Here's a link to an article in Christianity Today.
Now, I'm not going to talk about homosexuality & what the Bible says about it. Read it for yourself. What I am going to touch on is the troubling response to her announcement on the part of some Christians & Christian retailers. Turns out some stores are pulling her Grammy nominated Christian albums from their shelves in the wake of her coming out. Anybody gonna yank her CDs from your collections & burn 'em in the Weber grill?
John 8:7, folks, hang on to your stones!
Now, I know I'm painting in broad strokes here, but I'd bet there's a bit of pride going on here... proud that they're "not like her," proud of their own spirituality, proud to take a stand, etc.
Know what the Bible says about the proud? They're pretty much screwed! (I'll let you look that up for yourself as well, but there's a lot of stuff regarding God's thoughts of the proud...and frequent use of the word ruin.)
I love the apostle Paul's reference to himself as the "worst" of sinners in 1 Tim 1:15, and vs. 16 in The Message, "...someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off - evidence of his endless patience - to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever."
Jennifer is a sinful human being in need of Jesus Christ. Plain & simple. And so am I! I can be selfish, prideful, judgmental, all things that apart from salvation through Jesus Christ justify an eternity in hell like any other sin. There are times that I feel like the "worst of sinners," and I'm inexpressibly grateful for the endless patience God continues to show me.
Pray for Jennifer, and don't forget me while you're at it!
UPDATE: Thanks to all who provided feedback regarding this post. In response to some, though it wasn't necessarily the focus of this post, let me be abundantly clear that, as unpopular this is nowadays to say (bracing myself), homosexuality is sin (in Great Britain, I just got arrested for offending someone with my "hate speech!"). In the passage in John mentioned above, Jesus confronted the Pharisees & religious teachers, challenging the one without sin to throw first. It's speculated that the words Jesus wrote in the dirt while he waited were the names & associated sins of those ready to kill the woman caught in adultery. I can picture them, one by one, leaving with rocks in hand, heads hung low.
Jesus didn't stop there - as Jesus wasn't above getting down in the dirt, I can picture Him kneeling before this woman, lovingly helping her to her feet, asking where her accusers went, and telling her to go and "leave her life of sin."
'Nuff said. Already thinking of future posts...