Letter IV: Beloved and Included – Christ and LGBTQ+ Image Bearers

To the beloved of Christ in every orientation and identity, grace, peace, and affirmation to you in the name of Jesus, who dined with the excluded and embraced those pushed to the margins.I write to you not as one above the fray, but as one grieving the harm done in Christ’s name, and as one bearing witness to the Spirit still moving in the lives of those the Church too often refuses to see.You are loved.You are wanted.You are not an issue. You are an image bearer.Too long have we traded Christ’s command to love for cultural gatekeeping. Too often has the body of Christ amputated its own members in the name of theological purity. But Jesus said, “By this everyone will know you are my disciples: if you love one another.”He did not say, “if you agree perfectly,”or, “if you fit the mold,”or, “if you hide your story.”He said love. And not just any love: His kind of love. Self-giving. Embodied. Unconditional. Faithful to the end.Let us remember how Jesus welcomed.He did not guard His table with doctrine.He did not use Scripture as a weapon to exclude.He did not flinch at scandal or shame.He embraced. He healed. He listened. He stayed.And He is still doing it, often through the very people others try to cast aside.To our LGBTQ+ siblings: Many of you have endured rejection, distortion, and trauma at the hands of a church and churchgoers more committed to preserving power than honoring your humanity. You have been told that acceptance must come at the cost of your authenticity. You have been offered theology without tenderness, and orthodoxy without belonging.This is not the way of Jesus.Christ-like love never demands that people erase themselves to be embraced. It never makes conformity a condition for communion. The incarnation itself, God taking on flesh, was a declaration that all flesh matters, and that all who bear it are called to walk in dignity and divine love.So let us ask:* What kind of gospel have we preached if it crushes people before it calls them beloved?* What kind of holiness do we promote if it excludes those seeking God in truth and vulnerability?* What kind of church are we building if it cannot make room for the diversity God has woven into creation?Jesus was clear in His teachings that the final word is not the old law but this new love. He gave us the interpretive key:“Love one another as I have loved you.”In that light, all theology must be reexamined.All assumptions must be humbled.All traditions must bow to the Christ who still bends down to wash feet.This is not a call to abandon Scripture. It is a call to read it again, through the lens of Jesus, who is the full revelation of God’s heart. And when we do, we find that love is not the exception to holiness. Love is holiness.Beloved Church, there is no revival without reconciliation.There is no holiness without hospitality.There is no kingdom without kinship.So, may we move toward those we once pushed away.May we listen before we speak.May we love without disclaimers.To our LGBTQ+ siblings: you are not on the fringe of God’s heart. You are at its center. Your presence, your gifts, your lives are not a threat to the church; they are a blessing to it.And to those still wrestling, still questioning, still afraid, let love be your teacher. Let Christ be your lens. Let inclusion be your starting point, not your reluctant conclusion.For that is the way of Jesus.Grace and peace to you from the One who names you Beloved,Bruce This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bpags2.substack.com