Byron Love Baltimore Liberal Christian Examiner
Do you want to go to Heaven? Why wouldn’t you – the Bible says is a beautiful place. Isaiah 65:19 says that in Heaven, the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard no more. It’s a place of love where all Christians will find treasures stored for them.
But everyone sins. There was only one perfect man, and that was Jesus Christ himself. So Christians find themselves fighting a daily battle between succumbing to temptation and sin, which leads to damnation, and living a righteous life, which leads to salvation.
Even the most prominent Christians get it wrong. One example is Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple. His now ex-wife Gizelle accused him of adultery, cruel treatment and "excessively vicious conduct" in her 2008 divorce filling.
Another example is Georgia mega-church pastor Bishop Eddie Long. Four men have recently accused him of forcing them into sexual relationships when they were teenagers.
Christians should avoid vilifying those who sin, no matter who commits the sin, and no matter what the sin is. Jesus’ last act on Earth was to usher a sinner into Heaven while leaving an evil man to his own eternal fate. In Luke 23:39-43, Jesus speaks with two criminals who were crucified with him, one on each side. The first mocked him, challenged his deity and dared him to escape the cross. The second defended him, believing in his divinity and asking to be remembered in Heaven. “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise,” Jesus said to him.
Pastor Bryant and Pastor Long may have sinned. Pastor Long may indeed be homosexual. But their faith in Christ and Christ’s mercy will pave a way for them to enter Heaven. Christians, let’s love these men as Christ loves us.
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