by Michael Parry, Member RRUMC
When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22 which is the greatest of all the commandments in The Law, he replied:“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Having been on a Christian faith journey nearly fifty years, I’ll confess that I’ve done a better job of loving God than of loving my neighbor, especially those neighbors with whom I differ. But the beauty of giving my heart to Jesus at age 16 is that he then gave me His heart, and empowered me to love those with whom I have differences.
In recent years, issues of sexual orientation and gender identity have taken a higher priority in our culture, and have proven to be both unifying and divisive, including within faith communities. We all remember “The Vote” in 2019 within the United Methodist Church, and with three years of hindsight since that event I think it’s fair to say the event had that same effect on Rocky River United Methodist Church: unifying and dividing. For me personally, the vote and its aftermath have driven me back to my roots, my core values, and my faith in God through Jesus Christ. As a result of that process, some objectives or “action steps” have come into focus for me:
Make Jesus first in my life and keep Him there. Embrace His promise of eternal life as stated in John 3:16. The Apostle Paul said that all are one in Christ. Verse four of hymn #548 in the Methodist hymnal says, “In Christ now meet both east and west, in him meet south and north; all Christly souls are one in him throughout the whole wide earth.” On the final judgement day, the only thing that will matter is whether or not my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life; NOTHING ELSE (including my sexual orientation/gender identity) will matter.
As much as possible, let every action of my life reflect either love of God, or love of neighbor.
Continue seeking truth and understanding, especially on matters of human sexuality, from the Bible and from the testimony of others. I’ve read several books in the past three years, and all the authors identified as both followers of Jesus Christ and members of the LGBTQ+ community. I found myself agreeing with some of their positions and conclusions, and disagreeing with others, but in all cases I felt my understanding of those who identify as LGBTQ had increased.
Continue to love those with whom I disagree on some matters of human sexuality. We are all sexual beings, by God’s design in Genesis 2. I also believe that God has given guidance and instruction through the Bible and the life of Jesus Christ as to how our sexuality can manifest in ways that please him and honor His original design, but that’s a conversation for another time.
Jesus said in John 13:35 – “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” May God help and empower me to, first and foremost, love all; may that be the starting point for our conversations on this and other matters.