Fellow Christians: Are we doing things correctly if…?

Question

Are we representing our Savior correctly if certain groups of people are obviously afraid or uncomfortable to be around us?

We have a gay relative that was visiting his parents recently when, out of the blue, their pastor stopped in for a friendly visit. The gay relative then ran and hid in the back room of thier home for over an hour until the pastor left. This saddened me greatly, this reaction of fear or shame because if there are groups of people that avoid us because of our reputation (as Christians), then how will these groups know the love of Christ? How do we start to break down these walls to show them the love, so they too can know no fear? Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Non-Chrisitans, I'm sorry, but I don't need to hear about your lack of Christianhood. Telling me that you don't believe only wastes my time and yours.

Thanks

Answer 1

As an ordianed minsiter, I'm going to tell you that it is ok to be gay. I know plenty of gay Christians that are better Christians than the crazies on this site. I too have gay members in the family and they're not afraid of church.
Remember that God is a God of love, not hate. Don't preach intolerence, remember the kinds of people Jesus hung out with. And it's ok to have friends of other faiths or becoming friends of the faithless. Don't preach all the time. That's a turn off.

Answer 2

The Gay thing is a great place to start my answer. Homosexuality is a sin period. Nothing more nothing less. So is pride. So is stealing. So is being disrespectful to your parents. So is putting anything in your life above GOD. Well now I am not a homosexual but I sure am guilty of the others and more. But if a pastor shows up at my house do I run and hide? no. Why? Because nobody seems to want to linch me for my sins. My brothers and sisters say "Its ok to disrespect your mother" " We all do it. Just try to stop and ask GOD for help" But that Homo over there will burn in hell! This is the problem. We as Christians project our homophobia onto people and demonize them. If you want to get right down to brass tacks the unbelievers concern me much more then any homosexual because they can get to a point where the Holy Spirit doesnt call them anymore. That is truly scarey. I am a sinner saved by grace. Get the word out to stop demonizing homosexuals. A prideful look is an abomination too.
May GOD richly bless you and your family.

Answer 3

As a Christian I must be open to share the Gospel with anyone who will listen. I would be more than happy to talk to a gay person who may be interested. But- the fact that the gay ran and hid shows he is aware of his sin and is ashamed. It does not show that the pastor is mean or rude. Part of being a Christian is standing up for the truth. The parents are wrong in this situation for allowing an openly gay person, who shows no remorse or intent to repent , to hide out in their home to escape feeling uncomfortable in the presence of a godly person. It is not Christian to assist someone who is avoiding God.

Answer 4

Leave these behaviors with the person doing them.
I feel like a Christian, but lots of situations with religious people make me uncomfortable. I know in my heart I'm OK, but it is a strain and a role-conflict trying to be polite to people who say things that worry me. The Gay relative may have been doing what they could to avoid an unpleasant scene for his parents' sake, because this was a social, home-setting. We have all done this, for many reasons.
Relatives and loved-ones are one thing----interacting with all their friends and neighbors and pastors is quite another, especially if you are just visiting. This has nothing to do with being Gay, I think it's just being courteous.

My "religious" (church-going) relatives are in the Deep South. I treasure the visits with them, and am interested and enjoy even when we go to church-services with them. I like the effects that their religion has on their lives (solid family values, and no use of alcohol). I live this way, too, but I was raised in the Catholic Church, and also hate the idea of racism. They constantly discuss their racial fears and hates, and disdain the Catholic Church. It's weird to me when they talk this way, because it lends a whole "twilight zone" aura to the visit, but they are irreplaceable to me as my blood kin, and family I should be polite to. This supercedes religious or social ideals for the short period that I see them. Perhaps the Gay relative felt that way too, and felt his duty to his parents was avoiding any conflict, and having only happy memories of his visit with them, because they are irreplaceable in his feelings.

Answer 5

What is sorely lacking from Christianity is grace. Philip Yancey, in his book "What's So Amazing About Grace" writes that if we truly understood God's grace for us, the church would be so powerful and effective in our culture than it is. If we understood what it means to be saved by grace, to be loved completely by a perfectly holy God, we would extend that love and grace to those around us. We would know how to "speak the truth in love." We would know how to continue to truly love someone who does things we know are wrong and self-destructive and abhorrent to God.

We start to break down those walls you write of by individually becoming the people Jesus calls us to be. There's nothing we can do about the fear and preconceived ideas that exist except to show that we are different. One person, through the course of a day, can come into contact with many different people--at work, at the grocery store, in the neighborhood--if we look at each of these encounters as opportunities to demonstrate grace, and if we let people know that we are seeking to follow after Christ, we can have a positive influence that "leaks" out into all of society over time.

Answer 6

This is a very good question, the key is to take this person through the Law of God. the reason is because while Homosexuality is a sin, when we take the person throught the law, we now expose all sin and show the person that he or she is condemned despite his opr her sexual preference. we should then expsoe the fact that the penalty for our sin is death and hell. after the person has seen the extremely horrific nature of there sin, they wont be ashamed and afraid of the pastor or of the christian, but rather they will see the divine nature of Gods law and the need for a savior and then they will flee to the cross in repentance and faith. if there is anything we should be ashamed of, it is that we have sinned against a Holy God who has seen every thought word and deed, not us. we should do everyone a favor and bring out the spiritual nature of Gods law so that people will see that there sin is verical, not simply horizontal.
God Bless
WDJD

Answer 7

This question is the whole reason i go on Y!A.

So many of the athiests, agnostics, and deists are afraid of Christians because we are so militant in our demeanor from time to time.

I wish that people would get over this idea that Christ is someone who should be thrown at people and then those people should be spit on for rejecting Him. No wonder they reject; it is the fault of the Christians. The problem doesn't lie in the world, because Biblically, the world has no choice in its patterned descent. We are the light (FYI, that isn't OUR OWN light, that is a reflective light, like the light of the moon) of the world, a city on a hill (Remember that cities in New Testament times were made of white limestone and could be seen for miles, reflecting light from the hilltops) can't be hidden.

people will see Christians for who they are, and unfortunately who they are is rarely a proper reflection of Christ.

Answer 8

We all have to just be real. We have all done things that we should not have. If someone believes that homosexuality is a sin, they still cannot condemn that person. If we look back in our lives, we all have issues that we have overcome, and are still overcoming.

John 8:7 ... he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone...

We as Christians have not been called to condemn and judge, that is God's business. All we need to do is love and share the truth.

Answer 9

I'm a Christian and I believe that nobody should be feel that they should run and hide for anything or any reason unless they are doing something that harms others. I don't think your gay relative should have hidden himself from the pastor.

Answer 10

It is a big problem. Gay people don't consider their sexual activities to be sinful. Christians can say "Love the sinner, hate the sin" all they want, but you can see that that does not make gay people comfortable. When Christians accept gay sex on the same terms they accept straight sex, then maybe there can be reconciliation and peace.