In the time that I've been serving the Lord in the ministry, I've delivered hundreds of messages (sermons) on this topic or that. Yet, while the words I have delivered are engrained in the recesses of my spirit, only a few remain so real and so pertinent that I can scarcely get them out of my mind.

One of those sermons, which I delivered about a year and a half ago, came out of John 6. To this day, the very thought of it leaves me shaking my head in utter disappointment at how little we've progressed from a rag-tag group of people who were more interested in following fanfare and something new and exciting than in seeking after truth. We convince ourselves that we love God so much, yet when that love is tried theologically, we run for the hills.

Christians want to be told what they want to hear. Sadly, it's an aspect of our human nature that we don't often leave behind when we are born again. And what is it that we want to hear? We want to hear that God loves us. We want to hear that the God within us greater than he who is in the world. We want to hear that God has made us more than conquerors. We want to hear that He wants us to prosper and be in good health as our souls prosper. We want to hear that God is going to work everything out for our good.

We want to hear these things because they tickle our emotions. They ensure us that all the hell we endure on this earth is temporal, and that there's an ultimate destiny that God has in mind for us that transcends all that we've experienced or even considered to this point. We want to believe. We want to have hope. We want it so much that we cannot tolerate such thoughts being challenged.

But, the truth is we're terrified. We're terrified that God is not who we've chosen to believe that He is. Just look around. Some churches don't even teach from a Bible anymore. It's all about painting a picture of God that looks the way we want Him to look. We've created Him in our own image and after our own likeness because it's what we've wanted to believe.

To racists, God honors their race above all others. There's something special about being a male to a male chauvinist, and of being a female to a female chauvinist. And something that should hit home to most of the people reading this article, to homophobic people, God hates (or at the very least despises) homosexuals and/or homosexuality. To the existentialist, He despises absolutely nothing; and to the New Ager, we are God. Even to many gay people, He's affirming, not because His word said so, but simply because it's what we want to believe.

For too many Christians, God is the great changeling—Playdough the Divine, who becomes whomever we desire at the moment. It's no longer about who His word says He is. It's about who we want Him to be. We take His word and use it to justify our beliefs about God, rather than allowing the word to define our beliefs.

Scripture warned us that these times would come. The apostle Paul told us in 2Ti. 4:3 that "the time will come when they [people] will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." He said that we'd not only depart from sound doctrine, but that there would be no shortage of people would tell the folks exactly what they wanted to hear.

But, according to the apostle, there's a remedy. "Preach the word! Be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." In other words, he challenged (and commanded) the ministers of God's word to preach it when the people wanted to hear it (in season), and when they didn't (out of season); to encourage people to take action (exhortation) and to stop an action (reproof and rebuke); to faithfully and consistently tell it like it is and leave nothing out (all longsuffering and doctrine). This is the charge that the men and women of God have, but I fear that we so often fall short.

We've allowed the offering basket to change what we say and how we say it. We're afraid to offend because we've ultimately been after two things—numbers in the pews and numbers in the offering plates. We've held back the unadulterated word of truth because we've feared the reaction of the people should we have something to say that they didn't want to hear.

This past Sunday, one of the passages I referenced in my sermon was Neh. 8:9, which says that when the people heard the word of God—the Law—they wept. They didn't shout for joy that God loved them enough to send a word. They lifted their voices and wept because what they were being told was not what they wanted to hear. Thankfully, the prophet spoke anyway; but how many preachers and teachers of Scripture are doing the same today? How many people in the pews want God's word so much that no matter how it comes, they'll receive it because it's God's word?

"[The people who will ultimately be deceived by the Antichrist] are perishing because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

2Thessalonians 2:10

The people are perishing—sitting in the pews, yet still falling away (2Th. 2:3) because they do not love the truth. They are not so in love with God's truth that it doesn't matter what is said, as long as it's from God. They've exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Ro. 1:25) because the lie sounded better!

The Lord must come to our rescue because many of us don't even realize that such a rebuke describes us. We've convinced ourselves that just because we're around, we're okay. Just because we're at church, we love the truth. My brother/sister, this isn't necessarily so. These people Paul spoke about will perish not because they didn't attend church, but because they didn't love the truth more than their personal image of who God is and what He should be like. Their God sounded better. He was more palatable and flavorful, so they rejected the truth and worshiped a figment of their imagination instead, thoroughly convinced that it was truly God—a deception, indeed.

Let's look at John 6 and see why this message has remained in the forefront of my mind and heart for so long. This is going to be a rather long quotation, but I implore you to read it in its entirety. It's so rich and powerful!

"They saw that Jesus and his disciples had left. Then they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.  [25]  They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"  [26]  Jesus answered, "I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate all the food you wanted.  [27]  Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so."  [28]  "What exactly does God want us to do?" the people asked.  [29]  Jesus answered, "God wants you to have faith in the one he sent."  [30]  They replied, "What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do?  [31]  For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, 'God gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "  [32]  Jesus then told them, "I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven.  [33]  And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world."  [34]  The people said, "Lord, give us this bread and don't ever stop!"  [35]  Jesus replied: I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.  [36]  I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me.  [37]  Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.  [38]  I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me,  [39]  and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.  [40]  My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.  [41]  The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven.  [42]  They were asking each other, "Isn't he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?"  [43]  Jesus told them: Stop grumbling!  [44]  No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day.  [45]  One of the prophets wrote, "God will teach all of them." And so everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me.  [46]  The only one who has seen the Father is the one who has come from him. No one else has ever seen the Father.  [47]  I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in me has eternal life.  [48]  I am the bread that gives life!  [49]  Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, and later they died.  [50]  But the bread from heaven has come down, so that no one who eats it will ever die.  [51]  I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread that I give to the people of this world.  [52]  They started arguing with each other and asked, "How can he give us his flesh to eat?"  [53]  Jesus answered: I tell you for certain that you won't live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.  [54]  But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day.  [55]  My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink.  [56]  If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.  [57]  The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me.  [58]  The bread that comes down from heaven isn't like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.  [59]  Jesus was teaching in a Jewish place of worship in Capernaum when he said these things.  [60]  Many of Jesus' disciples heard him and said, "This is a hard saying. Who is able to receive such a teaching?"  [61]  Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, "Does this bother you?  [62]  What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from?  [63]  The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit.  [64]  But some of you refuse to have faith in me." Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him.  [65]  Then Jesus said, "You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you."  [66]  Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him.  [67]  Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they were going to leave him.  [68]  Simon Peter answered, "Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life.  [69]  We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God's Holy One."

John 6:24-69

The first time I read this passage and really let it speak to me, it just broke my heart into pieces. During this time, Jesus has a well known ministry in the area of Capernaum. He's known for performing miracles and for healing people, so He has quite a mass of people following Him. At the start of the passage, the people are actually seeking Him out because He kinda snuck off in the middle of the night. (The previous night is when He walked on water and crossed over to the other side of the lake with His disciples.)

The people finally locate Him; but Jesus realizes that they're not really looking for Him as much as they're looking for more miracles. At this point, their zeal isn't about who He is, but what they can get from Him. There may be multitudes around Him, but few are truly with Him.

This sad fact is brought to the forefront when Jesus makes a statement that they find hard to grasp. He teaches that they must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood in order to have eternal life. Looking back, we obviously recognize that He's referring to the symbolic representation of the body and blood in the elements of Holy Communion. But, these people don't have the privilege of hindsight. They hear His words, don't like what they're hearing, and desert Jesus. Signs and wonders be damned. He just said something they didn't like.

It's really amazing that they could have responded as they did. Jesus had recently fed this very same multitude with a young boy's lunch. They'd been the beneficiaries of His teachings. They knew that He was a man of God. Yet, when He taught something that they didn't want to receive, none of that history mattered enough.

The truly heart wrenching part of the story is Jesus' response. Looking around at this huge multitude of people deserting Him, He turned to His twelve disciples and, with an obviously broken heart, asked, "Are you going to leave, too?" We like to think of this larger-than-life Jesus who didn't have the range of feelings that we have; but truly, Jesus was all man at the same time that He was all God. He felt as we feel; and seeing these people that He'd been ministering to—people who only moments ago crossed a lake to find Him—desert Him after a single teaching that they didn't want to hear, it broke His heart.

It's amazing because it reminds me so much of how I felt when I lost half of my congregation after coming out of the closet and making the church gay affirming. They didn't want to hear the theology behind the decision. All they knew was that they didn't want to have anything to do with it. Truth didn't matter. I wasn't saying what they wanted to hear. The years of teaching didn't matter. The anointing upon my life that they would have attested to just one week before wasn't enough. This single issue was more than they could stomach. Like this multitude, they said, "This is a hard saying. Who is able to receive such a teaching?" They turned tail and ran for the hills.

Even since then, some of those who remained questioned whether or not I should have taught affirming theology at all, out of concern for my flock (knowing that it would push some of my sheep out of the door). They wondered if, for the sake of the people (ultimately, the people who left), I should have refrained from teaching something that these people obviously weren't ready to hear. I responded to that concern with two points.

1. While I'm ignoring the truth for the sake of people who will never be ready to hear it, what happens to all of the gay people who are dying spiritually for fear that God hates them?
   
2. Did Jesus withhold the truth out of "concern" that people wouldn't want to receive what He had to say? Was He more concerned about some (or even most) of the sheep sticking around than He was about putting the truth out there and giving people an opportunity to choose to accept or reject it? Did God restrain from setting before people the choice between life or death, or did He let them choose, while encouraging them to choose life (Deut. 30:19)?

Most affirming people would perceive the desertion of half of my congregation as a clear example of homophobia. These people obviously hated gay people, and their hatred drove them away. I, on the other hand, don't see it that way. What drove them away was fear, not hatred. Certainly, that fear was fueled by ignorance about the nature of human sexuality; but it was fear, not hatred, that drove them away. It was the same fear that gripped this multitude of people following Jesus. It's the same fear that's gripping the corporate Christian body, preventing it from opening its arms to the gay community.

(Technically, fear, rather than hatred, is the very definition of homophobia. From this perspective, it was, indeed, homophobia in its purest sense that my congregants displayed. However, in popular usage, homophobia refers more to the detestation of homosexuality and homosexuals than it does to fear and ignorance about it; therefore, I choose not to characterize these people's response as homophobia.)

But, what exactly is it that we, as a corporate body, are so afraid of? To put it simply, we're afraid that we could be wrong. We're afraid that something we've believed for so long—for so many generations—could be so horribly inconsistent with the heart of God. We're afraid that a face value reading of Scripture is not sufficient for discerning biblical truth. We're afraid to have to look again. We're afraid to have to change.

This fear has crippled us. It has turned a body that is supposed to be characterized by unfeigned love into a body of condemnation and cruel judgment. It has turned the followers of Christ into the very Pharisees that He opposed time and time again during His earthly ministry. It has turned the Church into a mouthpiece for Beelzebub—speaking cursings rather than blessings, self-righteous judgment rather than grace. Oh how the mighty are fallen!

But we don't have to stay in this place. God has not consigned us to the darkness of our vain religiosity. He has, through Scripture, provided us with a remedy for this crippling and destructive fear.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."

1John 4:18

This passage makes it glaringly obvious that the Church has not perfected love, for the fact that we are still driven by fear testifies against the purity of our supposed love. It's amazingly and terribly sad that the singlemost important element that defines us as Christians is the very mark we are still stumbling at. After 2,000 years, perfect love still eludes us.

What does that say of our passionate faith? What does that say of our supposed love of the truth? It says that we have deceived ourselves. It says that we still have a long way to go when it comes to mastering the most fundamental of truths—that we cannot love God if we do not love our brother, and that we cannot truly love our brother, if we are not moved out of our place of comfort to at least give due consideration to a theological perspective that affirms them, removing the cloud of guilt and shame that the Church's ignorance has hung over them for generations!

Dearest friend, we don't have to be afraid. We don't have to fear the truth so much that we risk accepting a lie. From the affirming Christians to the non-affirming ones, we don't have to be afraid that what we want to believe will not survive a reexamination. Truly, it may not; but we've got to decide what we want more—God's truth, or our truth.

As it relates to affirming theology, I'm not asking that you accept it out of hand. I'm only asking that you listen... that you listen to the evidence, contemplate it, pray about it, weigh it according to the Scriptures, and decide in good faith and conscience what God would have you to believe. How can such a petition be rejected? How can such a call go unanswered?

Let go of the fear. Let love be perfected in your heart. Reexamine this issue, and see if, perchance, you've been wrong all this time. Let God be God, and let His truth be the aim of your heart.

Look again, Christian... Look again!