To be super honest, I’m trying to stay out of this whole Chick-fil-a thing.
Basically because the hate and vitriol being thrown by both sides is deplorable.
I think there is an alternative answer to all of this: grace and empathy.
Grace for the haters, for the hated. For the wounders and the wounded. There is grace and love for the marginalized and for the pompous as well. And we must have empathy for all. That kind of compassion, I believe, can only come as a type of God-breathed compassion.
I’m on People of the Second Chance today talking about empathy.
I’m talking about empathy for both the wounded and the wounders of this world. Hopefully by taking giant faith-leaps toward grace, we can {with Jesus} be a part of the healing of this world.
Beautifully said! I’ve tried to stay out of it for the same reasons. It breaks my heart to see both sides of the “battle” misuse scripture to spew hate. Have a great weekend.
Thank you for sharing about grace for the wounded and for the wounders! God bless you as He pours out grace through you!
thank you!
I’m surprised that you wouldn’t take a stand for traditional marriage and the family. I agree that we have to have empathy and love for the hatred. though, we must.. But I feel that anything I can do – one person, that it just doesn’t an impact,. So. I was happy that I could join in. No signs, or hatred, just purchase and let others know…. Thanks!
I agree Marge. We really need to take a loving stand or one day we will not be able to. Our freedoms are slipping away and we must speak up and be heard and not just sit on the sidelines. But, we must speak up with love and grace and humility.
I so agree with you Suzanne! (we have the same name). I do think we need to take a stand for Jesus, and as I just posted my comment below, it just made me think that even if Christians are as loving as can be, we are probably going to be spit on. It made me think of the scripture where Jesus says to rejoice if anyone persecutes you because of Me. You are right — we need to speak up and be heard, but I have no idea how to do that in a way Jesus would want us to. And I also agree with you — if we sit on the sidelines then our freedoms will continue to slip away on so many levels. Are we supposed to speak up in a way Jesus would? Or are we supposed to be silent? I really have no clue. It grieves me. But Suzanne, I really appreciated your post. Thank you.
and i think that was all i was saying by those two/three simple sentences. i was just saying that hatred has no place in a discussion like this. and that most people i’ve come across on both sides are rude and mean. People who speak with grace have a much better platform for their views than people who speak from a place of judgement or hatred.
Good grief!! I have never replied to everyone who has posted before! Yet Marge, I agree with you too, in the sense that as one person, how can I ever make an impact on this issue? Am I even supposed to? I don’t think churches know what to do either. I’m not sure it can even be stopped — this supposed “war” on gay marriage, that for me I’m not trying to “war” at all, and is sometimes termed as a “war” by the media. It frustrates me so much!! Like you said Marge, as one person, what can I do? I know I can feel very lonely when it comes to supporting heterosexual families in the way Jesus wants us to.
hi marge. thank you so much for commenting! I hope i didn’t offend you by anything I said. all i was saying is that i like to stay out of arguments where people throw hatred at each other. that’s all =)
and in all honesty, i don’t know if you read the potsc post that i was linking, i didn’t even talk about the CFA thing. i just was using it as an intro to talk about grace for people who wound.
I have been curious as to what these comments would be like. I wish more would comment. I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. Not because I say so, but the Bible says so. I think what bothers me about this whole thing is that a business would take a public stand on this issue. For some reason, that seemed odd to me, and I don’t know exactly why yet. I think if Christians want to take a stand on the Bible’s view of marriage, it’s gotta be done in a different way, like Sarah was saying, in a loving way. Because what I have noticed so far in this country is that when people protest or have parades supporting gay marriage, it seems okay in society. Yet if Christians had peaceful, non-offensive parades or protests surrounding traditional marriage, I truly believe we would be spit on, have eggs thrown at us (I’m sortof kidding on that last idea) but we would definitely be yelled at and it would be portrayed in the media as “The Christian Right Wing Has Taken an Aggressive Stance Spewing Hate.” I think that this is a time in history where in society it’s ok to publicly say “I’m Pro Gay Marriage” but it is NOT OKAY for people to say “I am not Pro-Gay Marriage”. And as a Christian who does not hate people who are gay, I don’t quite know what to do about that.
thank you so much for your honesty suzanne!! i appreciate it! =)
Love this post Sarah. Mostly because I feel this whole thing has morphed into a Christian vs. homosexuality battle…over one mans conviction. I think it’s a dangerous road for christians to travel down because if we are adamantly tying our consumer affiliations with biblical principles then we’ve got a lot of homework to do.
What about our grocery store presidents?
What about our gas station CEOs?
What about our nail salons and hair stylists?
yes. thank you julianna. it’s why i don’t boycott things. Im guessing that most people i purchase things from disagree with me in some way but we all gotta live in this big crazy world. but that’s just me… =)