Growing up being a Christian was simple.
11/29/2017
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You believed…
- that you were a sinner,
- that because of your sin you were separated from God,
- but that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins.
This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion]. It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior]. Then what becomes of [our] boasting? It is excluded [entirely ruled out, banished]. On what principle? On [the principle of good] works? No, but on the principle of faith. For we maintain that an individual is justified by faith distinctly apart from works of the Law [the observance of which has nothing to do with justification, that is, being declared free of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]. Romans 3:22-28
So let it be clearly known by you, brothers, that through Him forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you; and through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him] is justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39
That was it. Being a Christian was simple. Kind of.
Because while, yes, if you prayed the prayer you were granted entrance into Heaven, it was also kind of assumed that you would also do a bunch of stuff. Not that you had to to become a Christian but that if you truly were a Christian you just would. Stuff like reading the Bible every day and going to church and telling other people about Jesus.
Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
But there was other stuff, too.
You wouldn’t smoke or drink or do drugs. You would be respectful and kind and obey your parents and your pastor. You wouldn’t use the Lord’s name in vain or swear. You wouldn’t have sex outside of heterosexual monogamous marriage. You definitely wouldn’t be queer. Or transgender.
And if you got really into it there was even more stuff.
You would live up to the gender roles based on the sex you were assigned at birth. You would believe the right things in the right way without straying. You would attend the right kind of church. You would find the right kind of heterosexual partner. You would have children.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so simple.
At least not in the tradition that I grew up in. But my guess is that every tradition had its own set of rules about what it meant to be a Christian. Some of those rules were spelled out and others you were just supposed to kind of know (like the dress code on Sunday mornings).
As I left that world behind I was overwhelmed at first.
How could I figure out “The Truth” if what I had been taught was incorrect? Did it mean that nothing was true? Or was I in rebellion and ignoring the truth? What if I was wrong? Would I stop being a Christian? Would I go to Hell? I went round and round and round. There was panic and anxiety. I was afraid. I felt sick.
For a while I believed that I had to be exactly the same evangelical Christian that I always was… just gay. I would keep all of my theology exactly the same. I would still follow all of the right rules. I would stay pure until marriage. I would still do all of the same things and nothing would have to change except my belief that God loved me in spite of the fact that I was gay.
But that didn’t really sit well with me. It felt kind of hollow. It felt like I was making God out to be kind of small. And honestly, a bit of a bully, ready to strike me dead if I so much as stepped a toe out of line. So I was back to the fear. The sickness.
But then I realized something: this time of growth, uncertainty and even fear was a gift.
It was a gift to be able to go back to the basics of my faith and figure out what I really believed. It was a gift to be able to ask myself what my experience of God was; who had God shown Godself to be in my life? In the world? What could I see as the narrative arc of Scripture? What were the themes in Scripture that were repeated over and over and over again from Genesis to Revelation? How did other scholars understand the Bible? Jesus? Salvation? The work of God in the world?
Getting back to the basics of Salvation through our Savior Jesus Christ through the reading of His Word.
He who has believed [in Me] and has been baptized will be saved [from the penalty of God’s wrath and judgment]; but he who has not believed will be condemned. Mark 16:16
Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies” John 11:25
He who believes and trusts in the Son and accepts Him [as Savior] has eternal life [that is, already possesses it]; but he who does not believe the Son and chooses to reject Him, [disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior] will not see [eternal] life, but [instead] the wrath of God hangs over him continually.” John 3:36
“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins—the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life. John 5:24
“For this is My Father’s will and purpose, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him [as Savior] will have eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.” John 6:40
I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes and trusts in Me [as Savior—all those who anchor their hope in Me and rely on the truth of My message] will not continue to live in darkness. John 12:46
There are also many other signs (attesting miracles) that Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of God; and that by believing [and trusting in and relying on Him] you may have life in His name. John 20:30-31
“He commanded us to preach to the people [both Jew and Gentile], and to solemnly testify that He is the One who has been appointed and ordained by God as Judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him [whoever trusts in and relies on Him, accepting Him as Savior and Messiah] receives forgiveness of sins.”Acts 10:42-43
Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach— because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:8-9
But as for you, continue in the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced [holding tightly to the truths], knowing from whom you learned them, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings (Hebrew Scriptures) which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus [surrendering your entire self to Him and having absolute confidence in His wisdom, power and goodness]. 2 Timothy 3:15
Everyone who believes [with a deep, abiding trust in the fact] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is born of God [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], and everyone who loves the Father also loves the child born of Him. 1 John 5:1
“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him]. John 3:16-18
So, when Peter and John had given their testimony and preached the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, preaching the good news [about salvation] in many Samaritan villages [along the way]. But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the road that runs from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” (This is a desert road). So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch [a man of great authority], a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning, and sitting in his chariot he was reading [the scroll of] the prophet Isaiah. Then the [Holy] Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I [understand] unless someone guides me [correctly]?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now this was the passage of Scripture which he was reading:
“Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter;
And as a lamb
before its shearer is silent,
So He does not
open His mouth.
“In
humiliation His judgment was taken away [justice
was denied Him].
Who will describe
His generation?
For His life is
taken from the earth.”
The eunuch replied to
Philip, “Please tell me, about whom does the prophet say this; about
himself or about someone else?” Then Philip spoke
and beginning with this Scripture he preached Jesus to him [explaining that He
is the promised Messiah and the source of salvation]. As they continued along the road, they came to some water; and
the eunuch exclaimed, “Look! Water! What forbids me from being baptized?” [Philip said to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you
may.” And he replied, “I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] And he ordered that the chariot be stopped; and
both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. Acts
8:25-38
Turns out, there are a lot of ways to be a Christian.
There are a lot of ways to understand Scripture.
There are a lot of ways to do church.
There are a lot of ways to be faithful.
The joy of being queer and/or trans is that nothing is handed to us. [TWEET IT!]
None of the “rules” that guide the world are a given for us. Instead we need to search and explore. We need to find our own language to describe our lives and our loves. We need to create structures that allow us to breathe easily. We need to envision new ways of being family. Actually, we don’t need to, we get to. This is our privilege. This is our gift. And it’s a gift that, when we share it, broadens the views and life experiences of the rest of the world.
And it is our gift when it comes to faith, too. We don’t have to take anything for granted. We don’t have to simply toe the line, recite the creeds, sign on the dotted line. Instead we get to create and ask and explore.
We get to ask the tough questions:
- What does the death of Jesus really mean?
- What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
- What are the most important things the Bible is trying to teach us?
- Where do we find and see the heart of God?
- What does God want the world to look like and how can we be a part of that mission?
We get to ask big questions and not be satisfied with easy answers. We get to wrestle and fight and rest and trust. We get to tear it all down and build something new in its place. We get to be involved in the continual work of growing and evolving and deepening our faith.
Which is sometimes harder because there aren’t always easy answers like pray this prayer and go to Heaven to forever. There is no “fire insurance” here. Just a daily walking and stumbling path toward God.
But on the other hand, sometimes we can hold on to simple answers: God is love, God loves us, God wants us to love others.
We love, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replied to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40
I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” John 13:34-35
I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing. “This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you. This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another. John 15:9-17
Maybe it is simple after all.
Glory to God for the SIMPLE TRUTH of SALVATION. I know you are probably sitting there looking at your computer screen and saying {IS IT REALLY SIMPLE} and I am going to tell you, YES IT IS. I love reading the Word of God because it gives insight and strength so I always like to put as much Scripture context as I can in these. I pray that any LGBTQI+ reading this that feels they need more, please contact. Remember God loves you just as He created you to be. So BE the BEST YOU POSSIBLE!!!
Blessings and Peace,
Rainbow Pastor David
More from Queer Theology, here.
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