Eddie Long and the Black Church

I was sitting here at work and just read how Bishop Long now has five lawsuits to deal with questioning his sexuality, and whether or not he used his authoritative position to coerce young men into sex. Here’s the thing from my viewpoint, Eddie having done it or not is not the question, the question is when are we in the black church going to stop treating homosexuality as some special sin that needs to be dealt with harsher than any other sin? The problem as I see it is this, here is a man who has supposedly preached the truth about homosexuality, and now he is being accused of being the very thing he has preached against, is It just me, or does anyone else see the irony in all this. Jesus stated that the same judgment we put out there, will be used against us later on. Are homosexuals really the enemy, or is there something afoot here that demands our attention in ways that we may not be willing to deal with, out of fear?
Did Christ die for them as well? Did He suffer bleed and die for them as well? Is this sin worse than any other? Why do preachers single this one out more so than any other? Why do we feel that of we love them, we condone their behavior? Why do we feel that we cannot show the love of Christ to them, why do we live in fear of them? When will we finally be the church?
I find it shocking, not exemplary or prolific that preachers preach about homosexuality more than they do about any other sin. What should be shocking is that we do not hear as much about adultery, theft, greed, or the church’s dirty little secrets, masturbation, and pornography. We are willing to support a Constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage, but sadly in the church the stats when it comes to the state of marriage are just as bad as those outside the church. We have preachers holding conferences about the state of marriage, and some of them have jump offs.
I think it’s time to stop the hypocrisy, and move towards truth and reason. Yes there are homosexuals in the church, and yes there are some who are outside of the church. How we treat them is a testament of how the gospel has changed our lives. How we advocate on their behalf is a show of how Christ weeps over the souls of men who are disenfranchised by society because they are different. Christ advocated for people who were societal outcasts, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and drunks all flocked to Christ, they were not repelled by him. They were repelled by the religious leaders that Christ often berated due to their lack of vision and insight as to what was more important than just following the law. Why is it that when we do church, people are not attracted to the Christ that we show, but rather repelled by it. Could it be that the thing we portray is not an accurate portrayal? Could it be that our sanctimony is just that, sanctimonious but lacking in any real depth? We are here to serve, not to be served, this world does not have to conform to us, remember the conforming is done by those who actually know Christ. Those who are without need not apply unless they are willing to give their lives over. Preachers and laity alike forget that the epistles were written not for those who do not live their lives for the Lord, but rather for those who have already surrendered and answered the call to the cross. Until we recognize that the church is not the guardian of morality, nor is she to beat people down because they sin. They are sinners, its part of their job description and some are more efficient at it than others. Christ’s example was to love them, His loving them did not condone their activities, nor did it excuse them. His love convicted them not with condemning words but in showing them His love He was able to win them. It’s sad that we have forgotten how powerful a force Love really is…..