April 13, 2012 - May 25, 2012

How God Sees

"I can’t for the life of me imagine that God will say, ‘I will punish you because you are black, you should have been white; I will punish you because you are a woman, you should have been a man; I will punish you because you are homosexual, you ought to have been heterosexual.’ I can’t for the life of me believe that is how God sees things."

Bishop Desmond Tutu

"Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus of Nazareth

Matthew 5:19-20

God has not said

“I will punish you

because you are coloured (or not);

because you are woman (or not)”

God has said

“I will punish you

because you are not righteous”

but yielding His Son to bear His curse

that we could adore Him forever

and raising His Son to share His life

that we could enjoy Him forever

He made His Son the atonement for our sin

being coloured (or not) with God

being woman (or not) with God

is not something to be regretted

but should be cause for joy

that God will save us as we are

His mercy will not condemn

all who love the Son

receiving His gift of love

are made anew

and live

being coloured (or not) without God

being woman (or not) without God

is not something to be applauded

but should be cause for grief

that God will curse us as we are

His justice will not absolve

all who hate the Son

refusing His gift of love

remain corrupt

and die

None of us are perfect and all of us "have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Heaven is not for perfect people (that will be taken care of when we get there); Heaven is for forgiven people, which is something we need to be taking care of while we have this life on Earth. However, if you find yourself heaving a sigh of relief that your sins will not overwhelm your salvation, I would encourage you to let them go and hang on to Jesus instead for your salvation is threatened by whatever you knowingly love more than Jesus. Mat. 5:19-20 is both a call to repentance and a release from fear. A call to repentance from known sins and a release from fear of punishment for unknown sins. Both for salvation. Once you know, however, you become responsible.

In case you're wondering, I disagree with Bishop Tutu's quote above. God will not condemn us if we are black, white, woman or man but God will discipline us if we improperly use how we have been made. Every sin, including homosexuality, is an improper use of how we have been made.

I do not believe that I am a "homophobe." God has called us to love each other and I would not be showing love to you if, among other things, I did not reveal your sin. You would not be showing love to me if, among other things, you did not reveal my sin. If anything, I am a "sin-phobe" and I take very seriously the words: "Love the sinner, hate the sin."