Oh, nothing; just some advice and encouragement for those transgender, polyamorous, undocumented, non-believing, gender non-conforming, married and childless, abuse surviving, social justice seeking "sinners" you keep hoping I'll condemn.
When you deny those folks homes, jobs, medical care, or, for Christ's sweet sake, restroom access, it's you doing the denying -- not God. Claiming that God is punishing them when it's you doing the punishing is idolatry -- nothing more and nothing less.
To the rest of you, thank you for standing up in the face of unconscionable cruelty. You're my people, and I love you.
The funny thing is, I love evangelicals, too. It's a crying shame that most of 'em will never see it that way.
Proverbs 3:11-12 (NKJV) counsels us, "[D]o not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights." So, chastening is God's job, not mine.
What I'm doing is closer to what's in Ezekiel 33:2-4, where God says, "When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head."
To which evangelicals will doubtless reply: "You're. Not. A man!"
True, but I covered that in Sunday's post about Equality In the Bible.
If you think circular reasoning is helping you, keep it up. But know that it's keeping you in chains of frustration, fear, and anger. Jesus told us that the truth would make us free. He is our healer and our teacher, and He will come to you right now, if you ask Him to tell you the truth about what I'm saying here today.
Maybe you don't believe that Jesus comes to heal and teach us in modern times. Maybe you do. Either way, evangelicals, what have you got to lose?
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