There is no such thing as a fake reflection. The reflections we see in the mirror are what we truly look like, whether we like it or not. There are definitely good and bad reflections. A good reflection would be when we are awake, showered, made-up, dressed, and ready for the day. A bad reflection would be one that we see when we are sick or have just woken up. As Christians, we are supposed to be reflecting Jesus on a daily basis. We have good days and we have bad days. We have days where we do a great job in reflecting Jesus and we have days where we fail miserably. Thankfully there is grace to forgive us and help us face a new day.
Yesterday was Chick Fil A appreciation day as declared by Mike Huckabee on facebook. Thousands of people around the country came out to support the fast food restaurant amid a media storm over CEO Dan Cathy's comments about his support of traditional marriage. It seemed like a great day for evangelical Christians to support what they believe in. But, the mirror reflects a harsh reality.
The Huffington Post published an article that showed another side to this controversial event (you can read the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/chick-fil-a-anti-gay-controversy-employees-speak-out_n_1729968.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=080212&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeaturePhoto&utm_term=Daily+Brief&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=2540044,b=facebook). The Huffington Post interviewed some workers of Chick Fil A who happen to be homosexual. Obviously they did not agree with the CEO's comments, but that was not the bigger issue. The bigger issue was what these employees had to listen to from the mouths of the supposed, passionate followers of Christ. For example, one employee had to hear this: "I support your company because your company hates the gays." It was not specified who said this quote to this particular employer, but I don't think that matters. This was supposed to be a rallying cry for the evangelical right, so it is probably safe to assume that the person who said this goes to a church with his or her family and probably claims to be an evangelical Christian.
Have we forgotten who Jesus was and what he did? Have we gone so far away from the Biblical Jesus? Whenever controversies like this one arise, we Christians pull out our swords like Peter in the garden and start cutting off every ear we can reach, defending our King (at least that's what we think we are doing). We fight for our rights and we fight to be right. We go to church on Sunday and read our Bibles, looking down on the Pharisees who just didn't get it. My question is, "Are we looking in the mirror?"
We look down on the Pharisees and religious leaders because we think that we are more righteous than they are and we know better. However, we are acting just like them! We are creating enemies out of our neighbors and Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors. If Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan today, I would not be surprised if he used a homosexual in the place of the Samaritan. If he did this, would we be shocked? Would we label Jesus as a heretic? if so, then we are showing our true reflection.
i am not saying that I have changed my stance on homosexuality and am embracing the lifestyle. I still hold to the Biblical view of marriage and I always will. I still know that the Bible speaks against the homosexual lifestyle as a sin just like it does lying, cheating, stealing, drunkenness, idolatry, lust, adultery, etc. What I am saying is that we need to understand who our enemies are, Satan and sin. Those are our enemies not other human beings. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, period!
I was planning on eating at Chick Fil A yesterday and I am thankful that I did not. I want to lead people to Jesus not repel them. I want to love people because they are people not because they are like me. As Christians in this country we need to take a long hard look in the mirror because I think we will be surprised at what we see. We may think we are reflecting Jesus, but in reality we might be reflecting the Pharisees that we like to look down upon.
Jesus was passionate about people. The Pharisees were passionate about their religion. Jesus drew people near; the Pharisees burdened people. Homosexuals are not the enemy. They do not need our self-righteousness; they need Jesus. They need the new life that is found only in Jesus. They need to be loved and treated like human beings.
