What About the LGBTQ+ Community?

Something that has created a lot of debate and confusion between religion and culture these past few years is the LGBTQ+ community. I often find myself stuck in the middle of a world in riot. I don’t have an opportunity to form my own opinions because everyone is shoving theirs in front of me.

I have heard and asked so many questions about this subject.

Does God love them?

Can they still be Christians?

Will they go to Heaven?

I get so confused with all the answers thrown my way that I’ve stopped listening to them.

You heard me.

As a teen, I’m constantly learning that if I want an honest and real answer, I must find it myself. That doesn’t mean others cannot guide me or help me along the way—it simply means I must be the one doing the most of the ‘digging’.

Does God Love the LGBTQ+ Community?

First, I find it sad that we have to ask whether God loves the LGBTQ+ community.

“For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”–John 3:16 

God loves us despite our flaws. That verse isn’t about our goodness it’s about His love which overcomes all things.

If God loves me and you…I know without a doubt He loves the LGBTQ+ community.

What About Christianity?

Surely you cannot be a Christian if you are LGBTQ+. Right?

Let me ask you something…

Can you be a Christian if you have stolen something? What about if you have lied? Or disrespected your authority?

Well, we just discussed God’s love, so the obvious answer is yes. God forgives all things.

Hm.

So why can’t someone in the LGBTQ+ community be a Christian?

Do you see how mixed up that is? How muddled our opinions and beliefs become?

The Truth About Sin

Here is the ultimate truth: sin is sin.

When I rolled my eyes at my mom the other day, that was just as sinful as when someone came out as LGBTQ+.

Two different sins with the exact same penalty in the long run.

Now doesn’t that put things into perspective? We’re just as bad as they are!

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”-Romans 10:9

That’s what God says.

Now, it is not accurate to think that you can continue living just as you always have when you become a Christian.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”—2 Corinthians 5:17

This applies to all sins. When you become a Child of God you take up new responsibilities. Your lifestyle changes: you start letting go of the things of the world and start seeking the things above. It’s not easy and it doesn’t happen right away, we’re still human after all, but we continue picking ourselves up and starting again.

If you’re a thief, you learn to let go of stealing. If you’re a liar, you learn to let go of lying. If you’re a part of the LGBTQ+ community, you learn to find your identity, value, and purpose in Christ.

God created man as man and woman as woman and put the two together for specific reasons: to multiply the earth. There is nothing in the Bible that supports the LGBTQ+ community, but God will forgive as He does with thieves and liars and adulterers and the quick-tempered teenagers like myself.

Will They Go To Heaven?

I know I am going to heaven even though I make countless mistakes every day.

Likewise, if you are a Christian, you know you’re going to heaven even though you also make countless mistakes every day.

We’re flawed and broken sinners in the hands of a loving and forgiving God.

The truth is that God cannot be near sin. He is literally the essence of perfection. Flawless.

I do not pretend to know the mind of God. I think Christians (and all people) will always have split views and opinions concerning this topic. However, I do believe that being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is no greater a sin than lying or bullying or disrespecting someone.

Christians aren’t perfect and therefore we have to seek God’s grace. So, while I personally do not believe that God will turn someone away simply because they are LGBTQ+, I do believe they have to be willing to change. The same way that all of us must change.

We cannot be Christ’s and the world’s. When we come to Him for forgiveness, we must be ready to act on it.

I will leave it to you to form your own opinion concerning the LGBTQ+ community. However, I ask that you approach them with love and that instead of comparing yourself to them, compare yourself to God. Because you will quickly find that we are just as sinful as they are, and in equal need of a Savior.