The other day I got a random private message from an extended family member. I don’t know them all that well.

The message, out of the blue, is a series of evangelical scripture passages… the obligatory ones you’d share with someone who is unsaved or back-slidden… I honestly deleted the message already, but I’m sure it was Jn 3:16 (but not 3:17-18, of course, as that would run contrary to their argument), Rm 6:23, etc… along with a message that I need to repent and come back to Jesus…

This person was not wrong in a certain fashion. All of us, if we claim we have no sin, deceive ourselves and need to come back and align ourselves with God. But that probably wasn’t exactly the point of the message (which I deleted without reading in its entirety). The accusations of gay people being misaligned to the One Who created them to be gay is dumbfounding. It is the sermon of the ignorant. Some people may mean well (not all) who proclaim this message. Some of them come from traditions where their understanding is that people may loose their salvation if they aren’t right with God. Which flies in the face of… well, the Bible. But I don’t fault folks for having a different perspective of Biblical content - that’s between them and God - not between them and me - until they make it between them and me.

I find it sad that some folks, whom I assume are motivated out of guilt or fear, opt to forego relational investment in situations like this one. I would expect that if someone was deeply concerned about my salvation, they would care to have a decent conversation with me about the matter - instead of a private message thrown into the ether. This is about as impersonal as it gets. Which brings me to my sadness. I do not for a moment believe their primary motivation was their concern for me. I believe their primary motivation was likely something around these lines: if you do not turn a sinner from their ways, you’re responsible for their sin (paraphrased). This does, of course, mean that you must then decide what is sin for someone else and then tell them about the judgment you have made regarding their personal state. That’s rough. But then you also need to hope that whatever you’ve done is sufficient to turn away God’s wrath and vengeance from coming down upon you. This is what makes me sad. Some people view God through a lens that provides no grace. And they are perfectly willing to quote Jn 3:16, but have apparently NOT READ the NEXT TWO VERSES. Jesus’ goal in coming to the earth wasn’t to condemn the world (that’s apparently the role of extended family!) but to save people. But not only that: whoever believes in God is saved already - not condemned now or later - but has already passed from death to life. Praise be to God for this wonderful reminder of God’s grace working in our lives and the assurance and security we have in knowing that our salvation isn’t dependent upon having the right perspective on some issue, it isn’t based on a graded curve of how much better we are compared to those around us, and it isn’t dependent upon the approval of modern-day self-righteous pharisees.

It still makes my blood boil when I see this obnoxious rhetoric - especially from people I do occasionally see in person. But God will give us all the grace we need to prevail. And in our internal battles, we can be thankful and praise God for the assurance we have that our salvation is based on God’s grace, through faith, alone.