some thoughts

First of all, let me say that I'm not an authority on any of the things I'm about to speak to. This is just a result of me thinking some things through for a number of years. This is something I've spent a reasonable amount of time thinking on and researching, and I want to share my thoughts. Please remember that at any time you may stop reading. I want to explore what I feel might be a fresh perspective on homosexuality. There are preconceived notions, some of which stem from ignorance or acceptance refusal, some from confusion.

First of all, I think there's a split camp on whether or not someone can be born homosexual. George Michael says that he didn't turn homosexual until 1987, which makes you think that it's a choice. Others claim that they've been homosexual for their entire lives and don't have a choice. Maybe a person can be born homosexual and choose to be homosexual—why does it have to be one or the other? Now, maybe that doesn't make sense; hear me out.

Let's switch gears for a minute. Some people are born alcoholics, or born with a drug addiction. Some prenatal circumstances might have crafted that condition, or perhaps it stems from parents' DNA. Same thing with people who are abusive: some of them are born that way, inheriting the trait from a violent lineage. Some folks are born with simply an addictive personality, and their addiction manifests itself later in life as gambling, porn, or alcohol addictions. They weren't porn addicts or drug addicts, but they chose the particular path of their addiction (or a series of their choices, seemingly unrelated, chooses that path). Maybe some with addictive personalities manifest the addiction in something "healthier", like an addiction to exercise. So, you're kind of born that way, but you also kinda choose. Maybe it's like that with homosexuality. Maybe more people have been born this way throughout time but were suppressed: a militant father forcing his son to follow in his footsteps in a particular trade, that son never happy and feeling that his potential isn't fully realized. Maybe some people are born homosexual but even subconsciously repress it since their particular culture—whether their country's culture or the culture within their neighborhood or family—doesn't permit it.

But is homosexuality itself wrong? Let's take a step back and look at this, too. For some people, gambling is wrong, but for others it's okay. For some, it depends on the form of gambling or the extent. Some people view victimless crimes as okay, while others say they're wrong because they're obviously against the law. But even lying has shades of gray (ask someone how to handle it when your great-aunt asks about the wedding gift she gave that you, the one you threw out after the honeymoon).

Let's look at it this way—and again, please hear me out (I'm not going with this where you think I'm going—don't turn back if you've read this far). The Bible has God saying that all kinds of things are wrong, including the lie to your great-aunt about the wedding gift. Disobeying God's rules and living in a way that doesn't honor Him is called sinning. And each sin is just as bad as the next in His eyes, even though in our eyes there might be some degrees (so murder = gossip). So even little things are sins, even the stuff we can't help doing, or don't mean to be doing. So absolutely everyone continues to sin. (Stick with me, I promise we'll get back to homosexuality.) Everyone will sin this week, this month, and this year. I will, you will, and the most devout person you know will. It's in our nature. But that's what Christianity is really all about: forgiveness for all sins. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that because Christians have been forgiven they're better than anyone else. Nowhere does it say that Christians won't sin. You can be as religious as you want, but it's still going to happen. Christians are going to try not to sin, maybe try more than the next guy, but they're going to fail. Now, God had to set up a set of rules, and according to them, no one can sin and live. Everyone who sins will be refused admittance to heaven. Since it's impossible, though, to live without sinning, no matter how religious you try to be, God came down to earth as Jesus and died in our place as a living sacrifice (and rose again). You can accept that or refuse it. If you accept it, you're going to kind of want to try not to sin—you might even be compelled. But you'll still be loved by God when you do sin and you'll still be forgiven and welcomed back, even if you sin really bad (because all sins are the same).

If the gossiper accepts Jesus, he isn't suddenly going to be able to stop gossiping. If he doesn't accept Jesus, he'll just go on living according to whatever moral code his culture has instilled in him. In his culture, maybe gossiping isn't wrong.

Every day, gamblers, gossipers, and cheaters come to accept Jesus; they don't work on changing first, as if you have to make yourself worthy (you can't). What's really awesome is that He wants you to come with him just the way you are. You don't have to change; you don't have to become some kind of religious, pious person just to get to know Him. That's what Christians ought to be saying. It's not up to anyone to change anyone else or to impose rules onto people. God just wants to share His love with everyone. Everyone. Including homosexuals.