Gay Christians Don't Make Me Sad

A brief reflection this morning in light of some processing I've done lately:

When I used to see openly gay or lesbian people who claimed to be Christian, I would generally feel a sense of anger because they had abandoned themselves to their sin. I would feel betrayed as a Christian who has to fight those longings every day. I would feel sad that their perspective on this issue was actually keeping them from God.

Lately I have not been so saddened by those who claim to be both Christian and gay. The reality is, if I met a gay person who actually believes the gospel: that they are a sinner in desperate need of the salvation that is found only through the blood of Jesus in whom they must place their faith and to whom they must submit as their Lord; if I met that person, I would rejoice that I have a brother in Christ. I would rejoice because what you believe about homosexuality doesn't make someone a Christian--what they believe about Jesus does.

I will tell you what does sadden me however. I haven't ever met the person I described in the previous paragraph. I know several gay Christians, and to be honest, to the man they have all abandoned the gospel. And that makes me overwhelmingly sad. In accepting a hermeneutic that permits their sexuality, they have embraced a view of the gospel that is monolithic, that interprets all of scripture through one single lens: that God is love. Everything else is subservient to that claim, and thus God is devoid of wrath, justice, judgment, righteousness and people really don't need atonement as much as a model of loving selflessness. So gay Christians don't make me sad. People who fly the banner of Christianity but don't embrace the gospel of scripture make me sad. People's eternal destiny is not defined by their sexuality--but it is defined by their view of Jesus--and so often the two seem to go hand in hand.