The reason he committed suicide is because he was being bullied and no one could do anything to stop it or protect him from its harm. Yes, bullying is harmful - it is destructive...and as far as I am concerned it is "soul rape." Bullying is a direct frontal attack on a person and their worth...their value...and just as physical rape does much damage to a person because of the emotional and physical trauma, bullying does damage to the person's soul and their emotional state. So, as a lover of God and disciple of Christ, why should I care about this issue or about this young man and his family? After all, he was "gay," and the Word of God clearly states that "being gay is a sin" - (that is a fact that almost all Bible believing Christians will state emphatically and with some degree of smugness and pride because they or the members of their family are not like that). I will not respond to that in this post; however, there is some truth that I do want to state and defend...
- Regardless of our spiritual beliefs concerning the issue of homosexuality, as Bible believing God loving Christ following disciples we should hate the injustice of bullying and be "shining lights in a dark world" proclaiming the message of hope and love in Christ that we have. And we should stand up and our voices be heard in regards to the matter of bullying as it is unjust and wrong...regardless of who is being bullied or as my friend Elizabeth Bennett writes in her book, Peer Abuse Know More...who is being "abused." I agree with her that bullying is a form of abuse against another person and as believers we should be taking a biblical stand concerning this issue.
- Believers in America MUST address the issue of homosexuality in a Biblical and loving manner, and not, as many have, in a judgmental and condemning manner...as though we are better than them because we are believers and they are not. We are NOT better...however, we ARE different because Christ has saved us and made us new creations. We are different because we have been "born again" (John 3:7) and because of that fact, of all the people who are on the earth, we should be the most loving and the least condemning and judgmental of all people. And lest you recoil at my statement with indignation or pride don't forget that gluttons (that's people who eat too much); the covetous, (people who want what others have and are not content with what God has given them), drunkards, revilers, swindlers, liars, thieves, the proud or arrogant, and all others who reject the Lordship of Christ will not inherit eternal life either. I Corinthians 6:9-11). Man looks on the outward appearance and makes faulty and erroneous judgments and decisions, while God looks on the heart. (I Samuel 16:7). And thank you God for that fact. It is one of the many reasons that I love you so much and am so amazed by the excellencies and glories of your person and your works and that you would care about a sinful man such as I enough to save me.
- Being "gay" is not "gay!" For the most part it is not a happy life for homosexuals. There are exceptions to every rule; however, most homosexuals if they are honest with themselves and others will tell you it is a very lonely, difficult and often times painful life to live -constantly facing rejection and hate and being bullied and abused - whether at school, at work, or on the Internet. And in far too many cases if a homosexual reaches out to someone at a Bible teaching church, they will not fare much better. They are told they are going to Hell if they do not repent and accept Christ and that they need to change their life and lifestyle (the gospel of "DO"); rather than being given the message, come as you are with all of your sin and brokenness and call upon the name of the Lord for salvation by faith, and you shall be saved, (the gospel of "DONE!) It is with a broken heart and to our shame that I write this.
So, how do we as believers respond then?
- We speak the whole counsel of the Word of God in love and in truth. We do not back down from Biblical truth to accommodate ANY sin in the world including gluttony, lying, swindling stealing and others; however, our methods of sharing the gospel as well as our message must be one that is solidly and consistently biblical. We must proclaim the whole gospel of Christ; the Word of truth and hope, without shame or fear to all people who are perishing in their sin regardless of who or what they are so that God might save some. And save some he will. But let us not play God and decide who gets to hear the truth of God's Word and who gets the chance to accept Christ and be saved and who does not. Let us take the gospel of salvation and hope to everyone and anyone we can including the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered) community, praying as we do that God will use his word to save those who are lost and perishing.
- We must not just be hearers of the word only, but we must also be doers of the word (James 1:22). In our postmodern, me first, (self centered and self absorbed) world of people including believers we must stop living like we do. And sadly, yes, there are many so-called professing believers who are self centered and self absorbed living as enemies of the gospel of Christ whose god is their belly and who seek to only live for and please themselves with a little dose of Jesus and the Word added to their lives once a week but then have little or no time for Jesus Christ and others during the rest of the week. God have mercy on us as his people and break our hearts for the lost and give us a holy passion to preach the gospel to everyone and anyone...and not to just the "beautiful people," or people with money or status, or people who fit our mold as to who would be a "good Christian" and who would not. It is not our call to make. The call as to who will inherit eternal life is God's and we best get that point deeply ingrained in our hearts and start living like we believe it is true and sharing the gospel like there is no tomorrow, for their just might not be for some of the people we are preaching to. And to whom shall God send us and where shall we go with the message of the gospel? We should...no we must go to everyone and anyone including:
- The poor, the homeless, the needy, the downtrodden, the "lepers" and all who are rejected by society
- To those in prison regardless of their crime
- The rich, the mighty, the powerful, the "beautiful people"
- The LGBT community (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered)
- The religious - though they are the hardest to reach because of their "self" righteousness. They do not think they need Christ's righteousness because they have so much of their own.
I feel very sad for this young man who committed suicide and his family and pray for them as I do others in a similar situation. I also pray that we as God's people will awaken from our spiritual slumber and be shaken out of our spiritual stupor. We must be awakened to the urgent reality that when Jesus Christ came to earth as the God-man, (God and man in one - it is referred to as "the Incarnation"); as the Messiah and Savior, that the "Kingdom of Heaven" had arrived and that his life, death, resurrection and ascension indicated that the end times have come and very soon he will be returning to earth again as the King of all Kings, Lord of all Lords and judge and ruler of all the earth. And those who have believed on his name and whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will inherit eternal life and those whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be cast into the "Lake of Fire" which is the second death, and for all eternity suffer in the flames of Hell being separated from God.
If you are a member of the LGBT community, to you I would say, that I am sorry if the church of Jesus Christ in the US as a whole has rejected, neglected and abandoned you or given you a message of condemnation, judgmentalism and hatred, rather than one of hope and help through faith in our glorious resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I apologize on behalf of the church for our sins against you and pray you will forgive us where we as God's people have failed you. And if you are a member of the LGBT community and you are being bullied or you want someone you can share what you are going through with, feel free to reach out to me. My email address is haroldcameron56@gmail.com. If your message is urgent or important please write that in the subject line as it normally takes me up to 3 days to respond to regular emails. And if you are a minor under the age of 18, please have an adult reach out to me on your behalf first so that I can communicate with you. That is to protect you as well as to help me so that I am avoiding the very appearance of impropriety or evil as a lover of God and disciple of Christ. My only desire and goal is to help anyone and everyone I can in any way that I possibly can by the strength that God gives me for his glory and his glory alone.
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