Here is the church; here is the steeple. Open the doors, and see all the people. All the people. All the people. ALL the people. Did you catch that? Not some of the people. Not all the white people. Not all the straight people. All the people. Period.
In the seventh chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives us three important lessons pertaining to the queer community. First, he says to make yourself perfect before worrying about anyone else. Are you perfect? I know I am not; so how then can anyone afford to worry about someone else, especially what is going on in their bedrooms? Do you really believe thinking about someone else's sex life is a good Christian thing to do? Second, Jesus says to get the log out of your eye before commenting on the splinter in your neighbor's eye. Again, have you checked your eyes lately? Then how can you comment on your neighbor's?
The third lesson Jesus gives here is to treat others how you wish to be treated. Can you honestly say that you are doing that? I know that the United Methodist Church cannot say that, for I can guarantee you that straight and cisgender people would be in an outrage if there were a vote to decide whether or not they are worthy to preach the word of God. But that is exactly what they are doing to us. In other words, they are not obeying the words of Jesus. Ironic.
Aside from Matthew, an important lesson can also be received in 1 Peter. Here we learn that you can never attain grace unless you first give it. What a disheartening thought that so many "Christians" out there will never receive the grace about which they so desperately preach.
The idea that God hates anyone is grotesque. We are all made in His image, even us queer people. The idea that someone can hold hate in their heart for anyone and still consider themselves a Christian is laughably absurd and fundamentally contradictory. Repeating the fact that we are all made in His image, hating someone is always hating God.
John 3:16 is probably the most memorized verse in the world. "For God so loved the world, He gave His only son, that whoever should believe in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life." Yes, this verse is arguably more about the fact that God sent His son to die for us than anything else, however, it is not the only lesson. Not a Christian alive or dead does not know this verse, yet almost all of them seem to miss the other picture within it. Whoever. "That whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life." Similar to my "all the people" model; Not whichever straight person believes in Him, but WHOEVER believes in Him. There have been millions and millions of queer people throughout history who have believed in God, and Jesus himself is telling you that they are all in heaven waiting to receive you.
And how will people come to believe in Him? By us showing Him to them. How then is sitting back and (falsely) telling people that they cannot be Christians because of who they are going to save or help anyone? How is the Methodist church telling queer people that if they wish to marry, to find another church; that if they feel God calling them to preach His word, that they should ignore Him; that queer people need to find another church home (yes they actually said that)- how is any of this bringing people to God and not pushing them farther and farther away from the loving embrace of the very one they claim loves us all.
By practicing heterosexism, you are not only denying people the chance to know God, but you are disobeying His greatest commandment- to love one another. I believe that I was born this way. I believe that God is still speaking to us. I believe that God does not make mistakes, and so if I was born this way, it was clearly God's plan. (And yes, we are born this way; no one chooses to be ridiculed and hated for who they are). I used to view my sexuality as something God burdened me with to overcome in order to truly worship Him, and do you know how that ended? With my pursuing my stifled feelings in unhealthy ways and, eventually, trying to end my life several times, the first time directly related to the way my church treated me. Do you truly believe that was God's plan?
Even if you do not agree with any point I have made here, what does it matter? God commands you to love everyone. He commands you to accept them. He commands that you leave the judging to Him, for you are unworthy of the task. He does not wish there to be a bouncer outside of every church saying who is worthy to come in and who is not. He does not want you standing on the corner with a sign saying that He hates anyone. Even if you view the Bible as literal and unadulterated, it tells you that all sin is equal- that sleeping with someone of the same sex is the same as disrespecting your mother. No sin is greater than another, but two commandments are greater than the rest: to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. So you tell me of whom God is more ashamed.
