Food for thought

I recently came across Paul Washer and some of his sermons on YouTube, after he was recommended to me by a friend. Needless to say, I'm becoming a big fan, based on what I've seen and heard so far. If you have time, you might check out his sermon at a youth conference in the early 2000's. Very heavy hitting, and truth I needed to hear.

The clip below is the one that I would like to discuss here, for a bit:

It would be easy to dismiss this as just another guy who is a doomsday professor -- afterall, we probably have heard more of those in the last 5 years than we care to for the rest of our lives, haven't we? Economic collapse and Armageddon are just around the corner, it seems. And maybe that's true, but it does get tiring after a while.

But I've kept thinking about what he says, especially in light of some of the recent things that have happened in the public arena regarding same sex marriage.

First, this with Louie Giglio. Then this, with Tim Tebow. And finally this, just recently in Scotland. 

It isn't difficult to see where this is headed. Already, in the public arena, if you are not supportive of the right of same-sex couples to marry, you are bigoted, and hateful.

How will this play out with athletes like Tim Tebow, RGIII, and others who are professing Christians? Or popular mega-church pastors, like Andy Stanley, and Rick Warren? At some point, they are going to be asked directly what they think about these issues. The question for many of them will be -- do they sidestep the issue -- still believing it's wrong -- but choosing to not make it the focus of their conversation? And, is that not then a kind of endorsement of it?

Closer to home, how long until the issue involves discrimination against "normal" people? At some point will the local pastor be ostracized and/or forced to attend tolerance classes if he does not endorse this lifestyle? Will charitable organizations lose their 501c3 status for not endorsing it? Will your business face losing a big client due to your stance on social issues?

To me, the power in this is going to be those who are "Christians" (and there most certainly will be -- Rob Bell has already done so) who profess their tolerance, love, and acceptance for all people, no matter their sexual orientation. From the world's perspective, why do we have to be so narrow minded and hateful? Why can't we accept everyone for who they are, like everyone else is doing?

There are so many questions these things bring up. How do we show love to LGBT people, while not endorsing their lifestyle? What does that look like on a practical level?

At what point do we just stay silent about our beliefs to avoid controversy?

I have more questions than answers. Important things to think about, though. I believe we are going to see more and more of these types of situations arise, and a huge divide on how followers of Christ should respond.

Your thoughts?