220: Rethinking the Church's Approach to the LGBTQIA+ Community with Jen Crowder

Jen Crowder is a wife, mom of 4, physical therapist, and founder of the ministry She is Emboldened. She has a heart for both the body of Christ and the lost. To that end, she comes on the show today with the desire to encourage and equip believers to truly be the hands and feet of Christ towards the LGBTQIA+ community.   What We Chat about in Today’s Episode: ~What has led to Jen’s passion for today’s topic ~Understanding that our mishandling of how we talk about and interact with the LGBTQUIA+ community is less about that community itself and more about how we tend to approach nonbelievers in general; the difference between how we address a fellow believer in Christ who is participating in that lifestyle and how we should address an unbeliever who is ~The truth that the most effective way to minister to that community is not to shout at them about their sin and that the Lord does not identify them by their sin ~Believing and presenting the fact that God’s design for us is good ~Cultivating in Christians a love for those in the LGBTQIA+ community and love for the lost in general; understanding that we must come from a starting point of loving others and God’s love for them as we present first the gospel and them go from there ~Following the example of the early church in the midst of the sinful Roman Empire ~What it looks like practically to still uphold the historical, biblical sexual ethic while also loving and respecting people in the LGBTQIA+ community ~The problems of pride and a lack of proximity and how both negatively affect the Church’s witness in this area ~Stewarding the good gift of the gospel well ~The importance of relationship when it comes to discipleship ~What Jen learned from a conversation she had with someone in the LGBTQIA+ community ~Resources Jen recommends for further study on this topic ~The importance of getting out of our little Christian bubbles and out into the world, loving others well as the hands and feet of Christ ~Studying and following how Jesus interacted with unbelievers; understanding the reality that if Jesus treated unbelievers the same way as many professing believers do today, that the Pharisees never would have gotten angry with Him in the first place ~The importance of what ambassadors actually do ~And more!   For full podcast show notes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast Get full access to Beyond the Boxes at rebekahhargraves.substack.com/subscribe