SDAs Out of the Closet

[Gregory Matthews]

See:

http://atoday.org/coming-out-as-an-lgbt-adventist-causes-and-consequences-of-family-rejection/

NOTE:  There is more than one place where I   could have posted this.  As a matter of fact, this is not the first place where I posted it.  The intent of this post is NOT to discuss either the place that LGBT people should have in SDA membership, or is it intended to discuss issues of sexuality and how one lives their lives.  Rather, this is intended to be a report on research  as to the consequence that may come to people who are within the SDA Community and "come out of the closet," so to speak.  I believe that this subject has value and is worthy of consideration.

 

[debbym]

11 hours ago, The Wanderer said:

Actually, I do too. I think this subject "has value," in that we keep coming up with excuses to not show the love of Christ to someone who has not suitably conformed to traditional theology, social mores, and culturall patterns of the given areas we live in. I quote this following phrase from the article referenced in the OP

In some ways, I quite resent the fact that almost every where I look, there are two major things happening.

1) nobody want to show "love" towards what they/we call sexual deviants, who "sin sexually,"

2) there are a lot of other groups also experiencing the exact same thing, and these largely fall through the cracks as well, they are systematically excluded from such studies. Even people who dont go to church every week get the same treatment.  No one will say it because most dont care anymore, as long as they "look the way they should." But it ends up with the person sitting alone in their house, wondering what on earth just happened and why they are shunned and punished so.

The norms and cultures in a society are duly reflected in the churches in that society.  The wheat and tares grow together, not all members in churches are converted, or so filled with the Holy Spirit they reflect the society of heaven rather than the society of earth.  Many are new Christians just beginning that walk and groping and learning to walk with God.

The church is represented By the Israelite's who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses, and there with them was a mixed multitude who who were a continual influence of unbelief, and rebellion, and complaint.  There was another 40 years of wandering in the desert after first coming to the Jordan for a period of cleansing of the body of wanderers.  It was time for those adults whose sympathies were fully set in unbelief, fear, and distrust in the Power of God, to learn and repent, yet still perish in the desert.   They were not willing to credit power of Divine Love to empower them to take the land for God.

So individuals here and there in the church are the few who are the Calebs an Joshuas who are full of faith in the Almighty Merciful and Loving God, who is prepared and offering full salvation to every human being.

But we are as a body still bound by the limitations of our societies fear of those who are "other", and we are naturally uncomfortable around the mentally ill, the addicted, LGBT, impoverished, and desperate.  These are the giants in the land today, and indeed we cannot meet these forces in our  human devices.  The Battle is the Lords. Living in faith, and reliance on God, recognizing that of ourselves we can do nothing....  then we can meet the world be a living demonstration of redeeming Love.

We need to be so infused with the love and wisdom of God, in Jesus that every person we meet will be able to become sensible to their value to God.   We may be feeble, and small, but our Savior is Mighty, and He is our strength, and everything we need, to make us everything He wants us to be.... to minister His love to the world.

the failure of the church is the failure to love with divine love.