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Found out my soon-to-be new boss attends a local church that’s always given me a bad vibe.
Found their website. Found a sermon that might answer my question. I’m going in.
Found their website. Found a sermon that might answer my question. I’m going in.
1 minute in: “chances are some of what you hear today, you’re not going to agree with” this is either gonna be surprisingly good or very predictably bad
“We get a Facebook question or phone call no less than once or twice a week asking where our church stands on the LGBT community” & you probably respond by inviting them out for coffee, you fucking cowards
WAIT the next sentence out of his mouth is literally “we aren’t into standing, but we are into sitting down & having a conversation over a cup of coffee”
“If I were sitting down with just one or two of you & we were doing this over in the Discover Eastpoint room by the fireplace, I’d ask you to tell me your story, where you come from, what trigger points in your life caused you to make certain decisions” OH NO. OHHHHHHH NO NO NO.
“I’ve sat down here with a number of people who are gay, lesbian & transgender, & I’ve told them ‘come back 3 times.”
“Don’t worry about what anyone else is saying or thinking, just come back 3 times & let the worship lift you up & let the Holy Spirit minister to you & then let me know what you’re thinking.” This is just as bad as I thought.
I’m sorry y’all I should have included a trigger warning for this thread, I just sort of dove in. This is so fucked. I’m crying. This is where my new boss goes every Sunday.
“Sitting down with people allows hearts to be more open which allows opinions to be shared which allows truth to be explored which allows love to be experienced because we get a chance to sit down” NOPE forcing me to sit down with you & traumatize myself isn’t love.
As my good bitch Brene says, clear is kind. This “sit down with me, this is a more loving approach, come to church 3 times & then we’ll talk about your feelings” shit is what we call unclear.
I hate when pastors give little quips like “when did agreement become a requirement for loving each other?” & then grin at the audience or the camera or whoever & say “you should write that one down” fuck off you’re not clever
Oh goody now he’s telling a story about his ex-gay Bible college buddy
“We talked about it & prayed about it & then in his 30s he got married to a woman” so either he was bisexual & you erased that or he’s now repressed & miserable & you contributed to that, well done
Wow I’m surprised it took 40 minutes to get to this sound bite “God wants our identity to be in Jesus alone”
“If you’re married or not married or single or LGBT God wants your identity to be in Jesus” you know LGBT isn’t a relationship status, right?
“Sex has been elevated to such a place of idolatry” says the dude representing the institution that has been DOING the idolizing
“Life without sex is viewed as deficient” oh boy you’re about to tell me all about how it’s fine for me to be gay as long as I don’t have sex, aren’t you
It’s so weird to me to hear sermons where the Scripture reference doesn’t come til 40 minutes in. 25 minutes to go & dude is JUST NOW grounding this in 1 Cor. 6 “you are not your own” EW EW EW
“Before we talk about what’s moral or immoral, can we just talk about how being single & celibate is crushed by our culture as an option” can WE talk about how the church has been JUST as guilty of this?! They LITERALLY only pull out this line when they’re talking about The Gays.
“Christians see singleness as a period of life that you have to get through, like standing in line for a ride at Disneyland” direct quote by the dude who probably regularly references his “smokin hot wife” from the pulpit
“The American Psychological Association says there’s no scientific reason why someone develops the orientation they do” sure, reference science when it’s convenient to your point
“Some people say they wish they could turn it off like you could a light switch, but they can’t, so you might conclude that we should just follow our own desires - but God clearly shows that is not His will for any of us” do you people LISTEN to yourselves?!
49 minutes “if you haven’t taken a breath in the last 15 minutes, please do because we’re not done & the next several minutes get a little more tenuous” cool cool cool now imagine how the queer visitor in your audience feels hearing that
“I believe Jesus is grieved by the treatment of the LGBT community by people who are followers of Jesus, & we need to own that” YOU ARE JUST AS BAD. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU & WESTBORO BAPTIST IS THAT YOU WON’T PICKET MY FUNERAL
“Most people in same sex relationships don’t leave the church because they’re told it’s wrong, they leave because they are dehumanized or ridiculed or excluded” yeah BY YOUR FUCKING THEOLOGY ASSHOLE
“We will always point people to the love of Jesus & the truth of Jesus”
The truth of Jesus, if that is your language, is that he can’t be contained in that series of 66 books. That he loves you exactly as you are. That he would never ask you to change, or make yourself small.
The truth of Jesus, if that is your language, is that he can’t be contained in that series of 66 books. That he loves you exactly as you are. That he would never ask you to change, or make yourself small.
The truth is that you are a child of the Divine AND you are your own. Just as Jesus was fully Divine AND fully human.
“Remember, we don’t have to agree to love people well! Raise your hand if you disagree with people you love all the time!” There’s a fucking difference between disagreeing over pizza toppings & disagreeing on the validity of my marriage.
This whole “just love!” thing is such a fucking copout. You can’t love someone, especially someone who is marginalized, & not have your heart opened, not feel a greater sense of compassion, not risk having your mind changed. That’s not love.
