A Christian Educator

"Diana" is a dedicated teacher. She's exactly the kind of teacher you'd want your kids to have in the classroom. She's kind, smart, disciplined, and she genuinely cares about students. Diana loves Jesus and is a woman of deep unabashed faith.


Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) is an organization whose mission is (according to their website) "To Encourage, Equip and Empower Educators according to Biblical Principles." We are the only professional association for Christians who are called to serve in public schools.


After Diana spent a weekend at a CEAI retreat, she was excited to become a part of the organization. It can be tough to be a Christian teacher in today's public schools. We live in a politically correct world where fear keeps us from expressing our opinions - even when the law provides us the support to do so.


Inspired and fired up after the encouraging retreat weekend, Diana decided to plug into the resources made available to her through CEAI. She hoped to build lasting relationships with other like-minded Christian educators.


But there was a problem. Diana is gay.


The CEAI leadership opened their arms to Diana, but they said they were afraid the other members might be uncomfortable if Diana were at Bible studies or small group gatherings. You know, when I'm in a room with other people, I never think twice about what they do or do not do in the bedroom, so I can't imagine what could be "uncomfortable" about hanging out with Diana!


Christian teachers need all the support, encouragement, and legal know-how they can gather. They can be woefully ill prepared to go toe to toe with a bully principal who tries to hush their faith in the classroom.


Why can't we come together because we love Jesus and He loves us? Let's keep our eyes on the commonalities and shared beliefs. Let us hold one another's hand as we navigate the sometimes scary and confusing walk of faith.


Get off the pew. Take someone's hand!   

It Gets Better?

It's not often that a teen boy's suicide makes national and international news, but that's exactly what has happened in the case of 19-year-old gay teen, Eric James Borges. EricJames - as his friends knew him - died January 11, 2012 in California.

EricJames was a source of strength and encouragement to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community. He spoke out on his "It Gets Better" video, where he shared his own story of being bullied from an early age, and eventually being disowned by his fundamentalist Christian family.



He says his mother prayed for him and tried to exorcise the evil spirit of homosexuality from him. He was kicked out of the family home just a few months before he killed himself.

I have no intention of entering into a debate about the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality. This isn't about that. This is about the tragic death of a young man, who apparently felt hopeless, lost, disenfranchised, marginalized, and bullied to the point of desperation.

One of our favorite Christian bumper-sticker-isms is "Hate the sin, Love the sinner." Did EricJames know he was loved? Were the Christians in his life able to separate "the sin" from "the sinner"? I can't answer those questions, as I wasn't there. All I know for sure is that a young man is dead - and it should not have ended this way.

Today I'm praying for EricJames' family. I can only imagine the broad range of emotions they must be going through - brokenness, sadness, loss, guilt, anger, fear, and the dreaded "what if's".

Please get off the bully pew. Is there an EricJames in your life? I ask that you love him (or her) and please, please love his parents. Get off the pew!

Unconditional Love, pt. 2

On Wednesday I wrote about my friendship with a young man who happens to be gay. I pointed out that my gay friends do not see the Christian community as a group of people who love them unconditionally.

I’m speaking in generalities here. I know that not ALL Christians separate themselves from homosexuals, but it’s so much more common than it ought to be. I know many gay believers who love God and desire to honor Him.

The picture I used a couple of days ago is the same one I’m using today. A copy of this painting hung in my grandparents’ home when I was a little girl, and over the years I’ve seen the picture on walls in many a Sunday school classroom. In the picture we see Jesus knocking on a door and waiting to be let in.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

So, before Jesus goes door to door, do you think He pulls out His address book of hearts? Maybe He says something like, “Oh, I see this place belongs to a gay man named Steve. I won’t be knockin’ on that door!”

Can you picture Jesus calling on a hurting woman who asks if she could bring her girlfriend along? “What?” Jesus seems surprised. “The Father didn’t tell me you were gay!”

I’m not here to debate the rightness or wrongness of gay relationships. But if you believe homosexuality is a sin, why is it treated differently than any other sin? Do you not have friends who lie, steal, cheat, commit adultery, drink too much, use drugs, or gossip to excess?

Sin is sin is sin is sin!

Jesus hung out with prostitutes, murderers, liars, thieves, cheaters, and dead guys! We have the awesome opportunity—and I believe, responsibility—to be Jesus with skin on. Jesus never failed to show unconditional love and perfect grace. God gives us the power to do the same.

Don’t get me wrong…Jesus doesn’t want anyone to remain in sin. During His life, Jesus showed people God’s love and they wanted to have what He had. He went to where the hurting hearts lived, and He loved them.

Christians have been given a bad name because of the ugly behavior of a few. Reverend Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church picket funerals of dead soldiers because they believe the fighting men and women died supporting a country that defends homosexuality. They believe that “God’s hatred is one of His holy attributes”.

People like Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church ought to be ashamed of themselves, and we should be rising up against their homophobic and anti-Semitic hate and rhetoric.

The antics of that group of extremists is just one of the many ugly happenings we should stand against. Why would anyone want anything to do with the God we profess to emulate when we can be so judgmental and condemning?

Get off the pew of passivity and denial. Stop making excuses for ugly Christians and love—really love all God’s kids! We need to be Jesus with skin on! Get off the pew!

Unconditional Love

Facebook is responsible for connecting me with many long ago friends. Oh sure, it’s spawned its share of drama, but that’s because Facebook brings out the “junior high” in everyone. But I digress.

Today I had lunch with a friend I’ve reconnected with through Facebook. He’s smart, talented, kind, conservative, and he just so happens to be gay.

It was great to catch up with my old friend. We got to know each other maybe 13 years ago when we worked on a show together. He was so young when I met him and he’s grown into a kind, hardworking young man who’s faced challenges and sadness with grace.

My friend told me something I find heartbreakingly sad. He told me I was the only Christian he’d ever met who he felt truly liked him. He told me he remembers a time when I had his back and he appreciates me.

In 1994 I worked with a fabulous woman who happened to be gay. She said words very close to the ones I heard today—she told me I was one of the only Christians she’d ever met who treated her with respect and kindness. She told me she genuinely liked me, and she sensed that I felt the same about her. I did.

I find it incredibly sad that my gay friends do not readily see Christians as a community who love people unconditionally. These two people do not exactly live in a bubble. I mean it’s not like I’m the only believer they’ve ever met. But I’m the “only Christian” to ever love them—unconditionally love them.

Get off the pew of hate and love your neighbor. What would Jesus do? Who would Jesus love? Get off the pew!