyle for a variety of reasons.  I think that is wrong.  I believe this is condemned in Scripture.  But the problem comes with people who feel they were born as homosexuals.  I have known more people who did not “choose” this lifestyle but tell me this is who they are.  If someone is born a homosexual, they have no choice.  They were created this way.  And that is where this issue gets complicated. 

        This presents a major challenge to the Biblical interpreter.  What do you do with the passages that specifically list homosexuality as a sin?  Didn’t God create us “good,” and in his image?

        As a Christian I believe in interpreting the Bible Christocentrically.  That means we interpret everything through the “Jesus filter.”  I always go back to the last night before the crucifixion.  One of the last things Jesus did was leave his disciples with a “new commandment.”  “Love one another,” he said, “as I have loved you.” 

        Whatever we do, whatever we say, whatever stand we take must be grounded in love.  I was opposed to the amendment because it was not grounded in love.  It singled one group of people out.  It marginalized them, isolated them, and made them feel like second-class citizens.  This is wrong.   

        I don’t pretend to be an expert on the homosexual issue, but I will not judge.  God will be the judge, not me.  But I have been commanded to love others as Jesus loves me.  That means loving unconditionally. 

        If I’m going to be criticized and attacked, I have no regrets knowing that I took a stand for Jesus.  I took a stand for love.   I was true to myself.  I was true to Jesus.  I will gladly take the heat.