I'm Christian unless... Nothing

I'm Christian, unless you're gay

This guy, Dan, is definitely speaking the truth. So many Christians, especially in the conservative state of Texas, has demonstrated this concept of "I'm Christian, unless youre gay". Dan is right, whether someone is gay or not should not have anything to do with love. Whether it is a sin or not should not have anything to do with love. We, as Christians, are in no position to judge others of their sin; it is simply not our mission to judge others. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say, judge your neighbor as I judged you. No, he said "love your neighbor as I have loved you." God is love. Christianity is a religion based on love... Or it was meant to be anyway. But that is definitely not what comes to mind when non-Christians think about christianity. In fact, Christians are probably one of the most judgmental religions in the world today.

This article is a good starting point for "conditional Christians", those who are only Christians when certain criteria are met. It's a calling for Christians to return to unconditional love that is so fundamental to the religion. It is a crucial calling, but I can't help but think there is more to be done. Love and acceptance is undeniably important. It provides emotional support, but only emotional, nothing tangible. What is tangible? Marriage certificate is tangible. Benefits that come with marriage certificates are tangible. Homosexuals' partners are tangible. The child they adopted together is tangible.

The message in the article is clear: love others no matter how different they are. But there should be so much more. What is love when it is empty of actions. If I tell my boyfriend I love him everyday but never hold his hand when he needs support, never hug him when he needs comfort, never encourage him when he is down, my words are empty. My love is empty. They mean nothing. If we were to love and be Christians all the way, our words cannot be empty. "love" is more than just a word. If we are Christians through and through, if we love others through and through, then how can we deny others the right to marry another person because of the petty differences? How can we deny others of the benefits and rights we have because of these differences?

If we have agreed, like in the article by Dan, that we should be Christians without the "unless", we need to realize to love is more than providing emotional support. "love" is different from "tolerant". The Bible didn't ask us to "tolerate" our neighbors, it asked us to "love" our neighbors. Love them, unconditionally, and never judge them. Give them the support they need. Obviously I'm not saying give the drug addicts all the drugs they need because "we love them unconditionally", or let the bulimic girl puke in peace because "we love them unconditionally". In cases where people's health is suffering because of a addiction or an unhealthy habit, we obviously try to help them with whatever problem them need help with. But in the case if homoseuality, it is not a disease, it is not an unhealthy habit, it is not hurting anyone. It is just different. (Just like Dan said in the article, whether it is a sin or not is not my concern or my judgement.) So what do we do? We love them. Love them with our actions, not just empty words.