Tuesday - August 21, 2007

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin

You read the screams and cries of many news writers last week when it came to light that a church in Texas refused to bury a Navy veteran who was gay.  There were articles in the Dallas Morning News that said:

While High Point Church hides behind the veil of “church policy,” I hope God was wrapping his loving arms around Cecil Sinclair and welcoming him to his heavenly home.

“Love one another as I have loved you.” Does that sound familiar?

High Point’s “policy” is bigotry, at best, and it didn’t have the fortitude to stand up and say it did not want a homosexual funeral service at its church. This church didn’t hurt Cecil; it did hurt his family and friends.

The Fayettville Observer said:

Staff members at High Point were putting together a video celebrating Sinclair’s life when they discovered to their complete and utter dismay that the 46-year-old military veteran was gay.

Oh, Lordy! A gay man in the Navy, what with all those scantily clad men running around in such tight places all the time? What, pray tell, was the pastoral staff thinking when they offered up their church for what the Rev. Simons described as an “openly homosexual memorial service,” whatever the heck that is?

I’ve never been to an openly homosexual service of any sort. Do gay people get nekkid and dance the way King David did? Or do they strip down to their tattoos and let the snakes run wild?

An unfortunate situation, the Rev. Simons declared, while noting that the Sinclair family even had the gall to invite a gay choral group to sing. Simons posted his remarks to the church’s Web site after the press made a stink of the church’s decision to withdraw its kind offer (the day before the memorial service was set to take place).

But what is the real story here?  What really happened?  Did the church actually stop the funeral because they found out he was gay?

Paul Edwards wrote a column at Townhall.com that helps give a little clarity to the situation.

The mainstream media wants you to believe that a conservative evangelical church deep in the Bible belt has refused to bury a Gulf War veteran because he was gay. Some in the Christian media want you to believe that the church hasn’t shown the love of Jesus to a dead man’s family. Neither charge is anywhere near the truth.

Here are the facts. High Point Church, a non-denominational church in Arlington, Texas, had been praying for Cecil Sinclair after Cecil’s brother Lee (the only member of the Sinclair family who was a member of the church) requested prayer for his brother who had been awaiting a heart transplant.

When Cecil Sinclair’s health became critical last week, the family called a staff member from the church to be with them at the hospital. In the hospital, in the moments immediately following Mr. Sinclair’s death, the family asked the staff member if the church would be open to holding a memorial service for their loved one. The staff member assured them the church would be available to help the family in any way appropriate, a response any pastor would give in that situation.

Cecil was not a member of High Point Church, yet this church selflessly and sacrificially ministered to his family in the wake of his death, preparing and delivering food for the family and one hundred relatives and friends, along with many other expressions of kindness. The church offered to produce a video retrospective of Mr. Sinclair’s life for use during the memorial service. When the family provided the pictures to the church it was then that the church learned of their intention to make the memorial service a celebration of Cecil Sinclair’s gay lifestyle. According to a statement on the High Point Church Web site, one of the photos provided by the family showed a man touching another man inappropriately, along with other unsuitable photos.

The family also requested that “an associate of an openly homosexual choir” officiate at the service and that the homosexual choir sing during the service. “It became clear to the church staff that the family was requesting an openly homosexual service at High Point Church—which is not our policy to allow,” the statement on the church’s Web site said. After initially agreeing to host the memorial service, the church informed the family it could no longer do so based on the direction the family wanted to take it. The church then secured—and paid for—another location for the memorial service, which the family declined. The church also produced the memorial video without the inappropriate photos.

Contrary to the mainstream media reports, High Point Church did not refuse to host the funeral of a gay man. The church refused on biblical principle to allow a celebration of the homosexual lifestyle in its sanctuary, a decision most theologically sound churches would make under similar circumstances.

So there you have it.  Imagine, a church that actually follows Biblical principle instead of political correctness in its decision-making.  They are bound to a higher authority than the media, the feces-flinging moonbats or even their church affiliations and associations.  They have to remain true to the scripture they claim as their authority, or everything they preach is for naught.  If they followed the current wind instead of Scripture, what would make them any different from the Rotary or Lions club, who vote on their positions?

No, they claim the Bible to be their authority and stick to that...yet everyone is shocked, shocked that they refuse to bend.

My hat’s off to them for sticking to their principles and not being swayed by the wind of public opinion.

Posted by Drew458     on 08/21/2007 at 11:22 AM   
Filed Under: • Politically-Incorrect •  
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