Guidance for the Church in Ministering to All People (Including people of other Sexual Orientation)
Every one of us who names Christ as their personal savior is on a spiritual journey. As we offer ourselves to God, we allow Him to mold and shape us. He is the potter, we are the clay. None of us has been completely shaped by God yet. We are all a creation in process, an identity in process. Here are some guidelines for the church:
Affirm the grace of God.
Recognize that God is not a book of rules but is a person who understands each and every human being.
Recognize that each individual must ultimately stand before God and give account of his/her life.
Recognize that God is compassionate, tolerant, patient and merciful and that God alone is judge. Therefore stop passing judgment on one another. (see Romans Chapter 2 which is the whole point of Romans Chapter 1)
Recognize that God alone knows the heart of the individual and that God alone directs growth in grace for each Christian. God’s agenda for an individual Christian’s growth may not match your agenda.
Respect one other and do not allow disagreement to become spiteful and hateful as it has in the past and is in the present.
Respect the fact that other Christians may have views that are different than your own but are just as sincere in their views as you are with yours. Yes, they may be sincerely wrong but so might you. God knows their heart – You do not!!!
Stop demonizing views that are different than your own … ie .. stop calling gay people dangerous and stop calling ex-gay people dangerous.
Support laws and bills that enable us to live peacefully together.
Make sharing the love and gospel of Jesus (God so loved the world…. God desires all people to be saved… ) your first priority (for how to do this see the 3rd priority)
Make the encouraging of each other to grow in grace through bible study and friendship your second priority.
Make social holiness your third priority (feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the sick, visit the prisoner, love everyone, share the good news of Jesus)