Yesterday, I saw the movie “Love, Simon” and it was very convicting to me.
Let me start by answering the obvious question running through your mind, but I will elaborate extensively on this as I continue…. Why would a Christian woman want to see a movie about a teenager coming out as a gay young man?
I was intrigued by the movie when I first saw the preview and knew I would love it because it would be real and about voicing emotional struggles, something I’m not the greatest at. I chose yesterday because it was the 4th anniversary of the funeral my uncle (who was also my godfather) and I thought it would be a nice way to show respect him because I loved him deeply.
I will digress for a moment to share about my relationship with my uncle. I found out my uncle was gay when I was in high school and I had a really hard time with accepting that. It really wasn’t until I was in college and had a gay professor/friend that I was able to love them both for who they were.
For the record, I was not a Christian at the time. I had grown up as a Catholic, been confirmed, and then walked away from God. I mention this only to say that my initial concern with homosexuality was not because I felt “holier than thou” or that I was a better person (trust me, I had my own “sexual sin” to contend with), I just didn’t understand it; it was different and different confused me.
And now, over 20 years later, I am a Christian, and honestly, I still don’t understand homosexuality. But, you know what… it doesn’t matter whether I understand it or not. God did not place me on this earth to understand other people or their choices. He created me to seek Him, allow the Holy Spirit to transform me from the inside, and love other people.
Back to my uncle… He was a kind, loving man, and I felt like I could be completely myself around him. I never felt like I had to wear a mask or try to impress him. I knew he loved me simply because I was me, not because of what I did for him. When I spoke at his funeral, I shared several stories that described our relationship and ultimately compared the love my uncle showed me to the kind of love that God shows me – the unconditional kind. I listened to my speech yesterday and cried the whole time.
I cried because I miss the one relationship in my life where I felt I could be truly authentic and not be judged.
I cried because losing my uncle also meant I have lost connection with his friends, who I also care deeply for.
I cried because a family member, who I used to have an amazing relationship with and I know truly loves me and wants the best for me and our family, sent me a very hurtful text over a year later regarding my decision to have a private wedding and threw in a dig about that speech being all about me.
I cried because after the funeral and at the after-party at the bar my uncle previously owned, so many of his friends came up to me and told me what I said meant so much to them. The crazy part is that it wasn’t just the stories I shared that impacted people, it was the way I talked about God and salvation and even talking about when I shared Christ with my uncle.
I just cried and cried…. and then I went to see Love, Simon and cried some more, on the way home, I cried even more….
I guess it’s about time to get to the original point of this blog…. otherwise, you might think I’m just a cry baby (which I am, so I’m happy to share that as well).
There’s a part in the movie (and it’s the trailer, so this isn’t a spoiler) where a comment is made as to why straight people don’t have to come out. That got me thinking….
I think they should… I think we all should “come out”, but sadly, many of us never do. I’m not talking about our sexuality here, I’m talking about something way more intimate – coming out as who we are.
I can imagine that telling your family and friends that you’re gay is incredibly scary, but it’s just as hard to share your authentic self…. the imperfect, crazy, sinful, broken-hearted person that you are; that I am; that we all are. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight, we are all pretty messed up – and that’s okay. That’s what we are supposed to be. That’s actually what drives us to seek God, although we often look for substitutes before we get on the right path (but, that’s a blog for another day).
I understand why people don’t want to share their imperfections – because judgment hurts. Everyone wants to be accepted for who they are, especially if they’re different from you. I think we need to create a culture where it’s okay to be different and stop trying to be the judge of everyone’s life. God is the only judge that matters (well, other than our court system, which I am not trying to minimize here).
God will judge us (Revelation 20:11-15), that’s biblical. And, it’s also biblical for Christians to judge other Christians in a well-defined manner (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13). This type of “discipline” is to be done in love, bathed in prayer, and it’s vitally important to remember to make sure we are looking first to our “logs” before our brother’s “specks” (Matthew 7:1-5). I don’t know about you, but I have plenty of my own logs to worry about before I start condemning random people for their sins.
God commands me to love… (Mark 12:28-31; John 13:34-35; John 15:12-13; etc, etc – lots of this in the Bible). Love means accepting people who are different than you. Let me phrase that a little differently… Love means accepting people who sin differently than you. Love means seeking to understand the emotions and feelings that are beneath other people’s choices and truly getting to the heart of the matter. And, if we are completely honest, the “heart of the matter” is often a scarred, beat up, abused, terrible mess. I know mine is!
Love means being vulnerable with those closest to you and accepting their vulnerability when they share it with you. And while you may not agree with who they are or the choices they make, showing them grace and mercy rather than condemnation. We also should commend their bravery for sharing intimate details of their life because that’s never easy, and again, I am talking about more than just sexuality.
Shame and guilt are from the devil. While we should not be proud of our sins, we shouldn’t feel ashamed to share who we are, sin and all. We are all sinful people. It’s nothing to be afraid of. We live in a broken world; horrible things happen; it’s heartbreaking. That all started with Adam and Eve and it’s only going to get worse before it ultimately gets better when Jesus comes back for eternity.
Why add to the world’s problems by shaming and condemning others for who they are or what they choose? We all have tons of our own problems to work on, so there’s no reason to add to our list of sins by being critical of others.
And when the person we are shaming doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, all that happens is they get pushed farther away from desiring to know God. I feel like if we, as believers, show compassion to everyone, regardless of how they sin differently, we would present Christianity in a much better light. Sometimes I feel that unbelievers do a better job of showing love and mercy than we Christians do, and that makes me sad.
I look forward to living in a world where we see our similarities, not our differences; where we can respectfully agree to disagree when we don’t see things the same; where we seek out to better understand why we disagree without it becoming an argument.
I had a very open conversation with a Muslim while in Senegal and it was amazing. I see our differences, but I also see where we are the same. I didn’t feel led to argue about right and wrong. I simply told him what I believed and he told me what he believed. I shared my perspective and I listened to his perspective. It was simply beautiful. I want this in all areas of life.
I need to do my part in this. I want to share more openly how I feel, and I want to listen better to how others feel. I don’t want to start debates of what is “right” and what is “wrong”. If you ask me for my beliefs and opinions, I want to be honest with you, even if it’s not what you want to hear, but I don’t want it to turn into an argument. We can agree to disagree, but it’s important that we share our authentic selves and not wear a mask. I do this pretty well with a couple of my long-time friends because after all these years they “get” me, but I want to be like this with everyone and not feel like I have to dance around my feelings so as not to offend. My motivation is never to offend… I just want to hear and be heard.
I used to be better at this than I am now. I guess it’s easier when you’re young, single, and carefree. But, now, I have more intimate grown-up relationships, where I want everyone to feel free to be honest about what they truly believe without it turning into something ugly. I’ve experienced enough “ugly” to last a lifetime, so I’m ready for things to change.
I mentioned crying after seeing Love, Simon….the whole way home…. Now, I am going to be vulnerable and tell you why.
I cried because despite having a blog called “Authentic Believer”, I hardly write blogs of any real significance anymore. Why? I guess it’s because I am struggling with intimacy in my marriage and if I can’t share my true self with my husband, how can I share my authentic feelings publicly?
I cried because just yesterday morning, I had an assignment in this marriage book and workbook I am working through (it’s called “How We Love”) that told my avoider self to ask people for help even if I don’t think I need it. It even says that this will be difficult and to ask God to help you first recognize and acknowledge your needs. I did that, but I still didn’t recognize or acknowledge my need. I needed to invite my husband to see Love, Simon with me. I needed him to understand why it was important for me to see it. But, instead, I encouraged him to go hang out with his youngest son because he just returned from visiting his mother during spring break.
I couldn’t invite him to see the movie because I was afraid he wouldn’t want to go or wouldn’t appreciate it the same way as me. I couldn’t even talk to him about the movie, other than to say it was good. I am crying as I type this because it’s terrible I am so afraid of our differences that it’s easier to post my feelings for the whole world to see than to just tell my husband how I feel. I’ve always been a better writer than talker; I guess that’s part of it.
This intimacy part is blog lagniappe; I didn’t even intend to go here at all, but I needed to to be authentic… and just for the record, the feelings I shared above are not about my husband. He is a wonderful man, he loves me for me, and he’s incredibly compassionate and great with emotions (unlike me). This intimacy problem is all me, my husband tries so hard, but it’s my issue. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand that.
I am going to try and blog more and let everyone know who I really am; if I am going to be an authentic believer, I need to be authentic. I think some people think they know me better than I know myself. But, that’s not true, I know myself really well; I just don’t always share it very well. I hope that will change.
I always like to end my blogs with a verse, but I didn’t know the right one until attending church. I’m including it here:
“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”
Titus 3:1-11 ESV
#thxsimon
Authentic Believer 