I have something eating away at me, and I could use some input.
A few evenings ago, Bill O'Reilly, on his Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor, told about an incident that had taken place at a professional baseball game. Two lesbians were kissing, and a mother of young children complained telling officials at the ball field that she didn't want her children to see that.
If I remember the facts right, the officials talked to the two lesbians, they refused to stop saying something like they had the same rights as anyone to express their love, and then were asked to leave the ball park. The discussion on the TV show was about whether or not it was legal for the ball field officials to "kick them out." It was said that these two women were not making a big public display, but were just kissing like any couple in love.
Now, kudos to that mother who complained! But here's my dilemma: Put yourself into the picture. Imagine that you are sitting at that ball field within earshot of what's going on. You're not the mother. You're not one of the lesbians. You're just another fan at the ball field watching this go on. You're a Christian. What do you do? Anything?
Honestly, if I had been at the ball park that day watching this, I probably would have sat there and watched, and secretly been cheering for that mother who said something. But I doubt I would have said anything. And I'm ashamed of that.
So, for future reference...for a future incident that may (or mostly likely will) occur, what do you think we should do?
Have we been so conditioned to think that we can't "discriminate" against anyone, that we have to be tolerant of people who don't believe the same as we do, that we've been silenced?
My husband says, "I'm not going to call it 'gay' anymore. I'm not going to call them 'lesbians.' It's homosexuality. Let's call it what it is."
What would have happened if we were at the ball park that day and one of us stood up and told those lesbians, "What you're doing is wrong. Homosexuality is immoral"? And what if we would have told the ball field officials, "You shouldn't let this continue. It's wrong"?
Do you think it would have caused a ruckus? Do you think we would have been asked to leave the ball park? Would you be willing to give up your seats that you paid for, and the fun afternoon at the ball game that you anticipated, and risk ruining your family's day out, to speak up? What if you ended up on national TV because of it? What if you were booed, or harassed, or sued?
Is it the fear of these things that keeps us silent?
Which is right and which is wrong?:
To stand up and say, "That's immoral. That's wrong."
Or to not stand up and say, "That's immoral. That's wrong."
Have we lost our courage? Shouldn't we say, "That's immoral. And I don't care if you don't like it, I can't watch it and pretend like it's okay. It's not okay. And I have to say something."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Does the answer, "I have no clue" help?
I've been in similar situations, where I had the opportunity to speak out, and have spoken out. But it's hard to know what to do. And, it's hard given the opportunity to speak out, to actually do it.
Sometimes I wonder if by our silence, we are speaking out. In my case, more often than not, I have been silent and prayed for all involved.
My own disapproval won't count for much, and I know that. So, speaking out may not be the most important choice. Sometimes, I think prayer may be the answer, and simply following God's will?
In a particular situation I was in, I felt led to love the sinner and hate the sin. Which to me meant just praying for the persons involved and not saying anything outright, but not staying in the situation, either. Walking out was HARD.
Other times, confusion takes over and I haven't known what to do or say. I guess it comes down to "the greatest of these is love" and that's all I can do in some situations, love the person by praying for their salvation and change of heart, while trusting that God will take the action required or lead me to take that action in HIS time.
I have had a similar experience too. It was at a Christian concert and I had my teenage grandson, Cody, with me. Two homosexual women in front of us demonstrated their public display of affection AND next to them a heterosexual couple made out. I was embarrassed. I apologized to Cody and he said, "It's okay. I see this stuff a lot."
I thought about moving to another seat but didn't and I was sorry for that. The artists were great but we didn't enjoy the concert as much as we expected to. Was it because we were surrounded by sinners? Sinners go to church too.
I wonder what Jesus would have done. I think He would have loved the sinners and hated their sin. But He was not afraid to confront sin either. Let's keep talking about this. I am sure we will have this experience more and more.
Here in California homosexuals are getting married. That means it will be out in the open more. Our kids will be exposed to this at school more. Our world needs the love of God. We are the body of Christ. What will we do to show His love?
Sue, Jesus NEVER said, 'love the sinner, hate the sin'. It was Gandhi who said that and he was a racist, elitist. One thing we need to do as Christians, is to know our scripture. The bible has a great deal to say about those who sin, especially if they lead others to sin, too.
Post a Comment