Vomit Fest 2014 (A Follow Up to My Previous Post)

In my previous post I made a statement that the homosexual agenda is being shoved down our throats through the media.  I referred to the Michael Sam debacle as a clear example of this.  I used the image of my son shoving something down his throat and then throwing up as an illustration of how this whole situation makes me feel.

In response to my blog, I was told that the vomit illustration was childish.

That may be true, but I personally think that the illustration would more accurately be labeled as honest.  (It seems a bit ironic that people would admire Michael Sam for his honesty, but disapprove of me for mine.)

Speaking of irony, I also find it ironic that since writing my previous post, my family has literally been throwing up around the clock.  No joke.  I’m not sure if it is a virus or food poisoning, but it has been Vomit Fest 2014 in the Polen household since yesterday. I’ll spare you most of the gory details, but the whole situation has actually caused me to think more deeply on the subject from my previous post, and I wanted to follow-up with a slightly different look at the subject of homosexuality.

Please bare with me, as I’m sure some will find it offensive that I will be comparing the sin of homosexuality (or any sin, really) with vomit, but I hope some will find it a helpful comparison -especially in terms of our response as followers of Christ.

Vomit Is Gross

Here is the deal: vomit is gross.  If we can agree on that, then I think we are making progress.  Some people do it on purpose because they drank too much alcohol or because they want to control their weight.  Other people can’t help but vomit due to whatever circumstances they are in.  Either way, vomit is gross.

God thinks that homosexuality is gross (technically he refers to homosexuality as “an abomination”, but I think that “gross” is a fairly decent synonym).  As followers of Christ, we want to have the mind and thoughts of God, and by having the mind and thoughts of God we also think that homosexuality is gross.

Please keep in mind that we are talking about the sin, not the person. This is important.

Vomit is gross, but the person who vomits is not gross.  Do you see the difference?

You Are Not Your Sin

My son came walking out of his room last night with vomit all over his face and stomach.  It was all over the floor and all over his bed.  It was gross.

He was not gross.  He was my son!

I picked him up and loved him and gave him a bath to help clean him up.  I love him like crazy and that will never stop, but I’m not crazy about his vomit.

People with homosexual orientation are not gross.  They are lovely.  Our response to them should be the same as my response to my son.  I love him and I am willing to help him deal with the gross things surrounding who he is.  My son is not a “vomitter”.  He is my son, and he needs me to walk with him in helping him become clean.

My problem with homosexuality is that the act itself is not seen as gross (at least not in mainstream media).  That, to me, is akin to my son saying, “I don’t see anything wrong with this vomit and I don’t want your help getting clean!  God made me this way and that is how I want to remain.”  He needs to know that it is gross if he is going to accept my help, and I love him so much that I long to hold him and help him -because he is not his vomit!  He is my son.

You are not your sin!

But you do have to confess your sin if you want to be made clean.

What We Do and What Sin Does

In the middle of the night one of my daughters came in to our room with vomit all over her.  It was literally caked in her hair.  She was sleeping next to her sister.  When the urge came she actually vomited all over the floor, all over herself, and all over her sister.

It was gross.

As her father, I held her in my arms (vomit and all) and placed her in the bathtub to help her get clean.  I lovingly removed the vomit from her hair and helped her to get better.  That is what we do with sin.  We lovingly help to remove it.

Meanwhile, my wife went to work on cleaning up the vomit mess in the house.  It had spread pretty far by the time my daughter made it to our room.  There are vomit stains all over our house.  That is what sin does to us.

It spreads.

You see, sin not only affects the person involved, but it also affects the environment surrounding it.  We see this in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned against God.  Not only were their lives forever changed as a result of their sin, but all of creation was also changed and subjected to futility.

THAT IS WHAT SIN DOES.

It affects the environment around you.

If we, as a culture, fail to get this right, future generations will be affected.  Our current generation is already affected.  As a Youth Pastor, I see a very different perspective towards homosexuality (and sin in general) from the youth than I do from the older members of our church.  That is not good.  We have a moral obligation, as followers of Christ, to get this right for future generations.

The Huge Misconception

At this point, four members of the Polen household have participated in Vomit Fest 2014.  My wife and three of my four children have been affected.  My oldest daughter and I have somehow escaped, unscathed.

This is really important, so please hear me out on this:

I do no think myself better than my wife and the three children who have vomited.  I am not standing in judgement of my wife and three children who have vomited.  I do not treat my daughter who didn’t vomit any better or worse than my children who have.

There is a huge misconception in the world about Christians who are willing to stand on Biblical truth.  The idea is that we are being judgmental, or self-righteous, or unloving.

I don’t think that is true.

My daughter who did not vomit felt such compassion towards those who did that she hugged them, prayed for them, and served them to try and help them feel better.  She put her arm around their shoulders and said, “It’s going to be okay.”

This is also the appropriate response to people who have sinned.  We hug them, pray for them, and serve them to try and help them get better.  We put our arms around their shoulders and say, “It’s going to be okay.”

Notice that we don’t say, “It is okay.”  It’s not okay.  But it is going to be okay as we work together to get this mess cleaned up.