My theology is very simple. God told us how to live, and he used the Bible to do that.
When my preferences and the Bible’s perfect guidance conflict, which does happen, I assume God got it right, and I’m wrong. I cannot imagine taking any other perspective. Even when I end up doing what I want, I know I’m wrong, and I try to do better the next time. Of course God is correct. Of course I am wrong. Again. Of course my life will be better if I follow His word than if I follow my own urges.
Helping gay people to understand the Bible is the opposite of hate. I have never had any temptation at all to enter a gay relationship, but I have been on the receiving end of religious advice that I chose not to follow:
I have for decades known a very nice Jew who wanted me to follow at least some religious dietary guidelines, including avoiding pork. I discussed that topic with him in a polite and friendly manner many times, and some of his reasoning made sense to me. Whether I agreed with his perspectives (USDA inspections are imperfect, and I am sure to occasionally under-cook pork, unless I always overcook it to the point that it is dry and not pleasant to eat), or disagreed (he believed it was sinful for me to eat pork, even though I am not Jewish), I didn’t pretend that his words were “hate”. Him wanting me to understand God’s message, with its theological and medical support, and follow God’s word was a sign of love. I took it as such, even when I disagreed with him.
I hear you.
For some time now I’ve been saying, in reference to 1 Corinthians 1:26, that if The Lord had wanted to save all the “great and good” (as the world counts them) all He would have had to do was give a gospel that only they could attain to and then they would have marched in in droves, while patting themselves on the back that they were clever enough to get it.
But God put the proverbial cookies on the bottom shelf where anyone can reach for it. He, for His glory, gave a Gospel that is simple (part of why, or so I’m persuaded, it is called an offense to the world) and even where it is is hard only requires the faith like the faith of a child. And what is that? I’m persuaded that it is trust, for that is what small children do: they trust their parent. Like this hypothetical dialog ...
Christian: Lord I just don’t understand free will and sovereignty, or how propitiation works...
God: I know. My Son took care of all of the hard stuff when He died on the cross for your sins, when He was buried and for your hope he has risen and is to return. Do you trust Me?
To every protest we raise, for there are hard things, He can and does always ask “Do you trust Me?”
As you said: He is right and that’s just all there is to it.
His children trust Him. It doesn’t mean we don’t struggle: small children struggle to do most everything too.
This is why I may seem to have so little patience with those who preach compromise and accommodation. Especially about things that are, or at least should be, obvious (as opposed to things that are not so). They what me to trust them, and ultimately their father, and not my Father.
And that just rubs me the wrong way. I’ve already got enough serious issues to deal with of my own without taking on someone else’s issues!
Well, unless my secretive German ancestor was secretly Jewish, I am not Jewish. Regardless, God did not create the swine to be for food. Some creatures by design were not intended to be eaten. God had Moses name those creatures.. And as it is also Written, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. But eating unclean foods is not the unpardonable sin.