While waiting to be on board at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport a few days ago, I did my morning devotion at the passengers’ waiting area, with my travel Bible and Our Daily Bread devotional guide book on my lap.
After the 30-minute devotion, I went to the restroom. On my way back to my seat, I saw a gay in the hallway looking at me about five meters away. Tiningnan ko siya pagdaan ko sa harap niya, at nang magtama ang aming paniningin, I saw sadness and confusion in his eyes. Then instantly I got teary-eyed and my heart was suddenly filled with compassion.
I whispered to myself: “Why do gays have to be looked down to, discriminated, mocked, lampooned, laughed at and condemned when mercy is what they need?”
It was not their choice (many of them) to be who they have become. Some believed that God made a mistake when He made them just as what my barber told me recently. But God is infallible. He is perfect in all His ways, even in creating man and woman. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:14
The fact is: I have found many of these gay people to be more human than macho men (like ruthless rulers for example) except the one. of course, who raped me when I was fourteen. After that traumatic experience, I couldn’t pee for the next five years in public restrooms except in cubicles where I could lock myself.
But why judge gays on the basis of their chosen “identity” or sexual “preference” (or plight)? Are we God? Or who among us, mortals, are in a position to judge gays as hell-bound souls? None. Not even the Pope or any preacher or religion. Why do we limit God with what we know from the Scriptures when there’s so much more about Him and His lovingkindness than letters and phrases in the Bible? God is infinite in His bigness and thoughts, and boundless in His ways and heart. (Job 11:7-9).
Who can tell who among the gays that we know, despite their being “gays” (still) have come to Jesus Christ at one time or another in their life to trust Him as their Lord and Savior in their own private moments, and continue trusting Him in their heart of hearts — to ultimately be saved and transformed as “new creatures”? (2 Corinthians 5:17)
And who knows too, before God’s throne of grace, that these “gays,” after all, may be “more saved” than countless religious, self-righteous, cold-as-dead, judgmental, holier-than-thou “Christians,” ministers, pastors, priests, bishops and theologians?
The grace of God is unfathomable, unsearchable in its depth and greatness toward sinners — so much so that, some two thousand years ago, He left His throne in Heaven, robed Himself in flesh, came down, and walked among mortals — to save all of us, sinners (John 3:16).
Meanwhile, January is Bible month in the Philippines. Hence, I am happy to say at this point that my Bible is a real Bible. Aside from my Travel Bible that I mentioned above, I have nine more other Bibles, namely: My devotional (home) Bible, Study Bible, Bed Bible, Altar Bible, Car Bible, Office Bible, Church Bible, Pulpit Bible and Give-Away Bibles. “It is impossible to rule the world without God and the Bible.” – George Washington
By the way, I sleep with two beloveds each night. My wife on the left and my Bed Bible on the right. I kiss both of them. And, hallelujah! Erli has never been jealous because of that from day one that we got married.
It is great that my Bible is not a cellphone or gadget, unlike the great majority of preachers today wherever we go. Otherwise, I will never be able to afford giving away “bibles” in depressed areas, prison camps, tribal communities and anywhere / everywhere I go. But this is pathetic, almost all professing Christians today don’t even own a Bible of their own and don’t read the Bible for those who have it. No wonder, they attend church bringing no Bible. “Christianity.”
Cellphones or gadgets have Bible-app, but they are not Bibles and can never be a replacement for the Bible. God is the Author of the Bible, while cellphones / gadgets are man’s inventions. The Bible is holy. Our cellphones / gadgets are not. The Bible is God-breathed and Holy Spirit-inspired. Our cellphones / gadgets are not. The Bible contains just the World of God. Our cellphones / gadgets contain so much more, so much evils.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” – Psalm 119:105
