WON'T YOU SERVE ME?

In the recent weeks, I have seen at least a dozen items in the news about businesses refusing to sell to or serve LGBT people “for religious reasons”.  What might those reasons be?  The number one reason given is that they think that homosexuality is a sin.  (Of course, they can’t very well say, “because we’re bigoted”.)

I say to these people:  If you want to believe that homosexuality is a sin, that’s your personal prerogative, but that doesn't absolve you from your Christian responsibility to "love your neighbor as yourself".  Jesus spent his time on earth among people despised by the religious establishment, and he challenged the hypocrisy of that establishment.

You refuse to serve LGBT people because you think they are sinners.  Don’t you see the hypocrisy of that?  The fact that a business is even in business is proof that they are already serving "sinners”.  The apostle Paul said, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

There are not "degrees" of sin, with homosexuality at the top of the list.  There is just sin, the state of falling short of God's glory.  We're all in that boat.  (If you think you're not, I'd like to meet you.  I haven't met the perfect person yet.)  The good news is that just because we fall short of God’s glory does not mean we fall short of God’s grace.

So what will it be?  Will you serve ALL sinners, or just go out of business because serving sinners is “against your religion”?  Remember, we see only the outside but God looks on the inside.  Who are you to judge your fellow humans as being unworthy of God’s love and your service?  

It is time for people to stop hiding their hatred of others behind the cloak of religion.  If one’s religion reinforces one's bigotries, that is no religion.

Constructive comments welcome.