Coop at the intersection of Scripture and reality

I had a bit of a conversation about Scripture and homosexuality earlier this week with someone who goes by the name Xander.  Part of it was about love being a sin.  Well, sometimes whether or not we like it, love can be a sin.  It's not exclusive to homosexuals.  There are lots and lots of times that love between a man and a woman can be a sin.

Here we go.

One of the most famous examples of this I can think of is a romance between Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.  Mr. Tracy was Catholic and divorce for him wasn't an option.  And the rest, as they say, is Hollywood legend.

But what about when that chicken comes home to roost closer to home.  Earlier this week, I found myself in that position. And I had to say no to something that I couldn't find a scriptural way to make right.  I found myself at that intersection of my own life and Scripture and I had to make a decision:

"Do I love God more?"

For me the answer was yes, I love God more.

In a matter of hours, I could have arranged my life the way I wanted it.  I could have made the choice to do what I wanted to do instead of following God.  I'm a human being; I have feelings.  I have wants and desires.  I also have wisdom and the grace that God shows me on a daily basis.  I have His word on things and when I shared what His word says, some pretty cool things happened.  

Just not for me.  That's all right, though, because what did happen brings Glory to God!  

I know that this story would be better with the details but they're not for me to share.  But being a Godly man sometimes means turning from the things you want personally and turing to living the Scriptures.  

And now, to turn my attention to Xander:  You see, Xander, sometimes we can't have what we want or who we want.  I get that we can't help who we love or are attracted to.  In the English language, we use the world love in a lot of contexts.  The Greeks (the original language of a lot of the Bible) use four words to describe love; the highest being Agape.  Agape love, the way I understand it, is that kind of love where you make a choice to love someone.  I had to choose and I chose to love God more.  

To do what I wanted to do made perfect sense from that human perspective but Scripture is crystal clear; what I wanted to do would have been a sin.  So I said no.  No human being will ever understand how hard that was.  God knows, I know.  And because I made a good choice, things are as they should be for other people.  I had no part in it, but I understand that the ultimate glory to God is that a man gave his life to Christ in the process and recognized he couldn't continue his life the way he was living it.  

You see, Xander, even Christians struggle with life.  We also can't help who we love; but we try and honor those commitments we made to Jesus when we took him as Lord and Savior.  He's equally serious about the Lord part.  And just so you know, Xander, the reason I don't point fingers at others is that often that finger will point straight back at me.

And I thank God that He could let me use my part in this little side trip to the past to share that it's not just homosexuals who struggle with right and wrong attractions and relationships.  But like anything in life, sometimes the Truth hurts.