Gay Devotionals 

While Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”–John 8:1-11

Have you tried lately to find a good gay-affirming devotional on the Internet? Used to, I had a number of sources I could go to for inspiration, but lately, they are harder and harder to find. Some of the sources that I used to use, either no longer have the content they used to or the website is no longer valid. I can think of a few reasons for this:

1. Have gay people strayed so far from Christianity that no one wants to minister to them?
2. Have churches become more welcoming and therefore there is no longer a need for Internet devotionals?
3. Do gay Christians just not care enough anymore to put out devotionals?
4. Are there resources out there that Google just can’t find?

I do think a lot of gay people have turned their backs on Christianity. Many “Christians” have certainly turned their backs on gay people. Is that an excuse? No, it isn’t. We must not give up on Christinity. God doesn’t give up on us. He loves us and wants us to love him. Just because many fundamentalist Christians have turned their backs on gay people and see no place for gay people within the church does not mean that God feels the same way.

In Vermont, there are no gay bars. The explanation I have found is that all bars are welcoming to gay and straight and therefore there is no need for separate bars for gay people. There are many churches here that are the same way. They don’t make one’s sexuality an issue when welcoming people into their churches. Quite simply, they welcome everyone. Is this true of the country as a whole? No, it isn’t. There are still many churches that if you are gay you will be asked not to come back.

That brings me to whether or not gay Christians care enough anymore to put out devotionals. I think since DADT ended and gay marriage and adoption became legal, we have become relaxed in our fight for equality. Churches are the last place in America where equality exists. Few churches are fully integrated racially, and they certainly aren’t integrated when it comes to sexuality and gender. Some churches are becoming better about gender equality and many of those are more integrated with different sexualities. Some of those churches claim to be gay affirming now, but honestly, when it comes down to it, they aren’t. We have become too relaxed in our fight for equality and we need to keep fighting to be included in our churches.

I hope there are sources for gay devotionals that I just couldn’t find. If anyone knows of any, please let me know in the comments. I love being able to take a devotional and allow it to inspire me for a post.

You may be wondering about the Bible passage above and what it means to this post. Well, the fact is whether other people who call themselves Christians may condemn us for being gay, they forget Jesus said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” None of us are without sin and therefore none of us can cast the first stone. There is but one judge and that judge is God, for He alone is without sin.