Hell God's plan for LGBTQ community? Folau, The Rainbow and The Churches Greatest Heresy / A.J. Hendry

He said it with such simple matter of factness…

Like the words had been repeated and rehashed over and over again in his mind so many times that he had forgotten their potency.

“I remember the first time I cut myself…” He confessed as if commenting on the fact that the sky was blue. “I put a blade to my wrist and screamed at the heavens…

‘God if you love me…

... save me from this.”

The words were meant to shock me….

They did.

The rest of his story hinted at the Almighties response.

God had been silent.

And as that young person told me of how his blood had dripped to the floor he said that it had been as if each drop was nailing home the words they had told him.

“GOD CANNOT LOVE YOU!”

“ALL GAYS GO TO HELL!”

Can you imagine believing that this God who you’ve heard about…. This being who is meant to be all loving and all forgiving… holds a special hatred….

Just….

For ….

You.

Take a second to think about that.

How do you think that feels?

Can you feel the self-hatred building inside you?

Can you imagine the shame you might feel at the realization that not only are you rejected by your family, your friends, your society…? You now have also been rejected by God?

Is it little wonder that my friend and had become so overwhelmed with self-loathing and self-hatred that he had on numerous occasions attempted to kill himself?

If you share my faith, then perhaps your response is “well that’s not what we mean. Of course, God loves him, he just hates the sin.”

Yet, my dear brothers and sisters in the church…. What you fail to realize is that when you speak the words “Gays go to hell” what those who do not share your convictions hear is that “God… hates… you”.

One of the biggest lies the Western Church tells itself is that as long as we are able to “justify” our words by using some obscure and misinterpreted texts from our sacred book; that we can say whatever we want, call it love, and that lets us off the hook.

I do not doubt that in his heart Israel Folau believes that he is being faithful to the scriptures - and to the God he serves – when he made his most recent comments regarding God’s plan for Gay people.

Yet, his words expose a heresy which lies at the heart of the Western Church. A heresy of works which contradicts the very teachings of Jesus, and completely misrepresents the God that the Christian church confesses to serve.

It is the lie that God has condemned the LGBTQ community to hell unless they change.

If you are one of God’s beautiful rainbow children, then I need to tell you this.

God’s plan for you is not hell.

He does not hate you.

He is not demanding you change.

He is simply saying come.

I love you.

You’re accepted.

You’re a child of God.

And to my brothers and sisters in the church.

Before you respond I ask you pause and take note of the words of the most truly human being to ever walk this earth. When asked if there was one rule that all humans should follow Jesus responded, “Love God, and by doing so, Love others.”

Love.

It is the supreme ethic.

It is the heart of Christianity.

It is the point.

The young man I mentioned at the beginning of this story is just one of many across our country who are struggling to come to grips with their identity in a world which has so many opinions about who and what they are.

When you are tempted to speak out publicly about sexuality and gender identity I ask you to remember him. A young man who should have been able to find a home in the church. Who should have been able to find safety in the embrace of a loving God.

Yet, instead was rejected and denied the love of God and as a result almost lost his life. Not because of any plan of God’s, but because of our own small-minded hypocrisy.

When we make blanket statements on behalf of God such as “God’s plan for Gays is hell” or recite a single passage out of context ignoring the plain teachings of Jesus, we are not just misrepresenting our God, we are also putting at risk the lives of some of our communities most vulnerable.

What we have meant “in love” has been responsible for stirring up homophobic sentiment which has contracted and opposed the God of Love we serve.

The time has come that we as a church acknowledge the harm we have caused the LGBTQ community. We must take responsibility for the way our words have demeaned, dehumanized and endangered the lives of those from within this community.

We must humbly ask both our God, and our fellow human beings for forgiveness.

For if God is not willing to condemn these beautiful people to hell….

Than why are we?

• A.J. Hendry