A recent discussion about "Brokeback Mountain" on the Sixshooter Community Forum got me thinking and a dangerous thing it is indeed.

The release of and hoopla surrounding "Brokeback Mountain" are indeed disturbing things and signs of how our fallen world continues to sink in its sinfulness and rebellion towards God. However, the thing that disturbs me most about all of it is the predictable response so many Christians have given.

I am an ultra-conservative, Evangelical Christian, but I refuse to lower myself to the name-calling and self-righteous behavior that so many of my brothers and sisters have resorted to in this instance. Whether genetic (which I doubt), environmental (very likely) or a personal choice (definitely the case in a lot of instances), homosexual behavior is a sin and is condemned by God. However, we Christians seem to place it in its own special category, as if it is worse to God than any other sin out there. I would submit to you that homosexuality isn't any more reprehensible in God's eyes than heterosexuals having sex outside of marriage, looking at heterosexual pornography, or lusting after a neighbor's wife. How many of us are guilty of at least one of those sins? I know I am.

God created sex to bond a man and a woman in holy marriage in a relationship that helps us understand His nature. When God created man and woman in His image, He split His attributes between them. By joining two different people of two different genders with two different personalities into one, He gives us a glimpse of who He is and helps us become more like Him. Sexual sin of any flavor perverts this beautiful act that He has given us out of His love and mercy. It does not matter whether that sexual sin is with someone of the same or different gender, it serves to break down the marital union, causing a wedge between us and our spouses and between us and God.

Additionally, the sexual union between a husband and wife is supposed to enhance the loving environment of the home. It is meant to strengthen the family unit so that children are brought up in an environment that points them to their true Father in Heaven. Sexual sin destroys this environment, whether that sin is between people of the same or different genders. The result is what we see all around us today - broken families, broken homes, broken lives, all of which perpetuate themselves.

I get very frustrated when Christians get on their high horse about how bad homosexuals are, with all the inevitable name calling, and then wink at those around them who are sexually sinning with those of the opposite gender. Sin is sin in both cases and destroys that which God created to be good.

I ask you, whom would you rather have walk in your church this Sunday - a homosexual couple or a man and a woman who are living together but are not married? My answer? BOTH! Both couples NEED to know that God loves them, that Jesus died for their sins, and that He can and WILL give them the power to overcome their sinful lives, including the sexual sin in which they are living. Be honest with yourself - would you embrace the heterosexual couple and shun the homosexual couple? Many people and many churches would do just that.

I do not mean to cast judgment upon anyone here, but I do ask that you consider your attitude towards homosexuals. Jesus died for them too and there, but for HIS grace, could go any one of us.

I challenge you, next time you hear about a movie like "Brokeback Mountain", see a homosexual couple at the grocery store, or meet a new homosexual co-worker, please pray for him/her/them. Pray that God will deliver them from the lies Satan has used to deceive them. Pray that God will wrap his loving arms around them so that they can know true freedom in Christ Jesus. And, pray that God will use YOU in a personal way to make these things happen. In so doing, you will truly walk in the footsteps of Jesus.