*This was originally posted as response to friend who found my
support and friendship with Dennis Jernigan to be offensive. Find a link to
"Sing Over Me" the documentary film on Dennis' life below.
My beliefs on homosexual behavior have been labeled hurtful.
I do not disagree that anytime the Bible runs against our basic human nature it
hurts. It hurt me when I experienced conviction about my own behavior. So there
is no argument to be had there from me, but there is a way to move beyond the
hurt. And that is ultimately the message.
In my personal experience, my faith has been the reason why
I have been able to step into situations where many of my friends have been
hurting and respond with compassion to friends whose behavior is at odds with
particular aspects of my faith.
As such, in more than one instance I have been the only one
at the side of a friend grieving over a broken relationship. And the number of
times it was a gay friend who wept because they had been betrayed is only
slightly less than when I did the same for a straight friend.
I do this because pain is valid and real. We each deserve to
have someone treat it seriously and with compassion. My faith gives me the
tools to do so. If we are using our faith as justification to throw rocks at
another then we cannot claim it as Christian, nor can we claim to be loving if
we do not or cannot accept the love extended to us.
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It is a bitter heart that cannot appreciate the motives even
if the means offend. My motive is simple - I have experienced freedom and joy
by daily moving my life into deeper unity with God, and I hope that all those I
encounter would know the same. If it is offensive to share the beauty I have
found then I shall be offensive. To remain silent would be to deny the gift I
have been given and passively endorse what I believe to be wrong as defined in
the text of my faith.
I share Dennis Jernigan's story first because he is my
friend and second because he has been a source of hope and encouragement for so
many. To deny anyone access to the truth of his life would be a form of
censorship that I impose on no one - including those I disagree with and whose
views I believe are hurtful.
Dennis stands out in the fact he was changed. He flies in
the face of conventional teaching, but not through statistical observation or
abstract arguments. This is a truth he lives with grace and mercy. And I
believe that each of us can experience profound changes with the compassion and
help of a God who loves us enough to move in amazing ways.
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