"Not That There’s Anything Wrong With It" (1 of 4)

“Hi, I heard your radio ad and I was wondering if I can come to your church? You see, … I’m gay … but you seem like a church that might welcome everyone. Thanks, Annette”

We promoted our church’s opening day with radio ads on secular rock stations. I received that question from Annette, and I quickly found several e-mails in my Inbox asking the same question. This confused me a bit: I wanted to e-mail my own question to churches: Why is it that gay people need to ask this question?

A couple years later I received another e-mail. It was from a Christian magazine: Would I consider writing an article on our church’s “ministry to homosexuals.” I stared at the sentence. Again I was confused. It had never occurred to me that our church had a ministry to homosexuals.

Our church’s ministry is to be God incarnate. Jesus came as God in a body. He exactly represented who God is (Colossians 1:15). The church is to be Jesus in a body (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are to exactly represent who He is.

Jesus ministry was to seek and save the lost. People drawn to Jesus’ ministry were those deemed the most sinful by society. The church’s ministry is to seek and save the lost. Those drawn to our ministry should be those deemed the most sinful by society. In our culture, this will include homosexuals.

Why were the “sinners” drawn to Jesus? I think it’s because in Jesus they heard the truth they needed, but also experienced the love they longed for. When will the “sinners” of our society (including homosexuals) be drawn to us? When “speaking the truth in love” is not a cliché we talk about but a reality we live out.

So what did I say to Annette? And how has our church handled all this? I thought I’d do a short series on this. I am far from an expert on this topic, and our church is not the best I know of with this (if you’re looking for the church that may reach homosexual people the best, try http://www.ecclesiahouston.org/v2/index.php), but I can share a little. So next time I’ll pick this back up. Until then, rock the Kasbah.

– featured on newchurches.com