No Fear: Devotions From Time Of GraceExemplo

Everybody Is Warped All sin is bad. No sinners are any better than any other, but you wouldn’t know that from some of our national “Christian” dialogue on the homosexual lifestyle. For some reason, this particular sin strikes some people as worse, more disgusting, more insidious than all the others. Gay people feel singled out and shunned by Christian communities, as though they were the lepers of today. Living a gay lifestyle is indeed forbidden by God’s Word. But so is living an adulterous heterosexual lifestyle and, for that matter, quite a few other life choices: “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9,10). Everyone is warped. Everybody is broken. All the sinners mentioned above, plus those who offend God in all the other ways that there are to sin, need God’s Word, need the sharp knife of the law, need repentance, need hope, need the gospel message of God’s unconditional love, need the assurance of Jesus’ forgiveness, need the Spirit’s new mind, need the Spirit’s infusion of strength. Our church communities should be places that uphold God’s high standards but also places that extend welcome and warmth to people who know they need a Savior. No loathing, no hate, no bitterness, no selective indignation, no fear.