How Rejection Feels

Personally I don't know rejection. Not in a big way, not really. But who knows when that dump truck might visit me. A friend wrote this blog post more than a year ago. It touched my heart then, it's on my heart today...

So This is How Rejection Feels

July 8, 2013 by Susan Cottrell 

I had a big argument with someone very close to me today, a mentor. Someone I love very much. She was angry at me for my blog, saying I am being unfair to Christians who are kind and loving, that it goes both ways, that we hear only stories of Christians’ anger toward LGBTQ instead of love.

She told me about a Christian woman who had served two gay men for years in her printing business, but finally said she could not print their wedding invitations because it went against her beliefs as a Christian. And they sued her. (I wondered if she ever printed invitations for weddings for non-Christians or second marriages.) Sigh.

It hurts to be at odds with someone I love. I don’t know where it will go from here. And I have lost other friends. Even my kids have been unfriended because of my blog. That doesn’t really seem right, does it? Dissension on a tough topic is not really welcome among Christians.

But all the while, these words came to me: I am not called to be fair. As a Christian, I am called to share the love of Christ regardless of the response. I am called to go two miles with someone who required only one. I am called to love my neighbor. If someone sues me for my shirt, I am to give him my coat as well. I’m called to be the love of Christ, even when it requires great sacrifice. I am the one with the Spirit of the Living God in me — it’s the very least I can do. I am to give to others out of His overabundant love. If I am taken advantage of, oh well.

I know as I write this how outrageous it sounds, to love so radically. But Jesus said outrageous things, until the religious leaders killed Him. I don’t have the answers to the questions around this issue. But I do know the way we treat each other has to change. People who discover their same-sex attraction invariably plead with God to take it away (because of the rejection they know is coming), but He rarely does. Many who go through “reorientation” become self-loathing and suicidal. (When has a Christian become suicidal because of their treatment by (an) LGBTQ (person)?) Some people come to peace with their same-sex attraction. Some seek a longterm same-sex relationship. Some commit to lifelong celibacy. Jesus calls us to love people where they are, not where we wish they were.

My calling always is to help people find peace on the Tree of Life rather than clinging to the Tree of Knowledge. I’m sorry if you are a Christian who is offended by what I write. I can’t help it. I’m not writing it to offend; I’m writing to extend the love of Christ. We have no excuse to do otherwise. I pray that you will join me.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/freedhearts/2013/07/08/so-this-is-how-rejection-feels/#ixzz3GJqvo3Ws

This reminded me...some time ago there was a lot of hubbub on Facebook about LGBT people and their Pride parades. A friend or two of mine shared memes about their own right to have Pride parades or special days to celebrate being straight. Well guess what? We've got the right, but you've missed the point. Thank the God who made you that you don't need a special day reminding you, you're okay and very much loved just the way you are.

Love is what gets us into the kingdom of heaven. God's love, Jesus' love. If you know that, share it.