{"id":33071,"date":"2013-12-06T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=33071"},"modified":"2015-03-23T14:27:50","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T21:27:50","slug":"an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer"},"content":{"rendered":"

This guest post is by an anonymous person. Even though he is not ashamed of whom he is, he has chosen to remain anonymous to avoid embarrassing family members who are still evolving on these issues. This post was condensed from interviews with our anonymous poster.<\/p>\n

This is Part 4 of 4 Blog Posts from this person. If you missed them, please also read Part 1: I Am Queer<\/a>, Part 2: Don’t Hate Me for Being Queer<\/a>, and Part 3: Queer Christians<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether you agree or disagree with what he says, please be gracious in how you respond.<\/p>\n

An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer<\/h2>\n
\n

Dear Christian,<\/p>\n

If you want to claim the title “Christian,” then try to look and act like Jesus. If you have the idea that you should be looking for sin in anyone, look in the mirror, not at me or at anyone else.<\/p>\n

Shunning me, quoting Bible verses to me, telling me what you think the Bible says (you\u2019re usually wrong), telling me I\u2019m disgusting and an abomination, telling my friends the same things and all the other unloving things you do and say to us has got to stop.<\/p>\n

None of us think you look like Jesus, so if you plan to wear the name, then be who you say you are. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the poor, the orphans and the widows. Love your neighbors, and that includes all of us LGBTQ\u2019s. Even if we frighten you or make you feel uncomfortable, love us. And not just with words. Show us you love us.<\/p>\n

Get to know some addicts, some dealers, some hookers, some human traffickers. Sit down and talk to them. Find the homeless when it\u2019s raining and sit with them. Eat with them. Learn to love all of these people just as they are. Don\u2019t try to change them. If you think other people should change, then talk to Jesus. He\u2019s the only one who can change them. I can\u2019t change them. You can\u2019t either.<\/p>\n

When I was out there in this messy life, walking without Jesus, you did not love me. I wanted nothing to do with you or your religion. You did not come to me. But Jesus did. Jesus found me.<\/p>\n

Get over yourself.\u00a0Look like Jesus, or stop posing as one of his people.<\/p>\n

If you ever decide to really look like Jesus and do the kind of things he did, we\u2019ll notice. Word will get around. Don\u2019t bother telling us. We won\u2019t believe you. Show us. Show us your love. We will know you are a Christian by your love.<\/p>\n

With love,<\/p>\n

Your friend, a Queer<\/p>\n

\"queer<\/p>\n

Do you have questions for me? Do you want to hear more of my story? Make sure you read the other three posts linked to above. If there is enough interest, we can do a Q&A in a future post.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have any LGBTQ friends? Have they ever talked to you about how they view Christians, or the sort of treatment they have received from Christians? This open letter to Christians from a person who identifies himself as queer, calls on us to love rather than hate, for hate does not look like Jesus. Whether Christians agree or disagree with the way this man lives, hate is not the proper Christian response. Go read the letter and then let me know what you think!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2231],"tags":[1258,1259,1262,1680,1682],"class_list":{"0":"post-33071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-redeeming-theology","8":"tag-gay","9":"tag-homosexual","10":"tag-lgbt","11":"tag-looks-like-jesus","12":"tag-queer","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nAn Open Letter to Christians from a Queer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is an open letter to Christians from a man who identifies himself as being queer. He asks us not to hate him for being queer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is an open letter to Christians from a man who identifies himself as being queer. He asks us not to hate him for being queer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-06T16:00:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-23T21:27:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"604\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"295\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-06T16:00:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-23T21:27:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\"},\"wordCount\":501,\"commentCount\":46,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"gay\",\"homosexual\",\"lgbt\",\"looks like Jesus\",\"queer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Redeeming Theology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\",\"name\":\"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-06T16:00:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-23T21:27:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"This is an open letter to Christians from a man who identifies himself as being queer. He asks us not to hate him for being queer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg\",\"width\":604,\"height\":295,\"caption\":\"queer christian\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer","description":"This is an open letter to Christians from a man who identifies himself as being queer. He asks us not to hate him for being queer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer","og_description":"This is an open letter to Christians from a man who identifies himself as being queer. He asks us not to hate him for being queer.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2013-12-06T16:00:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-23T21:27:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":604,"height":295,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer","datePublished":"2013-12-06T16:00:44+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-23T21:27:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/"},"wordCount":501,"commentCount":46,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg","keywords":["gay","homosexual","lgbt","looks like Jesus","queer"],"articleSection":["Redeeming Theology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/","name":"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-06T16:00:44+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-23T21:27:50+00:00","description":"This is an open letter to Christians from a man who identifies himself as being queer. He asks us not to hate him for being queer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/gay-christian.jpg","width":604,"height":295,"caption":"queer christian"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/an-open-letter-to-christians-from-a-queer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Open Letter to Christians from a Queer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33071"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}