This is My Crowd

This is My Crowd
Picture by: Photography by Vicky Campos

Leave a Comment

I love to have feedback and sometimes the Comment box can be less than cooperative when it comes time to post. I highly recommend selecting the Name/URL option. You can simply type in your name, skip the URL and leave your comment.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Apologetics All Around!

(DISCLAIMER:  None of the following individuals, Sammy Adebiyi, Ed Stetzer or Carlos Whittaker have endorsed this post or anything in it.  I am merely sharing some of the posts that I've recently enjoyed reading.)

No wait!  I meant, APOLOGIES all around!  Dang!  I never understood why those two words can mean something so different and yet sound so similar.
 
I do think though, that if we sprinkled our apologetics with a few apologies, people might be interested in our Gospel.

SAMMY WROTE.

Recently, Sammy Adebiyi wrote an article for Prodigal Magazine which chronicles his experience of repentance toward the LGBT community.  Please, please, please read it HERE.

After reading his article, I posted a comment that included this statement:

"I'm really glad that you took the public stance you did Sammy. I think more people with public platforms should do what you did."
 
 
Then it occurred to me.  Why can't we?  Why can't Christians who have a public platform that feel the same way Sammy feels, the same way I feel, say "Sorry"?  And not just at random, but on the same day.  I mean if Christians can organize an impromptu eat in at Chick-Fil-A, then why can't those of us who felt a little nauseous on that day take a day to express how we feel?

A VOICE.

We need a voice.  Not just one voice, but many voices.  Brave voices.  Loving voices.  Gentle voices.  Loud voices.  Voices who sound a whole lot like Jesus and who will make a pact to post on their Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Blogs, Google+, Bumper Sticker, Lapel Button, or whatever, on Tuesday, June 25th 2013:

 I'M SORRY

ED WROTE.

I read an article on Ed Stetzer's blog yesterday and it really brought clarity to the issue for me (please read it HERE).  There is no way to fully reconcile two such polar opposite points of view, BUT something must be done and it must be done soon.

As Christians, we serve a God that always sacrifices first, loves first, forgives first, gives first; so, in light of this example, we must waive the white flag of humility first.

LOS WROTE.

I was scanning my twitter feed late last night and @loswhit tweeted he would be posting an interview with a homosexual Christian today.  My heart leaped.  I was so excited and scared to hear what he or she would have to say.  I believe if you read it, which I'm kind of insisting you do, (read that HERE) it will really cement the truth of my cause.  At one point in the interview, after being asked to give advice to Christians, she said:

"Listen to them and love them gently. Even acknowledge and apologize for how the Christian community has wounded them."

There it is.  Simple as the sky is blue and as difficult too.  We can't ignore this any longer.  We must all become Jesus and jump into the middle of the mob and demand of ourselves and each other “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Then, we must drop our stones.

DROPPING OUR WEAPONS ≠ TWISTING THE WORD OF GOD

But you know what does, not loving people.  We twist the truth of the Gospel when we tell a single person that Jesus doesn't love them just as they are, but we also twist the truth of the Gospel if we would suggest that Jesus ever leaves us just as we are, but that is a discussion for a different day.

Today?  Today, we, Christians, just need to apologize and not just to the LGBT community, but to anyone that ever felt the searing stares of rejection as they walked into a church service.  Anyone who was ever told to go and get their life together BEFORE they could come into the presence of Jesus.  Anyone who felt like they had to LIE about who they were just to fit in with some "ideal" Christian community we tried so hard to sell everyone.  Anyone who we ever convinced that Jesus was a big ol' judgmental unforgiving guy like the rest of us.

He's not.  And before the big day of Apologies rolls out, I must say I'm sorry. 

For any moment that I EVER made anyone feel less than worthy of love.  We are all in the same boat.  We need Jesus.  And the GLORIOUS thing about HIM is that He is available to all of us, just as we are.

Join me, won't you? 

Please, please, please, I BEG you to:

1) Read the articles I posted.  They are wonderful resources.  If you have time, read other articles these great men have posted.

2) Comment below if you're in. (PLEASE BE IN!)

3) Share the plan!  If you're reading this, you likely have a Twitter, a Facebook, a Pinterest, an email account, or a piece of cardboard you can make a sign with.  Let's get the word out. 

If you are a Christian and you don't like this plan, then please do us all a favor and keep it to yourself.  We are trying to build bridges and cross them, not burn them as quickly as we build them.

Jesus never met us halfway.  So, let's build bridges... then cross them, to the Glory of Him Who loved us first.

22 comments:

  1. I'm sorry I'm in. Wait. I'm sorry. I'm in. Punctuation makes a difference.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You better not mess this up for us Ernie. They'll throw out the whole apology for a grammatical error, you no.

      Delete
  2. I've been Sorry... I'm tired of being sorry. All I want to do is Help!
    It's time to bring this community together, no matter who we share our lives or bed with!

    LOVE can not = SIN.

    "HE>ME" <-Saw this the other day, on the back of a car... next to a Rainbow Flag. I got so happy I cried.

    Peace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you've been experiencing lately. Glad you got my back!

      Delete
  3. I'm sorry! I'm so in! Love you! ~Evie_chic ~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love you too! Thanks for reading my blog!

      I have the best friends a girl could ask for!

      Delete
  4. I'm so in Brina. I have to reread this again and I can't wait to read the others. Thanks for leading us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sammy! I hope people take me seriously and read your article. It was so, so good!

      Delete
  5. Hope this catches on..I did not read the links in your post just yet but I promise I will!! I even gave myself a deadline :)

    Oh...I'm in of course!

    Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Luv ya!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for jumping in! I'm hoping to get the word out on this.

      Delete
  6. I will most likely need to be reminded, but I'll be in :) lived reading you're blog brina! You go pursue that conviction God is giving you to head up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awesome! I'm going to try to put together an email list. Can you message me your email addres?

      Mine is brina_harwood@hotmail.com.

      Thanks!

      Delete
  7. I'm in, but along with Julia I'm going to need a reminder. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great! I'm getting so excited! Message me your email address, so I can send out reminders and updates. Mine is brina_harwood@hotmail.com.

      Delete
  8. Im in. I just wrote a post on my blog relating to this, got the idea from here and i put a refernce Link.

    There is a link to the post: http://tomilolaakibo.blogspot.com/2013/01/im-sorry.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your post was beautiful! It had me tearing up! It embodies everything my heart is crying out. Thank you so much for jumping right in. Who knows... maybe we can be the change we want to see so badly.

      Delete
  9. Wonderful Post! Opens my eyes to the depth of God's love! I'm IN!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for this, it really is a breath of fresh air. Speaking as a bi Christian, the amount of hatred I've seen from both sides of this argument is exhausting. It accomplishes nothing but division, which is most definitely NOT the work of God. It's only through bridge-building steps like this that healing and restoration can ever hope to take place. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to read it. I'm hoping that more people will find it a breath of fresh air, also.

      Delete
  11. I am "In" too Brina. I am not Gay, but I believe that our Lord loves all, regardless of their sexual preference.

    You may also want to read a rather long article I titled "Homosexuality and the Bible". It is research of this topic and I was totally stoked with what I discovered in my research.

    The Church is not justified to reject same sex Christians at all. The article does show that. If you visit this Blog, do watch each Video also. They are of great importance. The link is here and thank God for you Brina.

    http://okchrist.blogspot.ca/2012/01/homosexuality-and-bible-consider-rate.html

    phil@OkChrist.com

    ReplyDelete