Mostly, I've been noticing the reactions of Christians to these events. And with a few exceptions, I've been a little confused about what I've seen. I've seen several blog posts from Christian writers emphasizing the need for love and acceptance when it comes to a transgender person having a sex change and coming out as a woman on the cover of a trashy magazine. And I've seen condemnation and anger towards a Christian family due to the sexual abuse their son openly admits to having inflicted on a handful of girls when he was 14 years old, despite his broken, humble, and honest confession and repentance- and the fact that this all happened over ten years ago.
I understand these reactions, I really do. We don't want to be too harsh towards a sinner like Bruce Jennings who is outside of our ranks, nor do we want to be too accepting of a sinner inside our ranks, lest we all look like a bunch of bigoted hypocrites. And I'm not saying that we should run around writing harsh, demeaning articles about Bruce Jenner while ignoring the sins of Josh Duggar (which is the ditch on the other side of the road that I've also seen recently).
Friends, this is sin we are dealing with here. Sin is a dark, serious, heavy matter. When faced with sins like these, we should not respond with sarcasm (as one very prominent Christian blogger has done), nor with accolades, nor with contempt. We shouldn't use sin to tout some agenda or to prove a point.
There is only one appropriate reaction to sin, and that is sadness- sadness that comes with an understanding of the old phrase "there but for the grace of God go I."
We should be sad when we see a man giving up his God-given identity and changing it for a lie. We should be sad when we hear about a boy within the church falling into gross and inexcusable behavior.
But there is one major difference between these two situations, and that difference is the point upon which the whole Gospel hinges. One of these men has repented of his sin. He has gone to God and to those he has hurt and cried out for forgiveness. He has done everything in his power to rehabilitate himself and to make sure he never makes the same mistakes again. And more importantly than all of this, his soul has been washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, in whom he places all of his hope.
The other man has not repented. Rather, he is glorying in his sin. He is on the broad path leading to destruction, tragically deceived by a world who is giving him a standing ovation for his courage in indulging his sinful tendencies. Christians, we cannot be found among those clapping in that crowd. The very souls of those around us may depend on it. We are called to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, and in that manner we must take a firm stand against this bold and un-repended-of sin.
Yes, Christ preaches a message of love. Yes, he preaches a message of condemnation towards sin. But we have missed the whole point if we start emphasizing only the love part towards those who are not putting their faith in Christ, and emphasizing only the condemnation towards those who have. It's as simple as that: repentance and faith make all the difference. Otherwise, sinners are just sinners and we ought all to be condemned along side both of these men.
So yes, we should not be without love towards Bruce Jenner. But love and acceptance are very different things- Christ was big on love, not big on acceptance outside of a saving relationship with Him.
But because of God's grace, there is hope! And for that, there is much reason to rejoice along with families like the Duggars, who have seen the grace of God adamantly at work in their eldest son. For my part I'm happier than ever to support this family and I feel deeply for what they have gone through in the last couple of weeks. I hope the Christian community will rally around them in this difficult time, as I know many already have. The media is a cruel and heartless thing! As for Bruce Jenner, I hope we will all remember to pray that the same grace may one day be evident in him. After all, there is no sinner so sinful he is out of the reach of Christ!
