I Think I May be a Heretic

Okay, maybe not in the sense that I am rejecting everything about Christianity or Christ. Actually, I'm not rejecting ANYTHING about it.

What I am finding, though, is that there are a lot of "teaching" and doctrine issues out there that make absolutely no sense to me. It would seem that sometime "back then" someone decided something was wrong, and through the years it becomes "sinful." Or, because most "religious" people are conservative (politically), anything "liberal" is a sin.

Since when does political position equate to sincerity or genuine-ness of spirituality?????

Homosexuality. I believe homosexuality is a sin. I also believe that extra and pre-marital sex, and pornography is a sin. So far, my Baptist friends are saying "Amen." The difference is, though, if a man or woman in the church, even if it were, heaven forbid, the preacher, came forward, confessed having an affair or being addicted to porn, repented and asked for forgiveness, they would almost be lauded a hero for being brave and turning their back on that. If they lapsed, we would come beside them and help them back up.

However, if that same person expressed homosexual tendencies, the reaction is quite a bit different. Why is that? Why do we not reach out to the homosexuals? Why do we not love them? We say we do, but absolutely everyfreakingthing we do shows differently.

Recently, there was a photographer in NM sued for refusing to shoot a gay "union." At first, I thought, "Good for her for taking a stand." Then, God got to dealing with me on the issue. I am a photographer. This could happen to me. I've always found it is easier to deal with situations before they happen, then I have an answer.

What would I do if a same sex couple asked me to shoot their union?
1. I could say no based on the fact that I believe their lifestyle is wrong and face possible litigation which would hurt me and my family. Now, I'm willing to suffer for my faith, but what would the result be? The homosexual couple now has a few extra of my dollars and justification to hate Christians and anything about us (including, I might point out, Jesus).

2. I could lie to get out of the wedding and save myself the court case. But, ummm, does anyone besides me see the inherent problem here? The result? Possibly, nothing of consequence. Possibly, though, my deception is discovered and my integrity is shot. As a result, "they" will not listen to the rest of my testimony, because I am now deemed dishonest, so anything I say about anything might be suspect (including, I might point out, Jesus).

3. I could shoot the wedding, observe something I don't think is right, and make a few bucks. The result? I have money to buy stuff, or give to the church (that makes it okay, doesn't it?). My fellow Christians think I'm selling out, watering down what Jesus says, and being less than a spiritually strong person for not "taking a stand." The gay couple, however, now knows one Christian who wasn't ready to throw them out on their ear, and could possibly develop a friendship with them. Who knows, they may even listen to what I have to say about my views (including, I might point out, Jesus). But, if they don't, that is between them and God. My friendship with them is not dependent on them accepting Christ. My job, as a Christian, is to show them the joy, peace and love of Christ. Their decision about what to do with that is up to them.

(Insert opinion here -- hit and run witnessing bothers me. More later, maybe).


Why are Christians so quick to take a stand? One time (at least that's all I've found), count them, ONCE, Jesus took a public stand (in the form of a boycott/picket) against something that was happening -- the moneychangers in the temple. We take that ONE incident and use it as a basis to grandstand on a number of issues. Actually, we use that ONE incident to justify all kinds of protests.

It seems convenient to me that we ignore the other things Jesus did. The woman caught in adultery. The woman at the well. Zaccheus (people HATED this man. he was like the scum of scum. Jesus ate with him).

I don't know all the correct answers. It just seems to me that Christians are distancing themselves from the very world we are supposed to be witnessing to at an alarmingly fast rate. Then, when the world "persecutes" us, we consider it "good" because it was for "righteousness sake." No, honey, it is because you stood up and made yourself look like a complete and total, uninformed, idiot. (Side issue -- the other day I happened upon a forum. I had never been to this site before, nor did I know ANY of the participants. Yet, within the first few posts, I could tell who the religious people were. Wanna know how? They were the ones doing the name calling and trashing of everything that they disagreed with. How sad is that. Maybe I should write a book called "how to be a christian on the internet.")

Maybe someday, I'll have all the answers. Until then. . . .(because this is supposed to be a photo-type blog), here is one of my all time favorite photos to ponder (I might add that NO ONE else seems to like this picture. Their (your)loss. hahahahahahah)_



How can we reach them*, if we see them as lepers and unworthy?
How can we reach them if they think we hate them?
How can we reach them if we don't try to get to know them?
How can we reach them if we appear uneducated on the issues and unable to rationally think through our decisions?
How can we reach them if our views and opinions are "given" to us and we continue to blindly follow because that is how it is always done?


(*"Them" being everyone, not just the homosexual.)