Reflections on Embracing Our LGBTQ+ Siblings in Faith
Can we profess to love and truly follow Jesus, if we do not accept our gay brothers and sisters? This is a question that pulses at the heart of Christian witness—a query that asks us to reconsider the boundaries of our compassion, the depth of our empathy, and the authenticity of our discipleship.
To love, as Jesus commands, is not a half-hearted posture, nor a selective embrace. The Gospels resound with stories of a Savior who crossed lines drawn by culture and tradition, who dined with outcasts and touched the untouchable, who offered living water to those parched by the thirst for dignity and acceptance. Jesus’s ministry was, at its core, a testament to radical inclusion—a relentless declaration that all are beloved, all are worthy, all are sought after by the heart of God.
Can we, then, claim to follow in these footsteps if we close the circle of belonging? If we cast out or withhold our embrace from those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer—our siblings in both humanity and faith—do we not risk narrowing the very love that Jesus embodied? To profess allegiance to Christ is to commit ourselves to the work of reconciliation, to see in every person the image of God, irreducible and radiant.
Some may say that acceptance and affirmation are not the same, that one may love the sinner but not the sin. Yet, when love is hedged with conditions, does it not begin to wither? When Jesus knelt in the dust beside those condemned, he did not mete out love in careful rations. He offered mercy, and forgiveness, and the courageous invitation to be wholly oneself before God—a God whose love is always vaster than our judgments.
To love as Jesus loves is to stand with the marginalized, to listen with humility, and to welcome with open arms. If our faith compels us to draw lines, let them be lines that encircle, not exclude; that gather in, not cast out. True discipleship means surrendering the need to determine who is worthy, and instead rejoicing that grace is wide enough for us all.
So can we truly follow Jesus and yet reject our gay brothers and sisters? The life and teachings of Christ suggest otherwise. Love—self-giving, boundary-breaking, all-encompassing love—is the command he leaves with us: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” May our hearts be known for nothing less.
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Norman R. Van Etten
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