Reader Question: Will LGBTQ people be going to hell, regardless of their faith?

As a pastor, how do you feel about the LBGTQ situation . Do you think that God sends people like myself (who is bi) to hell even if I believe in Him with all of my heart? -Jaime

Hey Jaime, thanks for the question!

Short answer, no. I do not believe that being LGBTQ earns you a "Go Straight to Hell" card.

Longer version:

Frankly, I think the LGBTQ "situation" stinks. I think a significant portion of our population has gotten the message drilled into them that they are especially "damned" due to their sexuality, and it has become such a huge part of the "religious" message that it becomes difficult to even have a conversation on the subject anymore.

Let's roll with the assumption, just for a second, that the sexual urges that come with being LGBTQ are more inherently sinful than those felt by hetero folks. While I do not feel that is a safe assumption to make, let's make it here, anyway, just for the sake of argument.

Why exactly would that sin be more damning than any other?

The most common reply I have heard to that question is that LGBTQ folks are "unrepentant" sinners. Well, ok. So is the executive who keeps greedily taking money from the poor, or the parent who repeatedly rages at kids who play a better little league game than their child. Yet you never see people carrying "God Hates Overbearing Parents" posters at funerals.

So why THIS sin, assuming it is inherently sinful at all?

Simple: Preaching against sin is hard. Pastors are often encouraged to be "hard on sin" by their churches, and yet find themselves in a predicament. Preaching a hard line against sin often means poking a finger at the people who pay your paycheck. When most people say; "Be tough on sin" what they actually mean is; "Be tough on someone ELSE'S sin."

This is because we know our whole story. Sure I can be greedy from time to time, but that's because I'm scared of the money running out. Yeah, I may yell a little, but I deal with a lot of frustration. Yeah, I lied again, but the truth would have been worse. Other people, though, are just sinful jerks who need to have the fear of hellfire put into them.

So to a Pastor who wants to preach a sermon that is "tough on sin" actually picking a sin that won't alienate a member of your congregation can be difficult. But if you assume that LGBTQ sexuality is sinful, then you have an out... because while everyone in your congregation has lied, yelled, stolen, etc., they have not ALL been gay.

So it gets preached against. A lot. And overtime, it became the "big" one. 

I do not believe that an LGBTQ lifestyle is inherently sinful, or at least, no more so than the heterosexual lifestyle (which, as well all know, is no punched ticket to sainthood.) 

What I do, believe, Jaime, is that God loves you, and that heaven would be a little bit less without you.

DFTBA