Being raised as son of a female Baptist minister has given me a perspective of the Christian faith that many believers don’t necessarily have. The interworkings and sometimes inherent politics of church congregations, the vast difference in theology amongst people that share the same views and hopping from church to church, four to be exact, in my childhood. Coupled with this, my faith has flip-flopped in the specificities over time — moving from a more traditional Southern Baptist outlook to what can be defined as a more moderate Baptist by most standards as I have grown. 

While perusing Facebook several nights ago, I encountered a Facebook event titled “Homosexuality and Christianity” being held by Colonial College Ministry, with a banner being adorned with colors of the rainbow, and immediately was interested. The view of the church on same-sex relationships and marriage has been through a tumultuous ride over history, so the prospect of a speaker on campus discussing this relationship caught my attention with ease. After a quick internet search of Brady Cone, the speaker for the event, I was disgruntled and angry at misleading information, as the event appeared to be supportive of the very community that only gained the right to marry 18 months ago.

I was disgruntled and angry that my fellow Christians would advertise an event that seemed pro-LGBTQ+ at quick glance, but was being led by an individual that was speaking about how they were somehow unholy or unworthy because of the “lifestyle” that they live. 

My views on LGBT+ community have shifted with the specifics of my faith over time. If you would have asked me two years ago if I would have believed that same-sex marriage should be legal, I would have rebutted with “no” before the question left your mouth. That’s how I thought, and to this day, I am disgruntled that it was the mindset that I have had for most of my life. Flash-forward to today and for a variety of reasons, my view is entirely different. Not to take a page from the “I have a gay friend” card to justify my view, but one of my best friends in the world is openly gay and is one of the greatest people alive on this Earth. For various reasons, my view has changed, and it is for the most part because of my recognition of the most fundamental aspect of Christian living.

Love.

The church should be, in theory, the most welcoming place on Earth. It’s founded upon the principle that God sent a son who would give his life so that all of God’s children can live free of their sins and transgressions. Jesus was a radical during his time and his sense of openness remains controversial today. Christ told us to feed the poor and offer the oppressed a seat at our table, but many Christians have responded with delegitimizing welfare and denying human rights of those who don’t look like them.

Christ tells us to love wildly, and that’s what we, as believers, should do. When people praise President Donald Trump, a man with three wives and multiple affairs, but discriminate against the young men in their congregation that are afraid to publically share their love, there is an underlying issue. Loving those young men is the important duty that all Christians have on this Earth, for if we don’t have love, then we are left with nothing. It is with the same extension of compassion that Christ gave us when he was executed at Golgotha that we should extend to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Human rights don’t have a religious doctrine or partisan viewpoint to follow. Human rights remain fundamental in our lives, whether we’re children, college students or adults. The very same people that Christ ate with during his time on Earth are the same people whose rights are constantly marginalized by many in society, and to respond with anything but open arms is in stark contrast to the actions that we should reflect as children of God.

If you don’t believe in the “lifestyle” of LGBTQ+ individuals, I doubt that this piece is going to rapidly change your mind and make you transform the view that has existed in your head over time. These words on the page most likely will not change minds, but neither will condemnation of the very community that is marginalized in society because of the condemnations that have already been spewed. Loving others but “not agreeing with your lifestyle” is inherently illogical because you are fundamentally delegitimizing an aspect of the very person that you claim to love.

Not agreeing with the lifestyle has gotten people killed over the years, including last summer in Orlando. 

It all boils down to love. Love that is greater than hate and love that can overcome dressing up bigotry with a pride flag and calling an anti-LGBTQ+ event an “open forum” for dialogue. Love is exemplified by couples of all sexualities showing a vibrant faith created after the teachings of a man that embodied this love in all that he did. 

The old saying taught in Sunday School asks “What would Jesus do?” and the answer is clear-cut. Jesus would love. Jesus would love wildly. Jesus would love those marginalized in the LGBTQ+ community who feel ostracized by the event being held on Wednesday.

Isaiah 1:17 tells us to “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed^. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

In this case, the LGBTQ+ community is the oppressed, and it’s time that we take up the cause.