[posted May 1, 1999]
The "coming out" of Christian homosexuals is a defining moment for the churches. Many Christians are being forced to take a close look at the entire legalistic judgmental religious system that clearly denies the evidence about the life and teachings of Jesus in the Gospels.
Until now, most church going people simply trusted their pastors and priests to tell them the truth about the Bible. Many pastors and priests, however, do not know the truth about the Bible themselves. They have been too busy playing church to stop and learn the facts. They also have been indoctrinated and brain washed by their own traditions and institutions. Many pastors and priests have become accustomed to retelling religious fables and lies that they were taught and that they don't even question anymore. Their income and position depend on their obedience to the tradition, no matter how wrong it might be.
A WORLD WIDE PROBLEMLast week, I received three special e-mails from Christian homosexuals who had been helped and encouraged my web site. One was from a Christian Chinese Gay man in Singapore; one from a Christian Lesbian in New Zealand; and one from a Christian Gay man in South Africa. One of the writers said that my site had "saved his life". Thank God for the truly world wide web and our opportunity to share the good news of God's unconditional accepting love through Jesus for all people!
When I was on a television special in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994 on the subject of "Gays for God" that told the story of MCC and other Christian homosexuals in the Nashville area, the station received more complaints than for any program they had ever done. The program director told me that the most common complaint was to point out that there is no such thing as a Christian homosexual! The incredible grip of legalistic judgmental religion on millions of people forbids them from even seeing the clear evidence that some of their religion is wrong.
This blindness to the truth about Jesus and the Bible is not limited to Christians, to fundamentalists, the South, the Midwest, or even to America. The virus of legalistic judgmental religion is world wide. But so is our response!
SUICIDE AS A WAY OF LIFEDuring the two years that I led a Wednesday evening spiritual recovery and support group every week in my apartment in Nashville, Tennessee, we frequently discussed self-destructive thoughts and actions produced by homophobia. At one of the sessions, over half of the over 30 people present told of how they had considered or attempted suicide, including me.
Suicidal thinking, however, does not always produce suicide attempts. Suicidal thinking more often results in self-depreciation, self-sabotage of relationships and careers, and persistent negative moods and depression. Suicidal thinking drains the joy out of life and envelops the individual in a defensive cocoon that keeps others at a distance and makes existence miserable and unpleasant even when many good things are happening.
Most suicide attempts take place when the depressed person is alone. Far too many Christian homosexuals feel isolated, lonely and abandoned all the time. We have been told so often that God does not and cannot love us that we begin to believe that we have no value and would be better off dead. That is a monstrous satanic lie!
WHAT ARE YOU DOING DURING THE REVOLUTION?The revolution has begun. Traditional religion will never be the same again after this present time of challenge and opportunity. The only way for the Christian mission to make progress is for every Christian to be a revolutionary and challenge and shatter the myths in order to replace them with the truth of the "real Jesus." You have to know and experience the "real Jesus" of the Gospels in order to be motivated as a Christian homosexual and to create positive changes in the direction of truth and love. If I am going to give my life to something, I want it to be for the true gospel of God's unconditional love and acceptance of all people through the "real Jesus" of the Gospels and not for the murky apologetic mythology of legalistic judgmental religion.
I will gladly live and die for Jesus. But I will not waste my time trying to win endless arguments about laws and rules, even if those laws and rules are found in the Bible. We only have so much time left. I don't know about you, but I feel strongly obligated to make Jesus the point of reference for everything I do. I had rather be accused of talking too much about Jesus than about myself, the churches, the rules, the current mess the world is in, or anything else. There is a time and a place for everything. When every person finally is following the pattern of humility, truth, and love that Jesus set into motion, perhaps then we might discuss some other issues. What do you think? Have you come out yet as a Christian homosexual?
Visit Dr. Truluck's website: Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse
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