I was hanging out with a good friend recently and we got into a long conversation about homosexuality, something we discuss rather often. My friend, Addison, is in a committed relationship with another woman. Both of them are deeply beautiful, intelligent, talented, and joyful young women. Interestingly, they are Christ followers and genuinely struggle to make sense of their feelings towards one another. Addison and her partner spend a lot of time praying, reading, and striving to understand God's Word and heart regarding homosexuality.

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I know plenty of evangelical Christians who think homosexuality is a futile topic. These Christians often shudder at terms like gay or lesbian. They proclaim the truth of Scripture and resentfully quote Leviticus *18:22. For these individuals, homosexuality is a simple matter for which open-minded discussion is not warranted.

I don’t agree with that type of angry Christianity because where is Christ in that? I don’t recognize the character of Jesus in that line of thinking or actions. However, I also disagree with Christians who profess “believe what feels right to you and do what makes you happy.” That’s too relativistic and subjective. It makes us gods in our own rite— permitting no real Truth and encouraging us to do whatever we want in any given moment. The thing is, none of us is perfectly wise and we’d make poor gods indeed.

So where do I stand when it comes to following Jesus and dealing with the weighty topic of homosexuality? Well, I believe the Bible is true. The Bible that teaches how God took time to create each of us distinctly (Psalm 139:13), and knows us so well that He keeps count of the number of hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). The same Bible that states homosexual behavior is indecent and unnatural (Romans 1:26-27), and soon thereafter declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

As you can see, being a Bible-believing Christian is messy.

It’s messy because the Bible asserts, without apology, that Jesus loves sinners with a reckless love! The Bible guides us on how to lead lives that honor God... meaning, we don’t always do what feels right. Instead, Christ followers strive to do what is right so that by our actions people will see the glory of God (Matt 5:16).

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During my long overdue visit with Addison we talked about our feelings on the Bible, homosexuality, and God’s great love. We talked about her partner and where that relationship is headed. Addison and I reached no grandiose conclusions. Instead, we cried together because discussions about Jesus and homosexuality are hard. We cried together because sometimes wrestling with big topics doesn't get us any nearer to a closing thought. We cried because Christianity is definitely not the easy way out in life. And we cried because it’s good to have friends who are willing to live a messy life, right alongside your own.

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* Note: Leviticus chapter 18 also teaches that having sex with a woman who is on her period is wrong (v 19), but people don’t reference that as an abomination. It’s fascinating [sarcasm] how people pick and choose verses for ammunition without taking the time to read the context in which that Scripture is put forth.

May we be people who take the time to seek the Spirit of God and wrestle with messy ideas.