A lady
remarked to Ann last week that there are a lot of closet Christians. So Christians
have been filling the closets recently vacated by the gay community—probably for
the same reasons they hid there in the first place.
We are now
feeling the same oppression they did in earlier times. The Christian community
has a lot to answer for in the way it has singled out gays as particular pariahs
of the sinful community. When it comes to our initial relationship to God, we
are all in the same boat
Even gays’
rebellious response to Christian things describes us all at some point in our
lives. They like us, have a choice to make, and the decision to accept or
reject Christ is their God given freedom as it is ours. Unfortunately, our
treatment of them may be the deciding factor in their decision.
Whatever the
future holds in our culture’s slide into paganism—and current trends suggest the
results will likely be severe—we can identify with all those, gay or straight, caught
up in the so-called freedom of the sexual revolution. We occasionally feel the
pull that tempts us away from Christ back into bondage.
But hiding
in some closet is not going to heal the rift. It simply reinforces the
stereotype of Christians versus gays; the us and them caricature that ensures
our self-righteousness and their accusation of us. Are we willing to admit our
condemnation of them, even if it was acceptable back then?
Perhaps the
first coming out exercise for Christians is an apology for our treatment of gays.
Christ is no more disappointed with them than He is of us; nor does He love
them less.
