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Sunday, June 28, 2015

Is Love Winning



#IsLoveReallyWinning

 

 

This was a sad couple of days for me.  The world is joining together to stop the “haters”.  Unfortunately, hatred is being disguised in the name of love - doublespeak.  

The landmark Supreme Court decision has now made gay marriage legal.  Unknowingly, I happened to be on FB shortly after the decision.  I read a comment that a friend had posted and I couldn’t agree more.  The comment was something to the effect that America was going down the tubes.  I thought to myself, “I could agree with that.  There are so many problems - from financial collapse to GMO’s to sexual abuse, and a failing medical system.”

Unfortunately, I was not prepared to read the hateful comments that followed that post.  My heart was immediately saddened.  What followed that post was an ugly discourse all related to the Supreme Court decision.  (The comment was removed, I am assuming, because the backlash to that statement was so severe). 

As I continued on FB, the hashtag #lovewins was flooding the feed.  Along with this came some very disturbing comments directed towards Christians.  One that caught my eye was: “Can't decide if I am happier that gay marriage is legal or that conservative Christians are angry? win/win”, followed by this comment: “I'm a rotten person. I'm tickled over the outrage.”

I commented on the post, not about homosexuality, but rather about love winning through our speech. My friend graciously apologized in a loving manner and we moved on, although others were not so gracious.  I never stated any opinions on my stance on gay marriage, but only that we should be able to love one another despite our differences.  The responses I got were angry, “No, you're haters. The idea that anybody would have to live their lives by your belief system in a "free" country astounds me. I'm elated that the conservatives are freaking out. The lesson here as it always has been is, mind your own business.”

I thought of the scripture: A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)  I was really hoping that this would be the case.  What ensued was comments about me that were untrue and I realized that to some, I will always be a label.  No amount of discourse will break through.  The soft answer turned away my wrath, my anger, but not Kevin’s (the man I was conversing with).   As I looked at Kevin’s FB page, my heart opened up to make room for him.  Only God could do this.  Later, my friend told me that he had been the victim of hate crimes.  In church the following day, my emotions led me to tears.


We have a hard job ahead of us.  One of those things will be repairing the damage that the church has done to those who are suffering greatly.  Many in the church have not felt the pain of those, who are truly suffering. We have offered little or no hope or understanding for them - only a standard that they can’t reach.  My heart is grieving.  I have to be ready for the anger and hatred.