My Official Position on Gay Marriage

My name is Stephanie. It has been 8431 days since my last blog post. (Something must be weighing down my heart...) What is your position on gay marriage? That question has been discussed repeatedly in my social circles since our president's announcement of his position on the matter. Are you for or against gay marriage? I've been accused of "sitting on the fence" by refusing to stand on one side or the other. I've been told that, "I don't know how I feel about the issue" is not an appropriate answer. Evidently, one must know what they believe about every aspect of the human condition. (As if that is even in the realm of human possibility!) So, instead of telling you that I don't know what I believe about homosexuality/marriage/the human condition in general, I will tell you what I DO know and what I BELIEVE about JESUS CHRIST: 1. Miraculous is the place where a believers faith and Jesus' power come together!!! I love the Gospel according to Luke. There is something comforting to me about his scientific approach to sharing the Gospel. He was a physician who investigated everything from the beginning. His account is indeed orderly. I do find comfort and certainty when I read his account. He was a gentile, like me. I imagine that he did not take anything at face value. He was a truth seeker with a scientific mind. Those of us who identify with Luke want more than what we've been told. We want to investigate what we've been told so that we can share the truth with confidence. That being said, I've read the Gospel according to Luke (along with the other gospels) word for word. I've disected and re-disected every sentence over the years. Every time I hear someone preaching from the gospel of Luke, I find another truth that I've overlooked. Most of us are very familiar with the story of the woman healed in Luke chapter 8. Jesus wanted to know who had touched him because he knew power had gone out from him. (THE POWER of JESUS CHRIST!) When the woman came forward, he told her that her faith had healed her. I realized very recently that I have missed one of the most important lessons from this event. There were two elements to her healing! The POWER of Jesus Christ and the woman's FAITH. That miracle occured in that place where the two elements collide. Although this is a story of physical healing, the miracle for us is that we become whole in that place. Jesus power IS. Our faith allows us to access that power and supernatural wholeness, just as the woman's faith in the story allowed her to access supernatural healing. The sum total of our purpose is to spread the news about this supernatural place of wholeness. We are to ensure that others know that through the power of Jesus Christ, we have all been granted access. My challenge to you is to name one person currently on this planet who has not been granted access through the joining of Jesus power and their faith. If the reason that the person has not yet accessed this place is that they have no faith, encourage them to seek Jesus. Don't do anything that will cause them to turn away in shame, fear or anger. I, for one, am over the moon that my human condition does not keep me from experiencing the power of Jesus saving GRACE. It is pitiful when we judge the human conditions of others as unworthy of accessing the power of Jesus Christ. If our human condition could keep us from that place even after the sacrifice of our SAVIOR, then we would all be unworthy. Let's not set limits on the POWER of JESUS CHRIST and his sacrifice that saves us. To paraphrase the first paragraph of Luke's letter, he says, "Trust me...I'm a doctor." I trust his accounting of events and believe with all of my heart in the supernatural wholeness available to all through Jesus. 2. Jesus said, "Do NOT judge..." People often spout Luke 6:27. No one wants to be judged. But we do judge. From the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we fall asleep at night, we judge. It is part of our human condition. We operate under the misconception that we must know good from bad. We believe we should teach our children the difference between good and bad. We judge our environment as good or bad. It is part of our instinct to survive. We get lost in a never ending, daily cycle of judgement. Think about it. We eat breakfast because it is "good" for us. We wear our seatbelt because it is "good" to be safe. We praise our children when they are "good" and correct them when they are "bad." The problem is, we as human beings do not have the knowledge required to discern good from bad. Seriously. We need to remove the words good and bad from our vocabulaires because we just can't handle them. One minute, we are judging the difference between good and bad meal choices. The very next moment, we are judging someone else's human condition. Slippery slope, it is. (I had to insert at least one Yoda sentence.) The bottom line is, we as human beings do not have the capability to truly know good from bad. All we have to rely on is how we experience the world with our 5 limited senses. What we can do is make educated decisions based on what we see, feel, taste, touch and hear. We can weigh the facts and decide what we believe is best. My next challenge to you is to live an entire day without using the words good and bad. For example, instead of saying, "Dinner was good!" say, "Dinner was delicious." Stick to only what you can experiece with your five senses. It is very interesting when your thinking begins to shift from, "I think this is good," to "I experienced pleasant consequences from this." Three things happen. First, you begin to understand that the world as you know it isn't the world as everyone else knows it. Second, you will begin to realize that not judging anything or anyone takes A LOT of practice. Finally, when you do not engage in judgement, people are drawn to you! They want to know you and are receptive to the gospel. Judgement leads to shame. Shame closes doors and causes despair. I'm not saying let go of your convictions or beliefs about clean living. I'm just saying we all need to relieve ourselves of our perceived duty to patrol who is allowed to move into that place where Jesus' power and our faith collide. We, instead, should be crossing guards putting on the full armor of God. Our swords are giant red stop signs to hold back all of the negative judgement that keeps people from crossing that street. The breasplate of our armor should be an orange traffic vest to protect us from the judgement that may be hurled at us while we are holding up our stop signs. Let's let God be in control of his kingdom by following Jesus advice. "Do not judge!" So, now you know what I believe. Must we continue to allow the enemy to divide us? Those of you who say I'm sitting on the fence are totally right. It is an enlightning place to sit. From here, I can actually see people. They can see me. I hope that I am a reflection of my Lord and Savior. I refuse to engage with anyone who demands my opinion on gay marraige or any other controversial issue. I'm not interested. I am interested in loving on every person who crosses my path. I'm interested in understanding people and their circumstances to the best of my ability. I'm interested in helping as many people as I can find their way to this place where miracles are waiting for them.