I was thrilled as I went through the checkout line of my neighborhood Walmart. It had been a few months since I actually wanted to buy a CD. I was holding the new Israel & New Breed CD Live, A Deeper Level. The next day I was getting ready for church, and as is my habit, I cranked up the boom box in the bathroom. I put in the CD and started my routine. At about the second or third track Israel began to say, “take us back to Lord, take us back to marriage defined as one man to one women.” My mood quickly shifted to shock. So much so it made me sick to my stomach.
Given the heated political climate I’ve become so fervent about, I thought maybe I was just hearing things. I ran the track back and it played again—it was true! I took the CD out of the player, put it back in the case and dropped it the garbage can—$15.98 down the drain.
For years I was admonished for sealing myself away from mainstream religious or Christian gurus. When I hear one word from them or their ministry about anti-LGBT rhetoric, I change the channel or turn them off all together. Some of them are smart enough to not share their doctrine of separatism on the air. They just wait until they are in a conference or concert and the cameras are not rolling, because they know that the LGBT community is not welcome in those arenas and the majority will only view them via television.
Then we send them money, buy their tapes, CDs, books, videos, and record their shows. At that point we’re so caught up in the celebrity of it all that when we catch wind of their false doctrine, we just settle with, “not everything they say is bad” or, “why should we disregard all of what they say because we don’t agree with one thing.” We find ourselves picking through feces for undigested corn just because we’re hungry.
Are my words extreme or shocking to you? That’s the same shock I feel when I hear Rod Parsley, Pastor of World Harvest Church say, “God showed me a vision of 10,000 gays and lesbians slain in the spirit and delivered from their hellish bondage;” or John Hagee say, “Homosexuals cannot reproduce so they recruit your children!” Then there’s Joyce Meyers, who shows the testimonial of a “former lesbian” who claims that God through Joyce Meyer’s ministry delivered her from her Godless lifestyle or Pat Robertson saying that gays are a plague upon earth that must be eradicated.
In this ramble I’m not going to quote, reiterate, and give a new spin to the swarm of information that clearly states that sexuality is a gift from God—a gift to be celebrated. That homosexuality is an original imprint from God, not a lifestyle or a sin. All of these beliefs are based on the same Bible people have used to oppress the LGBT community long enough. I no longer feel the emotion of shame foisted upon me when I hear someone pronounce that my salvation is not valid because I’m same-gender loving. Nor will I say amen just because a charismatic preacher tells me to. Just because they have celebrity, and can throw around a few church clichés doesn’t give them the authority or ability to steal your calling. God says that He knows the plans He has for you. In other words, the world didn’t give it to you and the world can’t take it away.
For too long I’ve sat idly by and watched my brothers and sisters torn down and stomped upon by this doctrine of “Themsoever.” And my community of brothers and sisters who preach “Whosever” have tried to correct me by saying these are people of God. Please be reminded that preaching a lie and preaching an entire world wide community into hell is not of God. So what light does that place them in? Furthermore what light does it place us in by supporting any part of them?
I don’t have celebrity, I don’t have fame, and I may not be loved by the majority. But I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. What is it going to take for us to afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted? What will it take for us to say no more? Are we going to wait until the homo-hatred is made into complete law?
Call me an alarmist if you will, but my bill-of-fare is now and will continue to be, “Get up, stand up, be proud, get saved, stay saved, and be who God created you to be: His and gay!”
