At General Conference this past month, there were many crude, inappropriate, and I may even venture to say, ignorant comments directed toward the LGBT community. And this makes me sad. Not just because I know that those words are very hurtful toward many people in the church, but because that is not what God calls us to do. Yeah, I'm only 18. I don't know what the "truth" is, I still have so many unanswered questions, and I, obviously, am not God, but through my years of church-going, I know that hate, especially in the name of our loving God, is not right.
I know, it's hard to accept a different side of things, but has God called us to cause chaos trying to put the other side in their place?
During my Sophomore and Junior years of high school, I was in an honors/AP history class. In this class, we were encouraged to debate our views on many things, including abortion, gay marriage, war and so on. Although there were some people that agreed with me on my liberal views, living in a conservative area did not allow for many allies in this battle zone of a class. And this class, I swear, was like a battle field. On some days, there would be people screaming at one another, others would be crying from offensive comments, and everyone would leave the room displeased. This class was always filled with tension, and even caused some people not to talk to each other.
One day, I sat down with one of the people that disagreed with me. To be honest, I was not his biggest fan, just because of some of the comments he would make during the debates, and was reluctant to talk to him about our stances on some issues. Regardless, I decided that it would be very rude not to talk with him. Half way through the conversation, we started to veer off the subject of gay marriage, and started talking about things such as music, sports and what we like to do in our free time. By the end of the conversation, I didn't even realize that I was sitting across the table at Starbucks with someone I used to not be fond of. Then, Stephen became one of my greatest friends.
And then it clicked. Why did I, dare I say it, hate him? Because we had different views? Because we disagreed on issues?
Probably.
Which is wrong. I would always preach about loving one another and accepting other views and open mindedness, and I couldn't even be friends with someone who disagreed with me.
Now, I must explain why I told you this story. With all the nasty comments that came from General Conference, there has been much talk. And honestly, it hasn't been all nice. What we should be doing is sitting down with people who we don't agree with, who have said those nasty comments, and ask them WHY they believe what they do. I'm not saying that you must agree with them, but sometimes sitting and talking can make both come to a realization that we all have different views, that we are all entitled to our own opinion. If what we are looking for is peace in our denomination, we must start with listening.
Then with peace, comes acceptance. And acceptance brings change.
So today, I give you a new challenge. This week, sit down with one person that you know that doesn't have the same views as you. Buy them some coffee. Then just talk. Ask them why they have their views. And listen. Nothing is more powerful than listening.
Who knows, you could become best friends.
If we want to continue to grow as a church, we MUST listen to each other. All this talk about who is right and who is wrong is not Christian-like. It doesn't grow our church. It just causes more tension. Which is turn, causes people to leave.
Let's be the light God intended us to be.
Let's be the Love.
This is the beginning of change, and it all starts with you.
And may I end with this: Lord, in your loving and bountiful mercy, hear my prayer.
John 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
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