When I first heard in the fire as a new Christian I said this is wack. I was very confused about the lyrics and thought josiah queen was relishing that humans who idolize humans will burn in hell with their idols. Then I heard the story of the fourth man in the fire and I'm crying this is my new favorite song. Jesus's love runs so deep.
I think it is obvious to see that some Christians, as humans, have done evil things in their hatred of gay people. I have seen it in my own family. My fathers brother was functionally disowned and then overdosed and died as a result. In spite of this tragedy another family member was discriminated against in a similar way recently. There are Christians out there picking and choosing who they think deserves the love of christ.
It is obvious this is not the will of jesus who said he who throws the first stone is the one who did not sin himself.
Mostly due to this outrage I completely question homosexuality as a sin. The two most important commandments are to first love the lord your god with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and the next is to love your neighbor as yourself. My opinion is that homosexuality breaks neither of those.
I admit however that I could be wrong but let me present my arguments.
Romans 1:26-27 is clearly damning, calling being gay unnatural. but what else does paul claim to be unnatrual?
Corinthians 11:14 - long hair.
Jesus is constantly portrayed with long hair and no one bats an eye, also who the heck cares it's hair. Clearly paul is picking and choosing prejudices based on cultural norms but it would be somewhat dishonest to end the argument here.
Another part of the bible frequented by non-believers is Exodus 21 which talks about the proper treatment of slaves. I don't think any Christian would claim that slavery can be done while loving your neighbor and yet here is a rule about in the bible.
Condemning the bible's morality based on this however is kind of like condemning Abraham Lincoln for not providing free healthcare, we just weren't there yet.
The conclusion that I am drawing from these things is that the bible is a deeply contextual document and that firstly beyond a shadow of a doubt it is wrong to shame people for being gay. The second is that I think within the boundaries of a loving Christian heterosexual relationship, a gay relationship is not immoral.
I have been struggling with this idea for a while. Before I found Christ I endlessly pursued self improvement to some avail but it was obviously not fulfilling. Now however I have been struggling to join my newfound following of Christ with my improvement obsessed past. The bible says not to rely on yourself but to lean on Christ. His strength is made strong in our weakness. But what does this actually mean in my life?
Also, do things that I used to find meaningful like working out and pursing a career even really matter? I see people talk about how they pray for strength before working out but the only thing I see in that is that working out is not a truly Christian pursuit. In the same way that people who pray for wealth is not a Christly pursuit.
Fundamentally I hope that I am misunderstanding these verses and that as a Christian I am called to be competent, because without that what exactly do I even do with myself?