The Neighbor We Neglect

At One Life Church we are currently in a series called Neighbor. Our goal is that we all begin to be much more intentional about being neighborly in our own neighborhoods. If you haven't heard the messages yet, I encourage you to listen to the podcast. We really hope we all will see the street we live on as a mission field, not just a place we live. This could truly transform our community.

As I think about the notion of neighbor, and specifically about how we in the Church at large treat our neighbors, one glaring shortcoming stands out: the way we treat those in the gay community. This was brought to the forefront a couple of weeks ago on the Academy Awards show. No, I'm not talking about Sean Penn. His comments about Prop 8 were no surprise given his outspokenness over the years. What I'm referring to are the comments made by Dustin Lance Black, the young, talented man who won Best Original Screenplay for Milk. As I listened to him accept his award, I noticed the words he spoke did not come out of a Hollywood-left agenda, but rather out of the experience of a life lived as a gay man who has felt far too much hurt and rejection by those who should have shown him love. His plea, as he accepted his award, was to others like him to not forget that God loves you the way you are, no matter what the Church or the government tells you. Ouch. Not a very positive view of the Church. Yes, Dustin comes from a Mormon background, but the truth is that the Evangelical Church is just as guilty for treating the gay community like enemies and outcasts. Whatever your views are on gay marriage, the truth is that because of the battle lines we in the Church have drawn, most in the gay community view evangelical Christians, and perhaps even Jesus Himself, as their enemy. How sad is that.

I believe it is time we take a step back from the war against gay marriage and try and see the bigger picture. I am not asking you to reconsider your view on marriage, nor to cease praying for God's will to be done in our state and country regarding marriage. What I am asking is that we look beyond the community of gays and lesbians and see the individual. Ask yourself the question, "How do my actions help my gay friends, neighbors or family members experience the love of Christ?" For me, far more important than what sort of couple the State recognizes as legally married is the salvation of the individual souls who are in the gay community.

This week the California Supreme Court will be hearing arguments regarding the constitutionality of Prop 8, and I know many of you will be praying about this. My plea is that we spend as much or more time praying that our gay brothers and sisters will come to know the love, forgiveness and acceptance of Jesus, just like the rest of us sinners who call ourselves Christ followers have. And the truth is that they will be much more open to Jesus if his followers were not so afraid of becoming their friends. Maybe we can even love them. Isn't that the neighborly thing to do?