Time to Get Rid of “Gay Christians”

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/candacechellew-hodge/5456/time_to_get_rid_of_%E2%80%9Cgay_christians%E2%80%9D_/

"Mike Goeke doesn’t like the phrase “gay Christian.” In an op-ed piece over at the Baptist Press, Goeke, an associate pastor who leads an “ex-gay ministry” at Stonegate Fellowship Church in Midland, Texas, starts his story like plenty of other gay or lesbian coming out stories I have ever heard.

'As a young boy, I thought more about how different and isolated I felt from the other boys. As I grew older and my feelings of being different became sexual, I thought more about how lonely and how dirty I felt—wondering if I was abominable to God. I worried about my feelings but I never claimed any specific sexual orientation and I ran from any identity based on my gay feelings. But, admittedly, my feelings grew and grew, and the more I read and observed, the more I craved an “identity” that would validate and support my feelings. Eventually I took the step of saying “I am gay” and I began to live a life centered on my sexual and romantic feelings for other men.'

That all changed for Goeke, however, and now he has decided that none of the usual labels fit. He writes: “I am not a gay Christian, a straight Christian or a fundamentalist Christian or a liberal Christian. I am a Christ follower.”

You see, Goeke thinks it’s wrong to put anything in front of “Christian,” especially “gay”—comparing it to other wrong combinations like “gossiping Christian” or “envious Christian”—because after all, those other two “sins” can be analogous to “gay.”

Actually, I agree with Goeke. I don’t think there should be any qualifiers before the word “Christian”—especially “gay.” I am not a “gay Christian.” I have never claimed that title for myself. Instead, that is a title that has been thrust upon me by those who wish to define me out of the realm of God. If they can define me as a “gay Christian” then they can pronounce me an oxymoron and dispense with me altogether."

More at site....

[William769]

1. I am a Christian who just happens to be Gay.

Whoever out there wants to put a label on it, so be it. Doesn't change the fact.

I have been able to reconcile the two to make me who I am today (a well rounded confidant person).

Recommended.

P.S. hope your doing great today.

[w8liftinglady]

2. So am I...

and,thank you....

[qb]

3. An interesting article that turns ex-gay logic on its head.

K&R

[Kurmudgeon]

4. I agree there should be no qualifiers, however, it gives an impression of being exclusionary.

Kind of a catch 22 situation. I see his point though.

[mitchtv]

5. I am a retired Catholic

credit for wisecrack to Peter O'Toole