“Don’t Judge Me!” Part 3: A Pleasant Surprise at the Pride Parade

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He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Mark 16:15

The discussion made me cringe. People were calling in to a Christian radio station, bemoaning the deplorable behavior of some alleged Christ-followers who had shown up at a funeral, carrying signs saying God hates gays and they were all going to hell.

Finally, the moderator posed this question: “If you were standing next to these people with your own sign, what would your sign say?”

I knew my answer immediately, “ASK ME ABOUT THE REAL JESUS – THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU.“

I didn’t call in, but there was a stirring in my heart that I believe was preparing me for what happened later that evening.

I received a message from a friend, a pastor’s wife, inviting me to go with a group from her church to the “pride parade” in Detroit. They wanted to “love on” the people there and apologize for the way the Church had treated them.

I asked my daughter Kelly if she’d like to go share God’s love with the LGBT community. Her response was an immediate and enthusiastic “YES!”

The parade was in just a couple of days, so I grabbed some poster board and started working on my sign. I guess I was a little too eager and didn’t plan the spacing very well. It was like one of those signs saying, “P-L-A-N AHEad,” with the last few letters scrunched together for lack of space. (*eye roll*) When I told Kelly I might have to start over, she made a suggestion that saved the day. (She’s familiar with my scatterbrained ways.) So, my sign ended up saying, “ASK ME ABOUT THE REAL JESUS, THE ONE WHO ❤ s U.”

Close enough.

I had noticed signs outside certain churches, implying that God was perfectly fine with whatever behavior one chose to practice. Not wanting our group to be mistaken for one of them, I prayed about how to distinguish ourselves from the enablers without coming across as unloving. Since this was going to be a totally new experience for me, and since I am much more confident writing than spontaneously speaking, I decided to write a testimony that I could give out at the parade. If the people there didn’t understand our position when they encountered us, they would when they read my story.

I prayerfully wrote my piece and was surprised at how quickly it came. The words flowed with very little revision, and when I showed it to my husband Marty, who is excruciatingly honest in his feedback, his only response was, “This is good.” Coming from him, that was a huge green light.

I typed up the piece to fit onto a sheet of paper with three columns on each side. Taking it to the local print shop, I had copies made in multiple colors, folded them, and stacked them to look like a rainbow in my hand.

The night before the parade, Kelly sat with a blank hot pink posterboard and a concerned look on her face.

“I don’t know what to write on my sign!” she sighed.

Remembering that we were going to the parade to try to undo the damage done by “Christian” haters, I suggested, “How about, ‘Can we start over?‘”

She loved the idea and got to work. Around midnight we put the signs and flyers by the door, set our alarms, and went to bed. We wanted to get a good night’s sleep before what we felt was going to be an important day for us and, we hoped, for some hurting people who would be blessed by what we were offering, as well.

I admit I’ve slept better. I didn’t know what kind of reception the Pride people would give to a church group, especially after the despicable treatment they had received from others who claimed to represent Jesus. I was also aware that if we were going down to win souls to Christ, there was going to be pushback, if not from the people themselves, from the spiritual forces that held them captive. Were we in for unpleasant encounters, even violence? I believe in spiritual warfare, as my long-time readers know. Putting on my armor and praying some Scripture, I eventually fell asleep.

Early Sunday morning downtown Detroit was quieter than we had expected. I texted my friend and her husband to see where we should park and which direction we should walk to meet them. As we traipsed along the empty streets, we started to encounter other people, and by the time we met up with our group, there was considerable activity.

We were given t-shirts to wear that said, “I’m sorry” on them. I admit my initial reaction was negative. Sorry for what? I didn’t do anything. But I swallowed my self-righteousness and put on the shirt.

I was surprised and amazed at the response we received. I had prepared for the worst (braced myself for unpleasantness), but we experienced the opposite. People thanked us for coming, hugged us with tears in their eyes, wanted to take our pictures, and wanted their pictures taken with us. Some even stepped out of the parade to rush over and hug us before running back to catch up. One woman just yelled, “YES!” from the procession. Then, clarifying, she pointed to Kelly’s sign and called, “YES! We can start over!”

I suspected there was a good chance most or all of this response was from misunderstanding why we were there. I did see a woman holding a large sign with as passage from Romans condemning homosexual activity, having a seemingly calm and friendly conversation with a man dressed in rainbows. Still, I was anxious to share my flyer with these people and clarify what exactly it was we wanted to share with them.

Next week I’ll share what the flyer said.

Prayer: Lord, why are we so often afraid to tell others You love them? Why do we expect them to respond negatively to the Good News that has blessed us so much? Do we really think they are that different from us? Or has the enemy succeeded in intimidating us into silence? Break us out of our selfish cocoons and love them through us. And when some respond negatively, keep us from retreating, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

      

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Published by seekingdivineperspective

I am a forgiven sinner and adopted child of God, seeking to see life from His perspective - as opposed to the world's flawed perspective - and living my life accordingly.

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21 thoughts on ““Don’t Judge Me!” Part 3: A Pleasant Surprise at the Pride Parade”

  1. Its hard to respond in the best way when there’s difficult behavior on both sides. When someone is passionate about any given topic, things can run amuck. Staying calm, cool and collected is what should be strived for, but alas, we humans are not very good at that. Tomorrow, we start over and the next day, we start over, and the next day….same…until we die. Then its all over and Jesus wins (Well, He already has, but I think the point is shown.)

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  3. That is a tough conversatiom to enter into. Maybe getting the words just right is less important than being open to God’s Spirit and willing messengers of His gospel. Thanks for sharing. Would it be possible to make your flyer available for us to see?

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  4. Yayy! Good for you. Can’t wait to hear about what your sign said. I have prayed with some survivors of church abuse and apologized to them on behalf of the family of Christ that alas, is sometimes more like a toxic family then a healthy one. That can really help bring healing to some souls.

    I still have a pink protest sign out in my shed. It’s gotten a lot of miles in the past few years. It’s generic, good for all occasions and just says, “nope.” A friend of mine got me a coffee cup that says the same, “nope.” I’m chuckling because that one word has been a great balm for my own soul, no explaining needed, just say “nope.”

    We have a gal here who has a Jesus sign. That’s all it says, “Jesus.” She is known as, “the Jesus lady.” And yes, you guessed it, I am, “the nope woman.”

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  5. Hi Annie, I’m looking forward to reading the contents of the handout next week. I personally probably wouldn’t have gone with the rainbow presentation via multi-colored handouts, but that is a secondary point. I read everything that you said in this post very carefully and I think you stated it well, especially with regard to most probably being misunderstood. Pete is correct in my mind, in that it is a difficult subject to approach (especially in a parade) for a host of valid reasons. If we Christians treated fornicators and adulterers the same way some treat homosexuals, our churches would be pretty sparse. Should we apologize for how some Christians have addressed and do address homosexuals with the “God hates and going to hell” threat? Yes, I could buy into that, but what I was apologizing for would probably be misunderstood if it wasn’t clarified (hence the handout?). Jesus could have used the God hates and going to hell approach with the Samaritan woman at the well, but He didn’t. Actually, the Apostle Paul told us not to judge those outside of the Church (1 Corinthians 5:12), but rather to restrict our judgement sparingly to those within the Church. I’ll get back to you again after I’ve read the handout.😊 Blessings!

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  6. Wow…that’s powerful stuff.
    Honestly, I didn’t know what I was going to incontrovertible in reading this post.
    I too, am a Christian. I cannot and will not condone sin, call what God says is sin anything but sin nor call it good, enable nor affirm it.
    That being said, I acknowledge openly….that I am a sinner…in need of my Savior.
    He has not called me to entertain sin but He has called me to love sinners as He loved me while I was yet a sinner and unlovable and to show them the way to the cross.
    The answer to sin is always Jesus.
    And, how can they come to Jesus if we don’t show them the Love of Christ, if they can’t see that love in us?
    Love your heart. Love your bravery. Love your stepping out in faith and love the love you showed to those who need it so.

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  8. I love both of your messages, but I even more love the fact that you made the effort to go down to the parade and share the message directly. I know you healed some hearts by what you and your daughter did. God bless you, Annie!

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  9. Pingback: “Don’t Judge Me!” Part 4: Clarification – Seeking Divine Perspective

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