Concerning matters of homosexuality,
we need to listen, learn, love

On the matter of homosexuality, I would encourage three things:
> Listen. There is too much posturing, rhetoric and indignant self-righteousness on both sides of the issue. Nobody is interested in what anybody who differs from him or her has to say.
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for one’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19-20).
Liberals need to listen to conservatives, and conservatives need to listen to liberals. All need to listen to the stories of those who are gay or lesbian. Minds may not be changed, but everyone would calm down.
> Learn. Listening leads to healthy dialogue, and healthy dialogue leads to understanding. And with understanding comes learning.
I have much knowledge and education, but I don’t know it all. I haven’t cornered the truth. I’m not beyond learning or gaining new insights. Life is always trying to teach me something. People are always trying to teach me. Jesus is always trying to teach me.
He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” (Matthew 11:29).
If I decide that all I need to know about a matter is found in four or five passages of scripture; if I just say, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it,” then it seems to me that I have closed my mind without having ever opened it.
We shouldn’t be afraid to learn. In fact, we should be eager to learn, especially from those who see and experience the world and believe differently from us. I have never found the truth to reside exclusively on one side or the other of any matter. We have something to teach and learn from one another.
> Love. Love is the great and ultimate commandment. Love is the acid test of faith.
Paul said, “If I have all knowledge but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).
Everyone is so intent on having the correct position that love gets ignored altogether. The only “position” Jesus instructs me to take is one of humility, kneeling to serve as he served (see John 13).
Jesus does not command me to be right; he commands me to be loving. I don’t have to agree with you to love you, but I do have to love you if I call myself a follower of Christ.
Jesus’ harshest words were toward the Pharisees, who held all the correct positions but whose hearts were devoid of love. When love gets lost, everything worth having is lost.