Homosexuals, Marriage, and the Kingdom
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
Rainbows are appearing all over social media. There seems to a wide gap between traditional Christianity and inclusive believers, and I hope this little dream parable may help to bridge the gap. It's how I reconciled embracing homosexuals into my culture. For me, it was like stepping into God's shoes and racing into the heart of the plague.
Breaking my own illusions has been a large part of my journey to freedom, simply seeing how God sees things. Anyway, here's what I saw and I welcome your thoughts…
It was all hustle and bustle in the castle hallways as the king's top advisers gathered to quickly confer. The King, who had been away for a very long time, had suddenly announced his imminent arrival. The castle was always kept groomed in immaculate, sterile and hygienic condition, because the King could be due back at any moment.
Today, though, the advisers were caught unprepared. Literally. Totally. Unprepared. The castle was ready, but the surrounding community was in total chaos!
"We must keep the King within the castle walls!" cried the top adviser. " There was a deadly plague going on outside the walls. "The King must not be exposed to the contagious, vile diseases!" concurred a second adviser.
Before they could conclude their meeting the King was suddenly in their midst, standing quietly in the back. They continued talking, ignoring His presence!
The King briskly mounted the platform and silenced the commotion. He reiterated his mission to visit his people, with a slight note of frustration in his firm voice. The advisers were so accustomed to being in full control, they could hardly sit and be still, to listen to their King.
"You don't understand how delicate of a situation this is…" piped in the top adviser.
"Oh, I understand quite well. I left you in charge of my village, didn't I? Did you not think that I would be keeping tabs on this "situation" as you call it?
Now open the gates. I am going out! I must see my people!" announced the King.
The advisers' jobs were on the line, for they now realized the King's true heart was for the people, not for the castle and its extensive properties and assets! Not even for the laws of the land! With the desperation of men who knew their heads could well be on the chopping block, they rushed out the gate running ahead of the King.
Shouting in a chorus of mostly male voices, "The King is coming. Make way for the King!" the advisers fanned out through the city streets, preparing the way for the King's visit.
The town's people and country peasants raised their weary faces in hope. Could it be true? The long-awaited arrival of the King was their last hope. They had been perishing, dying by the hundreds because the Plague! They had been languishing, just barely holding on, for centuries!
The tithes they paid to the castle, in the name of the King, had put a heavy strain on their already meager budgets. The King's advisers required them to volunteer to support the castle's fine buildings and decorations. The King never told the advisers to do that – but it lined their own wallets nicely enough. The people barely had time to cook their meager meals and their latch-key children roamed wild in the streets, raising themselves. Pure chaos!
Feebly, the sickest ones hobbled to the edge of the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the King. The advisers were horrified that poor, sickly people could well be in a position to touch the King with their dirty hands. The advisers had worked so hard making just the right videos and writing positive "state of the union" reports to promote their own departments. They were climbing up the corporate ladder to attain their positions of leadership on the backs of the people they were appointed to serve!
With the efficiency born of years of ruling the King's people through fear and manipulation, they ordered the sick people to immediately to vacate the premises. They explained the rules: Only the strongest, healthiest people could see the King's face. Each adviser carried a list of people who were allowed to see the King and who were not allowed to see the King. It was important to maintain the appearance that all was well.
At the top of the "do not see" list were the homosexuals, the disabled, the poverty-stricken, the diseased. All of these, the advisers pulled forcefully off the streets and quarantined.
The thunder of horse's hooves in full gallop shook the pavement as the King charged into the village. To everyone's amazement he dismounted and entered the middle of the worst district, into the very heart of the plague. It was the worst part of the village, a filthy and vile place. The advisers were alarmed. Their jobs were definitely on the line.
The King would be defiled! He was not supposed to touch or have contact with anyone "unholy". Wasn't that the way it was supposed to be? Strict orders. Only holy people could see the King.
Outraged, the King looked back and forth between the advisers and the crowd, crying out:
"I have come to seek and to save those who are lost. I have come to free you from the heavy loads your leaders have saddled you with! Bring me the homosexuals, the lame, the disabled, the blind. Bring me those with broken hearts. The depressed. The beaten down. The outcasts of society. Those on death row. Bring them to me now!"
Looking back at the advisers the King declared, "I gave you ALL MY AUTHORITY to conduct the business of the Kingdom here on earth. I told you I would be gone and I would come back. Do you not yet know me??? How can it be that you missed your true purpose here in earth?
I commissioned you to go OUT to all the world, to heal the sick, to mend broken hearts, to set the captives free. But instead you created castles and moats. You separated yourselves from the masses. You created divisions. You made them feel less holy than you.
By now, there should no longer be any poor!
After more than 2000 years there should no longer be any victims of abuse!
If you really understood your mission, there should no longer be any sin or sickness! I have given you ALL MY AUTHORITY to stamp out poverty and oppression of all kinds. Now you have government programs actually causing HARM to my people, actually giving them food that will bring disease, pain, and death.
How could this have happened in what used to be a "Christian" nation? My people have fallen asleep!
I sent the Teacher to you to show you how to get my business done. You didn't want him to be in control. You took control and manipulated it for your own purposes. You made up your own rules. You twisted the written instructions I left behind, that is the letters you still have left, to your own advantage.
YOU are responsible for this plague. By silencing the broken ones, blaming the victims, shaming the abused you have sided with this evil. Partners in crime.
YOU are responsible for poverty, sickness, abuse, broken hearts, and the bondage that oppresses helpless victims. You are the gatekeepers. What comes through you, for good for for bad, comes to my people.
Through misinformation and the spreading of malicious propaganda you have even tried to slander my reputation. You presented a picture of me that does not bear any resemblance to me or my Kingdom.
You created a kingdom that is opposite of all I represent. You are no longer my representatives. I am selecting new ambassadors.
I am here to set things right. The first will be last, and the last will be first. I am separating my people right now, right here.
Goats on my left. Sheep on my right. You want to know, who are the sheep?
My sheep hear my voice! My sheep know my heart!
My sheep follow and obey me, even in the littlest of things, like offering a cup of water to a thirsty person.
They speak up for the oppressed! They set prisoners free! They don't charge for their services."
The advisers began to feel relieved and hopeful. After all, they were champions of charitable giving! They were veterans of the war on poverty!
The top adviser confidently stood next to the King, being very careful to avoid eye contact with the sinners not crowding the streets. With a puffed chest he announced how many millions his administration had given to far off ministries overseas. He pulled out his I-phone and and clicked on a video of his latest missionary adventure, showing a picture of himself next to some orphans wearing tattered clothes. At the bottom of the screen was a website with the "apostle's" name in bold letters and a donation icon right below it. Across the top of the screen was a hotline selling the latest books published by his ministry.
The King barely looked up from the young man he was holding in his arms, but his voice struck the advisers with a force that nearly knocked them down to their knees:
"Get out of here! Now! I never knew you. Your so-called acts of charity were not authorized by me. You were simply using my name to get more money for yourself, to line your own pockets! Now get out!"
Not a sound could be heard in the street. It was his eyes. There was fire in his eyes and fire poured from his mouth. A holy fear struck the crowd and no one said a word.
The advisers stepped quickly away and departed.
The King continued this way through the crowd, stopping most often in front of the people who were least recognized and who had endured the most abuse. Rejected. Abandoned. Betrayed. Left for dead. Lonely. Forgotten.
As each person was touched they arose, healed. They were given instructions to go and do the same.
They were not to take money for this ministry. Freely they received and freely they were to give.
All that they needed was given to them, day by day. The King told them that just as his people from centuries ago traveled through the wilderness with nothing but tents – no farms, no vineyards, no cattle and sheep – they would receive provision as they walked on The Way.
He told them, "This is the way home. Take care of the person in front of you. Meet their needs. Smile. Laugh. Tell a joke. Make a friend. Believe and all things shall be possible to you. Just believe. Share this good news with your friends and people you meet.
I've come to give you a much-needed rest from religion. Learn from me. Watch how I do it. Then go and do the same. No heavy loads to carry.
I'm taking the heavy burden, not you.
No sickness. I took that too.
No poverty. You can get rid of the welfare system.
No more wars either. You can stop building massive arms and armies.
I am here now. I'm setting things right. I am here. I've come for my Bride.
Like me, she has been abandoned. Betrayed. Rejected. Left for dead. Like me, death can no longer hold her. She is rising up. She is using my authority to set things right. I will never leave again, dear friends."
It's a divine wake up call, my dear friend! We are to be about our Father's business!
It's time this nation unbuckles our Christianity. We need to instead belt ourselves with the Truth (Ephesians 6). The belt holds all the armor in place!
How? Truth well worth contemplating: Ezekiel 34 ~ Matthew 24-25 ~ Matthew 11 ~ Micah 6 ~ Isaiah 61
"Learn to do good. Seek justice. Arrest oppressors. Defend orphans. Plead the case of widows." (Isaiah 1:17)
As for homosexuals, marriage, and equality… there would be no need for this debate if Christians were busy about their Father's business doing exactly as the King commanded in this story.
Perhaps instead of entering the debate, forming judgments "for" or "against" we need to examine our own hearts. The King is indeed here and He's watching. He wants to go into the heart of the Plague and homosexuals are at the top of His list. Because the adviser's had homosexuals at the top of their list – to quarantine, to shun, to mock, to revile. The first will be last, and the last will be first!
Marriage was never meant to be a function of government policy. It's purely a private matter lived out in community of God's family, biblically speaking. But that's a whole 'nother story. The Bride of Christ is arising out of abuse, out of the fires of persecution and with her Bridegroom she is speaking up, crying out for justice, and setting things right in this world. She is taking responsibility not just for her own home, but also for her "tribe," her "clan," and her "nation".
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With all my love,
Sue
Copyright © 2010 to 2015 Team Family Online, All rights reserved. For reprint permission or for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Totally agree with the article, and the heart in which it is written. WE are the church! we shouldn't be intimidated by the challenges of people that are different than us! Lance Wallnau once said something like "When the world sees Real Love – the Father's Real Love, such contentions won't exist anymore. I do know why some gay people are angry too- because they have legitimately been bullied and perhaps turn to political ways of getting some power back, but it is the King, as you have said, that ultimately will empower them!
Amen, well said, Ben! Thank you for affirming my story and me – I appreciate hearing your perspective! 🙂
Amen – thank you.
An article by Andrew Comiskey explaining the core of same sex attraction and also narcissism, offering a perspective on how a man can leave his loving wife, a 20-year marriage, and three teenage sons – plus a leadership role in Focus on the Family to return to a gay lifestyle: http://andrewcomiskey.com/core-of-same-gender-attraction/
This is probably the best article I've read that explains homosexuality and narcissism, both.
An article with Amy Grant regarding her large gay fan base…. http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=59691
I realize there is a political facet to this subject, but I chose to address it at its root, which I believe is spiritual. There are multiple lenses to view this topic through… I've just taken a look through this one particular lens. I hope everyone will free free to share their own views, in love and respect for all people.