Whenever Christians speak out their views on the LGBT community, they are automatically labelled as hateful bigots. But Christian blogger Matt Barber says Christians are actually displaying loving behaviour when they do so because they want people to know the truth.
"If your daughter, sister, mother or friend 'identified' as a fat person trapped in a perilously emaciated body — if she truly believed she was obese, but, in reality, suffered from anorexia — would you affirm her 'fatness' and get her liposuction, or would you go to the ends of the earth to help her bring her subjective (and mistaken) identity into alignment with objective reality?" Barber writes in an op-ed piece for The Christian Post.
When someone is engaged in self-destructive behaviour, Barber says it is not loving to encourage them to go on that path without warning them of the consequences.
Contrary to what others might think, Barber says he loves self-identified LGBT individuals because Jesus Christ loved them. "I love them because, like them, I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. They are under deception. The enemy of man is the father of lies, and he prowls like a lion seeking to both deceive and devour us all," he says.
He also understands what it's like to struggle with same-sex attraction, and to adopt a different sexual identity. Barber shares that a close family member has been stricken down by AIDS, and while he loves him, he cannot accept this family member's lifestyle.
"I would be hurting him, not helping him," says Barber. "If you truly love someone, you should never, ever encourage them in a demonstrably destructive and subjective 'gay,' 'lesbian,' 'bisexual' or 'transgender' identity. Love them unconditionally, but encourage them to find freedom from it."
Barber says Christians who put their foot down on this issue can spell the difference between life and death for sinners, adding that standing up for the truth is true compassion.
