I’ve been so encouraged by pastors and ministry leaders who have lived LGBTQ+ pasts and, in finding Jesus Christ, have begun to communicate the Gospel message to this social issue in ways that the vast majority in the Church will never be able to contextualize. What is the message that we preach to anyone struggling to see God clearly? For me, the pastor who sees so many of my failings being caused by selfish pride or ungodly fear. For your best friend who neglects their child. For your in-law who struggles with alcoholism or who stole money from their company. For the man next door who can’t resist the sin of envy. That’s where I’m currently processing – what message exactly is the Church calling people to, regardless of their particular struggle? For the woman down the street who falls to the sin of gluttony. I have gay friends who I very much respect who differ with me on my views and I hate to see them in pain when views that I hold are weaponized against them instead of being used to bring hope. There are some in my family who struggle in this area. But if that same person has salvation offered from outside of their own moral striving, Jesus Christ – their Savior – pulls them from the mess they’re in (Romans 3:24).īelieve it or not, on a similar note, ministering to the LGBTQ+ community has been on my mind a lot lately. I recognize that this illustration is a bit on-the-nose, even in the spiritual implications, but the truth that it speaks of is foundational to our understanding of God and His interaction with mankind’s sin! If a broken person seeks salvation by trying their hardest not to sin any longer, they have missed the whole point (Ephesians 2:8-9). But if they are stilled, they can find salvation. As a person struggles to get out of their predicament, they will find themselves pulled in deeper. What do we all know about quicksand? If a person finds themselves to be stuck in quicksand, it is better that they expend no energy in their escape and instead, wait for someone from outside to help pull them out. But it is still possible for hikers in Zion National Park, a place I’ve visited myself, to get caught in mixtures of sand and near-freezing water amid two separate snowstorms for 11 hours!

If you were like me, you might think that this natural phenomenon exists only in antiquated stories from old prospectors of the Wild West. I recently read a news story about quicksand.

Where did hikers get stuck in quicksand