A few folks have observed a change in the content — if not tone — of the blog lately. I have been asked, “it seems like you are becoming an advocate for gay issues… when did that happen?”
I am not sure that it is accurate to say that it is a change, but perhaps it has become more explicit.
Why?
Simple…
I, like many, have been moved by the recent number of suicides by gay teens.
You see, one of my ministry passions has always been teenagers. I began my professional ministry life as a full-time youth minister and did that for five years. But even after that, I never lost my passion and love for teenagers… still haven’t.
And I have always been an advocate for teens. So that hasn’t changed. And when an issue becomes epidemic, advocates and voices need to rise.
I also continually talk to GLBTQ folks who have been cast out, barred or in other ways attacked by churches and Christians. When churches and Christians act in an un-Christlike way, it demands a response from other followers of Jesus.
So am I an advocate for the GLBTQ community? YOU BET.
Am I an advocate for the simple belief that God’s love is universal — that the basic claim of the Gospel is that there is nothing you or I can do, either good or bad, that will ever change how much God loves us right now? YOU BET.
Will I continue to challenge churches and Christians to reassess their assumptions about what God thinks about the LGBTQ community? Will I continue to challenge folks to seek after God’s heart for the LGBTQ community? YOU BET.
And will I continue to challenge LGBTQ folks to pursue Jesus? To trust in him? To follow him with as much integrity as they can? To contribute their gifts and passions to the cause of the church? YOU BET.
And it isn’t about me or my situation… it is really about those who are constantly being told that they aren’t good enough, that they must change before they embrace Jesus, that there is no room for them in the family of God.
It is about them.
And so yes, I am an advocate for them. YOU BET I am.
BEN DUBOW 
Leave a comment