how can a Christian love what they don’t like?
April 21, 2010 by tsewell
Filed under for youth, hot topics
God tells us to love our neighbors, therefore Christians must do just that to everyone they come into contact with, if they truly want to please God. “There is no greater commandment…” (Mark 12:30-31). This even includes those waitresses you think twice about tipping and the telemarketers that refuse to take “No” for an answer. It may be a hard concept to digest for the most seasoned believer, but the even bigger conquest is figuring out how to go about doing this.
How does a Christian truly love someone they don’t agree with, especially in heated issues like homosexuality? A lesbian student, Constance McMillen, requested to escort her girlfriend to the senior prom in Jackson, MS. (Associated Press). Soon after, the Itawamba County School district canceled the dance “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi filed a lawsuit on 18-year-old Constance’s behalf, seeking a court order for the school to hold the prom, allow her to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. The ACLU previously demanded that banning same-sex prom dates violated students’ rights and that not allowing her to wear a suit violated her free expression rights. Who knows if the board was full of well-intentioned individuals or just the opposite, but from a believers’ perspective, did this situation breed love?
Since circumstances like this are not specifically mentioned in the Bible, how do we figure out just exactly “what would Jesus do?” We all know that Jesus is a not a “respecter of persons” (Romans 2:11). You never see Jesus in the Bible anywhere shaming away any of the biggest sinners… He still was gentle towards the woman at the well, the tax collectors, etc. The only time you even see him get angry at anyone was at the religious leaders who were so high-minded on the smallest issues that they missed the very definition of what it means to love (Matthew 15, 21:12).
Does loving Constance mean to block her from attending prom because she is going astray from God’s plans and attempt to save her from herself and from potentially influencing other students to honor what God does not?
Or does loving Constance mean to stay secure in who you are in Christ, but allowing her to attend prom in the manner she wants to because it’s her decision how to live her life?
In the eyes of a believer, homosexuality goes against God’s commandments. But not everyone in this world is a believer. And it is a Christian’s duty to still love everyone, including Constance, but what would be the best example of it?
I agree that Christian’s most important commandment is to love. However, sometimes love is tough love. Sometimes we have to love others more than they know how to love themselves, and more than they know how to love us back. The world says that tolerance is righteous. The world says who cares what God you serve as long as you’re a good person. The world says who cares about your sexuality, as long as you’re loving consenting adults. Then there are radical Christian fundamentalists that hold up picket signs at Gay Pride parades that say, “Fags go to Hell.” I do not see Jesus being on either of these two sides. Jesus preached the truth, God’s truth, in love. Christians are called to love and not to judge, but there are issues that God does have an opinion on, and he has the right to have them. It is incorrect to say that Jesus never shamed sinners. He warned and woe’d many people to turn from sin, evil, greed and hypocrisy commanding them to repent and turn from their sin, ordering them to stop sinning. This was an act of love, though it was tough love, in bold truth. Jesus had compassion and forgiveness for anyone who knew they were sinful and grieved their wicked ways. He did not care about status or upholding image in who he associated with, but he cared very much about the lifestyle of the individuals. Jesus had mercy towards sinners who had a heart of repentance, but he had no patience for those who deceived themselves stating that their sinful lifestyles were not sin.