Man, has the church screwed up!

I received an e-mail from a woman that has a teenage son that is homosexual. She saw our church’s web site and thought it seemed like a neat place. She wanted to know if her teenage son would be accepted. In light of her question all I could think was “Man, has the church screwed up!” We’ve taken the sin of homosexuality and put it in a different category then any other sin. No one ever ask me if we would have a problem accepting their son that lies. But people automatically assume the church would treat a homosexual as an outcast. And they are right. We would! Shouldn’t the church be the FIRST place people feel comfortable? If we truly lived out what Jesus taught wouldn’t parents sit at home a worry about their kids going to school or work and breathe a big sigh of relief when there kid goes to church. Homosexuality is a sexual sin just like premarital sex; lust and masturbation are sexual sins. In God’s eyes they are not different. The church has just put homosexuality in a different classification of sin. God doesn’t “hate fags” as so many street corner preachers like to say. God hates SIN. I answered this woman and told her that her son would be loved and accepted, but that we do view homosexuality as a sin. But that we do not treat it any different then any other sin. She couldn’t agree so I don’t think they will visit. So now, because we, the church, have done such a poor job of extending love to homosexuals there is a young man out there that may never know that Jesus died for him. He’ll never know that there is a better way to live. And by “better way to live” I don’t mean not being gay. I mean not living in sin. All sin separates us from God. The church has just decided that homosexuals, for some reason, are just extra far away, with no hope for return. I guess it will be a bunch of middle class straight white people in heaven. Oh boy. That sounds like fun!