Love Wins out: The church and its gay members & friends

In the somewhat conservative church I attend, their are a number of families with gay or lesbian members. People in the church know this and embrace these children and their families. Many church members may not be ready to vote for gay marriage, but ideology melts away and love wins out when the people of the church have watched these young people grow up in their midst. They know the parents, they know their sisters and brothers, they know their friends, and they continue to love and care about the young person whether homosexual or heterosexual.

The previous pastor of this church tried to run such people out of the church. He dis-invited people from the church if he thought they were engaged in sex outside of marriage. He turned his back on people who did not think or believe as he did. He was a rule-based Christian, not a love based Christian.

Christ and Culture or Christ versus Culture? The church has always had to respond to changes in the culture and accomodate to changes in our scientific understanding of the world. Churches who tout a world view that rejects modern scientific understanding of sexuality and sexual behavior do themselves no favor in the long run. Many of the so called "evangelicals" embrace many aspects of modern science, but reject the findings of science that threaten their worldviews.

What do we have to fear? The truth shall set you free. As a scientist I seek the truth or at least a better understanding of the social phenomena I study. My Christian faith is not about embracing a world view current 2000 years ago, it is about living in love now. It is not about holding up a moral yardstick to see if other's measure up, probably because I know that I would not measure up myself now would my friends and family. The Christian metaphor boils down to this, at the center of the universe is love. It is a conviction, a choice, a commitment to live as if life has meaning, as if life is a gift. It is about living with no guarantees, but it is about living in a community that values you and values others. This life is a gift. To say that God sent his son, is to say that this love at the center of the universe reaches out to touch human life and to bless it as sacred and meaningful in its own right.

If love is at the center, then we need not fear those who seek love in ways that are different from our own.