Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Mildew and Gay
I had an interesting conversation today. About mildew and gayness. I know those things are not even remotely related, but today they were for awhile. There were me and two other girls in drawing kind of got into a discussion about being gay and whether it was genetic or not and what we thought on the whole issue. Julie, one of the girls, knows a lot of people who are gay (a friend, an uncle and tons more apparently) I think the conversation started out with her trying to justify her friends being gay and being a Christian. That's where the mildew came in.
Leviticus 13:47-52
47 "If any clothing is contaminated with mildew—any woolen or linen clothing, 48 any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather- 49 and if the contamination in the clothing, or leather, or woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest is to examine the mildew and isolate the affected article for seven days. 51 On the seventh day he is to examine it, and if the mildew has spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a destructive mildew; the article is unclean. 52 He must burn up the clothing, or the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has the contamination in it, because the mildew is destructive; the article must be burned up.
Ok, I know this is making zero sense.
Julie was saying that in the old testiment God intstructed that if any clothing be contaminated with mildew, that it be burned up. Do we honestly do this today? Of course not because we have Tylex and other things that have invented that will take away the mildew. God was stressing that mildew can be harmful, and the whole article of clothing should be done away with. But today we don't follow this.
She went on saying times have changed and there are parts of the bible that she believes are "old-fashioned" and that we just plain don't follow anymore because things have changed. And that's where she justified her friends being gay.
Side-note...I know this all isn't really connecting really well, because I'm having a hard time retelling every inch of the conversation. I may have missed a part.
So then we asked her, well how do we know what part of the bible is "old-fashioned" and which part isn't? How can we tell what we are supposed to follow and what part we aren't supposed to follow, who makes that decision. She didn't have an answer.
Then, we compared being gay to having a divorce. Each are sins. Each are things that the bible tells us not to do basically. I told her I looked at being gay the same way I look at a couple divorcing. God advices against each. Being gay is a sin just as equally so as having a divorce. They are equal sins as is murder and any other sins because a sin is a sin. It's not our place to judge a sin, so I don't freak out when I hear someone is gay. It's just one of their sins. I sin. We all sin. Yes, it's something they do everyday, but its not something to not like people for.
The conversation kind of ended there. I don't know how she came out of the conversation. I don't know. Any input is welcome. :)
Kristi
Leviticus 13:47-52
47 "If any clothing is contaminated with mildew—any woolen or linen clothing, 48 any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather- 49 and if the contamination in the clothing, or leather, or woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a spreading mildew and must be shown to the priest. 50 The priest is to examine the mildew and isolate the affected article for seven days. 51 On the seventh day he is to examine it, and if the mildew has spread in the clothing, or the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a destructive mildew; the article is unclean. 52 He must burn up the clothing, or the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has the contamination in it, because the mildew is destructive; the article must be burned up.
Ok, I know this is making zero sense.
Julie was saying that in the old testiment God intstructed that if any clothing be contaminated with mildew, that it be burned up. Do we honestly do this today? Of course not because we have Tylex and other things that have invented that will take away the mildew. God was stressing that mildew can be harmful, and the whole article of clothing should be done away with. But today we don't follow this.
She went on saying times have changed and there are parts of the bible that she believes are "old-fashioned" and that we just plain don't follow anymore because things have changed. And that's where she justified her friends being gay.
Side-note...I know this all isn't really connecting really well, because I'm having a hard time retelling every inch of the conversation. I may have missed a part.
So then we asked her, well how do we know what part of the bible is "old-fashioned" and which part isn't? How can we tell what we are supposed to follow and what part we aren't supposed to follow, who makes that decision. She didn't have an answer.
Then, we compared being gay to having a divorce. Each are sins. Each are things that the bible tells us not to do basically. I told her I looked at being gay the same way I look at a couple divorcing. God advices against each. Being gay is a sin just as equally so as having a divorce. They are equal sins as is murder and any other sins because a sin is a sin. It's not our place to judge a sin, so I don't freak out when I hear someone is gay. It's just one of their sins. I sin. We all sin. Yes, it's something they do everyday, but its not something to not like people for.
The conversation kind of ended there. I don't know how she came out of the conversation. I don't know. Any input is welcome. :)
Kristi
Comments:
<< Home
One of the biggest factors is how they choose to live their life. If they are living the "gay lifestyle" and are not actively trying to overcome their urges by the grace of God, then they are not striving for holiness.
Yes, I sin. I am not a perfect person. But I try to be through God's grace. I acknowledge my actions as sin when they occur and ask for forgiveness. If you do not acknowledge your sin and confess and repent God does not promise forgiveness.
Therefore, while "being" Gay can lead to sin, it is ultimately the "acting out" or the "fantasizing" of the gay lifestyle where the sin comes in.
I'll be interested to hear what others think about this.
As far as picking and choosing what parts of the Bible are old fashion and which parts aren't...That doesn't work.
The principles of the Bible hold as true today as they did then...all of them. We are not called to obey the old law. Jesus told us that. Jesus gave us a new law, and grace to live it. God told them to isolate a moldy cloth and then if it they couldn't clean it to burn it so that the mold wouldn't spread to other articles of clothing. Today we can kill the mold there-in fulfilling the "principle" of the commandment.
I could go on and on, but this is already a long comment.
Yes, I sin. I am not a perfect person. But I try to be through God's grace. I acknowledge my actions as sin when they occur and ask for forgiveness. If you do not acknowledge your sin and confess and repent God does not promise forgiveness.
Therefore, while "being" Gay can lead to sin, it is ultimately the "acting out" or the "fantasizing" of the gay lifestyle where the sin comes in.
I'll be interested to hear what others think about this.
As far as picking and choosing what parts of the Bible are old fashion and which parts aren't...That doesn't work.
The principles of the Bible hold as true today as they did then...all of them. We are not called to obey the old law. Jesus told us that. Jesus gave us a new law, and grace to live it. God told them to isolate a moldy cloth and then if it they couldn't clean it to burn it so that the mold wouldn't spread to other articles of clothing. Today we can kill the mold there-in fulfilling the "principle" of the commandment.
I could go on and on, but this is already a long comment.
As Luke said, here is a debatable topic that one could talk about forever. Why? Because there are 2 sides, which requires a huge plethora of topics and opinions in order to support and/or refute.
We could sit and debate for hours about this. Yet, the Bible advises us not to, because topics like these cause upheaval, friction, and are a foolish waste of time. So where is the clear answer to the question, "Is being gay wrong?"
Where do I go? The Truth. It's not called the Wrong. It's called the Truth. Going off of what one argument stated, I will readily agree that the Old Testament is "old-fashioned." Yet, since when did this become a good excuse to ignore its principles? What if I thought that the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," was old-fashioned? Does that mean I'm allowed to go kill people? No, becasue that is based off of my opinion, which holds no validity. That is a poor argument.
So- The Truth. What does it say? It is evident that marriage was meant for a man and a woman. There are numerous places in the Bible where we can see this. That is what the Truth says. That is what I follow. No negotiation.
Some of us may be tempted towards being gay, but that is one thing to overcome. Just because it is our temptation, it doesn't mean we can take away from THE TRUTH or twist it to say what we want just because we have a difference in opinion, or heaven forbid, we are tempted! It means that by the grace of God, we try to overcome.
I know what the Truth says. There is also a lot the Truth DOESN'T say, but it isn't our job to try to figure out what is right or wrong becasue of it. It is just our job to obey what it says in the first place.
Those are my thoughts.
T
We could sit and debate for hours about this. Yet, the Bible advises us not to, because topics like these cause upheaval, friction, and are a foolish waste of time. So where is the clear answer to the question, "Is being gay wrong?"
Where do I go? The Truth. It's not called the Wrong. It's called the Truth. Going off of what one argument stated, I will readily agree that the Old Testament is "old-fashioned." Yet, since when did this become a good excuse to ignore its principles? What if I thought that the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," was old-fashioned? Does that mean I'm allowed to go kill people? No, becasue that is based off of my opinion, which holds no validity. That is a poor argument.
So- The Truth. What does it say? It is evident that marriage was meant for a man and a woman. There are numerous places in the Bible where we can see this. That is what the Truth says. That is what I follow. No negotiation.
Some of us may be tempted towards being gay, but that is one thing to overcome. Just because it is our temptation, it doesn't mean we can take away from THE TRUTH or twist it to say what we want just because we have a difference in opinion, or heaven forbid, we are tempted! It means that by the grace of God, we try to overcome.
I know what the Truth says. There is also a lot the Truth DOESN'T say, but it isn't our job to try to figure out what is right or wrong becasue of it. It is just our job to obey what it says in the first place.
Those are my thoughts.
T
It sounds like you handled the conversation really well.
I recently had a very similar conversation with someone. He was convinced that being gay and being a Christian is fine. We also talked about the validity of the Bible today and if all of it is still useful and important or if only parts of it are.
I don't know how he came out of the conversation, but I came out more sure of my faith and more confident in my beliefs. Also more aware than ever of the dilution of Christianity. Just because someone says "i'm a Christian" does not necessarily mean there's no reason for me to witness.
We also talked about Paul, evolution, the Resurrection...but mildew never came up.
Post a Comment
I recently had a very similar conversation with someone. He was convinced that being gay and being a Christian is fine. We also talked about the validity of the Bible today and if all of it is still useful and important or if only parts of it are.
I don't know how he came out of the conversation, but I came out more sure of my faith and more confident in my beliefs. Also more aware than ever of the dilution of Christianity. Just because someone says "i'm a Christian" does not necessarily mean there's no reason for me to witness.
We also talked about Paul, evolution, the Resurrection...but mildew never came up.
# posted by 
: 2:03 PM
: 2:03 PM << Home
