Welcome Azzan Thread

[Charnock]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

But this should be done, as mentioned previously, in a spirit of MEEKNESS. That's what the BIBLE says. I haven't seen much meekness in your posts. Saying you're being harsh for balance doesn't cut it. The Bible didn't tell us to be harsh for balance, it said to correct in a spirit of meekness.

Sometimes we can become so proud of ourselves for "standing against sin" that we fall into sin ourselves. The sin of pride. The sin of turning people away from Jesus because of our haughty attitudes.

I've said several times that I think someone choosing to live a homosexual lifestyle is no different than someone choosing to live an adulterous lifestyle. Both are sin. But I haven't seen anyone on this thread tell Azzan that that's fine - live actively as a homosexual, God doesn't care. I think Azzan is very clear about how the majority of the forum feels about that. And I KNOW that if he is being influenced positively toward Christ, it's going to be from the people who are being kind to him, not the ones who are grandstanding.

I've thought about this a lot, and it's easy for us to flex our muscles and pound our chests when it's not our family or close friends who are struggling with this issue.... but what if some day it's your child, or grandchild, that battles with this? We can stick our heads in the sand all we want, but some people REALLY DO have a deep, serious struggle with this issue. If it's your grandchild, how do we approach it? How do we want others to approach it? By beating them about the head and shoulders with condemnation? They already know all about condemnation. If it was my grandchild, I'd approach them with lots and lots of love. I'd never sway in my declaration that they could not live in the sin, but I'd know that I'd never win them by being harsh.

As NOW said, we're all scared to death of this subject. We simply don't know how to deal with it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could start seeing real deliverance in this area, and have people with testimonies who can really minister to others? Unfortunately, our testimonies are few and far between because we're too scared to show love.

And NO!! Love isn't saying "I'm okay, you're okay"!! But it also isn't pounding people over the head. They KNOW how most Christians feel about homosexuality. It's not like they're going to forget if we don't remind them every other sentence.

Nice post. (seriously)

However, I really don't think it's that hard to deal with.

Love people. Hate sin.

Never confuse those two issues.