SINCE I NEVER HAD TO CONFESS BEING GAY SINCE I WASN'T, THIS INSIGHT FROM A PERSON WHO IS GIVES A NEW SLANT ON THE WHOLE THING.
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http://www.cathedralofhope.com/members/Cathedral of Hope Prayer MinistryDevotion for Monday, November 28, 2005James 5:16 (The Message)Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other andpray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. Theprayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to bereckoned with. When I received this scripture to be used for today's devotion I reallydidn't know what to say. This is not a common or familiar verse for me.When someone is struggling or going through a hard time in their life, Idon't usually quote James 5:16. It is simply not a scripture that popsto mind and I would be lying if I said it was one of my favorites.However, after reading and meditating on this verse for the past coupleof days God reminded me of how this verse has been applied to my life.When I was a kid, I had so much free time on my hands after school. Myparents worked every night until 6:30, so that meant that after school Ihad three hours all by myself at home. That also meant there was plentyof time to get into a lot of trouble. When I was in third grade I got the coolest go-cart ever. It wasmetallic blue and would go what seemed like 200 mph (I'm sure it onlywent around 35 at the most). I was not allowed to ride the go-cartunless one of my parents was around. Talk about torture. One day afterschool I decided that I was going to ride it and my parents would neverknow. What I didn't realize was that when you started the darn thing youhad to have your foot on the brake or it would take off as fast aslightning. When I started it, it 'kicked" into high gear and ran intothe side of one of my parent's cars putting a huge dent in the door. Ifelt sick to my stomach and was scared to death. That night when my parents got home, they could tell that something waswrong. I was not my usual cheerful self. What was more unusual was thatI was not screaming Let me ride my go-cart, let me ride my go-cart." Mymom sat down with me and asked me what was wrong, at first I said it was"nothing," and I went on my way. As the night wore on, I felt morehorrible than ever. Finally I went to my mom and dad and, with tears inmy eyes, I confessed the whole thing. After confessing my wrongdoing, Ifelt so much better; my soul was cleansed from the deceit. My parentswere not happy with me, but they respected my honesty and their trustfor me was still in place. I also knew that they were praying that Godwould continue teaching me what it meant to be honest.Years later, when I came out to my parents, I felt that same cleansing.The sin was not that I was gay; it was that I had lied for years tocover up who I truly was in Christ. Were my parents happy with the newinformation that I had given them? No, but they did respect me for beingtruthful to them and allowing them to be involved in my life. It alsobrought comfort to me knowing that they were praying for me everydayasking God to protect me and continue working in my life as I serve ourSavior.Please hear me, I am not telling you to go out and shout it from themountaintop and tell people all of your business. I don't believe thatis Biblical. People can use information that you give them and hurt youwith it. However, I do believe that we must have people in our livesthat love us unconditionally. These special people will allow us to becompletely honest with them, flaws and all. They will pray for us, andour past mistakes are all forgotten. Whether it's a best friend,sibling, parent, or our Christ, say a special prayer of thanks for themtoday.Our unrestricted loving God, thank you that we can give you all of ourbaggage and without questioning, you take it off of our hands. May wehave peace today knowing that our past is the past and that our presentis with you. Amen.Devotion by Scot PankeyMinister for Evangelism, Youth and Young AdultsCathedral of Hope
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Linda via the Internet writes: "My dear friend of 25 years is a fundamentalist Christian who has prayed about my position on the gay rights issue (I am a gay rights advocate). Her position is that if God had made her a gay person, she would still not be free to indulge in sex. Also, if everybody got to do whatever made them happy, then where do we draw the line? She has challenged me to go to God and basically ask God which one of us is right. As a member of the church alumni, I really don't know what to say to her. Complicating matters is the fact that my son is gay but she doesn't know that yet. Can you help? "
Dear Linda,I waste little time engaging in arguments about homosexuality. That enterprise is generally nothing more than an ill-informed emotional debate. My recommendation to you is that you say, "I simply do not agree with you and I see nothing further to be gained by future conversation on this subject." If your friend is not willing to observe that boundary then your only choice is to move out of that friendship.
For the record, the fundamentalist Christian position assumes that sexual orientation is a choice. There is not a shred of evidence to support that. You do not go to God to determine truth. You go to the commonly accepted knowledge that is available to you in the fields of science and medicine. My bet is that by "going to God," she means consulting the Bible, which was quoted to condemn Galileo and Darwin and to support slavery and a second-class citizenship for women. That is not a very impressive set of credentials. If we followed the Bible, we would put all homosexuals to death (see Lev. 20).
If you told her your son is gay, she would assume that he chose this way of life or that you were the cause of his 'deviation' by being an inadequate parent. Either way you lose.
My advice is to love your friend. Be kind and sensitive but on this issue simply tell her you do not wish to discuss it further since your two understandings are mutually exclusive.
-- John Shelby Spong
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