By Kenya Smith

I commend Pastor Thurman Hayes for his July 18 column “Grace and truth vs. the high court.” He has a solid understanding of what God’s word says about marriage and homosexuality.

I would like to add to his thoughts on how Christians should minister to the LGBT community. I am also a Christian, and I know what the Bible says about homosexuality: It’s a sin.

It angers me when some of my brothers and sisters in Christ say they “love the sinner and hate the sin” but are apathetic about the danger of homophobia in American society. Sometimes they feel it is OK to call gay or transgender people names.

Some might see this as a request for political correctness, but remember, James warns us that our faith is useless when we refuse to control our tongues (James 1:26).

Some feel that they should have an “us versus them” attitude toward LGBT individuals, when the Bible makes it clear we fight not against flesh and blood but against the evil in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12).

They are absent and quiet when “Christian” groups like Westboro Baptist Church spread vulgar and erroneous views such as “God Hates Fags.” They are apathetic about the families and friends who lose loved ones slain for their sexual orientation or gender identity. They are apathetic to those hurting physically, emotionally and spiritually because they were bullied and tortured due to their affiliation in the LGBT community.

They believe HIV/AIDS is God’s punishment for homosexuals, so they become skeptical of organizations working on HIV/AIDS research and awareness. They might give money to help AIDS orphans, but this response to the AIDS epidemic is entirely different from the response to the Alexandrian plague, when early Christians risked their lives to take care of individuals afflicted by it.

It is more comfortable for us to talk about homosexuality than it is about divorce, gluttony, greed, racism and so on. We also feel because homosexuality is a sin, we falsely label homosexuals as pedophiles, promiscuous, incapable of being moral, and rapists.

As Pastor Hayes wrote, all of us have sin in our lives, and we should not embrace sin regardless of its type. There is no special punishment for LGBT people, and there is no special reward for straight people.

Christians must share the Gospel more effectively, whether to LGBT people, drug addicts, prostitutes, racists or atheists.

We can correct people all we want, but if we don’t connect with people for the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9: 19-23), our correction is void. Jesus for example, connected with those who were troublemakers, which made religious leaders and scholars upset.

Sin is not as simple as we think. That is why Christ died for us. God knew that we could not change ourselves, even if we tried and even if we wanted to.

What people do or don’t do does not determine a person’s eternal destiny. It is whether a person confesses and believes that Jesus Christ conquered death and hell by his crucifixion and resurrection (Romans 10:9).

Let us be wise when sharing the Gospel with the lost.

Kenya Smith is a Suffolk native pursuing her bachelor’s degree in communications with a concentration in strategic communications and a history minor at Regent University. Email her at kenysmi@mail.regent.edu.