Why Apology 6/25/13 Will Never Work.

Since posting my idea for Christians across the internet to use their public platforms to post an apology to the LBGT community on 6/25/13, I've had quite a few people read my submission, but very few respond.  By few, I mean my husband, a handful of close friends and a blogger who played a central part in the inspiration of this idea.  I'm not entirely sure what I expected.  I guess, I kind of thought people would read it and yell aloud "I can't believe no one has ever thought of this before!  I'm going to repost this a million times!" 

 

But that didn't happen. 

 

I did have a gay Christian woman support it immensely, which I love, but that doesn't prove anything other than this is desperately needed.  We have an entire community of people who deserve an apology which may never materialize.  And even if it did, would it be enough?

 

Perhaps some Christians read my proposal and assume what I am proposing is Christians everywhere should stand up and say, "Hey, we're sorry!  We've been wrong in our beliefs this whole time."  That's simply not the case.  What I am suggesting is that we stand together and apologize for our behavior.  Regardless of what translation of the Bible you read or what social lense and historical context you view the Bible through, Christians, as a lumped sum group, have not expressed the heart of Jesus.  We just haven't. 

As a Christian, I find that sad.  Sad for everyone.  We haven't even given most of the people in this world and virtually none of the LGBT community a chance to really experience Jesus. 

It occurred to me that we've become bouncers of Club Jesus and I'm not even sure that Jesus is inside anymore.  He's out there, trying to heal the wounds of those we've injured.  The injured, though, cringe at the thought of His touch because of who WE said He was. 

 

In reality, my plan probably won't work as I had hoped.  There are too many bridge burners and too many idle hands to be productive. 

 

Even if we could get some momentum, how much impact will it truly have?  Some people may feel the apology is disingenuous.  Too organize.  Too little, too late.  Or perhaps not the apology they want to hear.

 

A simple apology can't mend all of the hurts involved and it may not fix the complex dynamics of the issue at large, but, guess what? 

 

I don't care because it's the right thing to do. 

 

Even if only a handful of people join me on June 25, 2013 to apologize, it won't change my heart.

 

I know that 1 Corinthians 13 is so, so popular and quotable, especially for weddings.  But I challenge you to read it again.  The following is in The Message translation.

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

² If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

^3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹ When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹² We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³ But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

 

So, tell me.  How can we look at all that has transpired between the "Christian" camp and the "Gay" camp and even remotely say that we, Christians, have walked in this love.  We can't, but we can stop and simply apologize.  I cannot apologize for what Christians believe relative to homosexuality and sin, but I can and will apologize for how poorly our actions represent Christ's love.

 

Let's love extravagantly. 

 

Would you join me on June 25, 2013?