The reason why my three friends and I were at this year's Gay Pride Parade could be summed up in the following quote, which actually is what The Marian Foundation's founder Andrew mindset is as follows; "...it's the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge, and it's my job to love. And that's what I'm here doing." (Billy Graham)
Our job wasn't to judge, our judge wasn't to convict, but it was simply to love and share God's love with those we came into contact with. Here's some photos (not mine) of what we were expressing to the people in the parade and those around us:
Well it started with driving into Chicago and parking in the neighborhood of one of the guys from TMF, we arrived...and it started raining! We (my 3 friends and I) weighed out the pro's and con's of the weather, whether we should drive downtown and find a spot there or a parking garage or brave the elements and head over to the red line el, catch it and get off at Addison. We chose the latter.
It started clearing up a little as we headed to the el station, we weren't drenched but we were a bit wet. We actually boarded the right line but headed in the wrong direction! But thankfully with getting off at the next stop and waiting for the next el, it just put us back 5 mins, no worries.
After getting off at Addison we walked down to the IHOP, again we went in the wrong direction (this wasn't our fault) but after getting our bearings we finally met up with TMF. After getting our shirts that say "I'm Sorry" on the front and the website to Andrew's/TMF blog, we headed over to Starbucks.
On our way back from Starbucks our first (of many) conversations with people at the parade started. A lesbian approached us & asked what we were sorry about. I kinda was the leader of my 3 friends, so I shared with the woman that we were sorry for what she might have experienced directly or indirectly from other Christians, that God doesn't love them, that they're worthless or something of that nature. She was kinda taken aback by our apologies, but she sincerely offered up an "I forgive you" to my friends and I, and about that time her partner and a few of their friends met up with her and so she introduced us and what we were sorry about and this too stunned her partner and friends. From there they wanted a group photo, my friends and I but also the woman and her partner and friends! Our photos were taken and with mutual have a good day we made our way back to our spot outside the IHOP with TMF.
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On a side note, my prayer of that day was "God give me a heart of flesh and nerves of steel", because I didn't know what to expect going to the Gay Pride Parade, I heard rumors from my mom which instilled some doubt and some fear into me.
I don't cope well with doubt and fear at times, but I didn't want this to break me from going to the Gay Pride Parade and bringing the love of God, bringing restoration to individuals who might have had some bad experiences with some very unloving and judgmental Christians...and my prayer was answered many times over at the parade.
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So my friends, TMF and I watched the parade, and granted the shirt did get mixed signals from those in the parade, and yet for those that "got it" it was amazing (you can read some experiences Nathan from TMF experienced here). For those we interacted with as we walked around, we took the time to address what we were sorry about, I was quite pleased that we all shared from our perspectives (our talks were different and yet shared the same message) and it wasn't met with hostility, but most of the time people offered genuine forgiveness to what we were sorry about.
At the end of the parade there was a guy by the name of June who noticed our shirts and so we conversed with him as to what were sorry about. He "got it" and was happy and forgiving, he was also very loving and he shared how while I was his type he wasn't going to cheat, he did invite ALL of us to his birthday party this weekend coming up and what he said painted a picture to me of what the kingdom of God is like, June said;
"It's not a black thing or a white thing, it's not a gay thing or a straight thing. It's about coming together and having a good time together."
And for me that's the kingdom of God, there isn't segregation or ________'s only, it's for everyone!
I'm glad to have gone and sincerely apologized to those around me, I'm glad to have gone with friends who are sincere about what they believe and take it out to the streets, take it out to where the rubber meets the road because that is where it truly counts.
~Nathanael~
