new perspective

Last time I was in DC I picked up the newest copy of Relevant Magazine, http://www.relevantmagazine.com/. The article which really stuck out to me was the "7 Burning Issues." Which spoke about how the church should respond to such issues as war, social issues, politics, homosexuality etc.... The last one, homosexuality really stood out to me.
For a long time this issue in and of itself has been on my heart and how the church (typically) approaches it.

So, please, indulge me for a moment.

I used to have a quite negative and biased look on the homosexual community/lifestyle. Thinking that in no way shape or form they could be Christian or have any idea as to who God is, I now feel that I was very wrong. I know believe that a man or woman who is tempted in this can be a Christian. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 lays it out clearly. The trick is to not indulge (Romans 13:14) in these things that we struggle with or that we are tempted by. Temptation is not sin, its when we entertain these temptations with our thoughts or actions. Now I want to make it very clear that I don't condone homosexuality. I believe that it is wrong and not natural. Just like I believe that getting drunk, looking at pornography and having sex before marriage is wrong and not natural. It's all sin, simple as that. So for the duration of this we will call "homosexuality" what it really is, sin.

I firmly believe that people who are sinners should be able to freely enter into a church. My Bible tells me that Christ died for ALL sinners to be saved. We read all throughout the book of Romans where the Apostle Paul tells us that the grace of God is in no way a license to sin. (Ref. Romans chapters 6, 7, 8) Once someone steps into a relationship with God they ought to abstain from a sinful lifestyle. I believe that we have to approach all sinners with love and with the knowledge that all have sinned (Romans 3:9-20) and fallen very short of the Glory of God.

There is no "sin scale" in Heaven that God is using to compare our sins amongst each other. Sin is sin. We are born into this. Just as God is love we are sin. So its when we grasp this concept that we can look at anyone, regardless of the severity of there sin, and realize that we are all in the same boat.