I'M DONE!

I’m Done Trying To Bridge Two Worlds

I’m DONE!!! I’m done tiptoeing around! I’m done feeling conflicted and hesitant as I try to coexist in two distinctly different worlds at the same time. In one world, I desperately want to exhibit a heart of full inclusion, complete acceptance, real love and actual support for all of my LGBTQ+ friends, but there is also a pull toward another world.

That is the world I have spent my entire life in. I’ve lived in that world right up until the last few years. In that world, I find myself trying to not offend all the conservative evangelical church folks who are still part of the religious tribe I grew up in and in which I served in for more than 30 years. Those good folks, many of whom are my family or lifelong friends, honestly have very little need for my pastoral support. They are completely surrounded by plenty of friends and pastors who all think just like they do. So, I’m done worrying about whether the things I say or the things I write are offensive to them. I’m done trying to bridge those two worlds which are so far apart.

To my LGBTQ+ siblings, I’m all in for you! As I wrote about in my last post, they have now taken my ministerial credential that hung on my wall for years. But they cannot take my pastoral heart or my love for all those who have also been pushed out of the traditional church. My ordination into pastoral ministry may have been originally recognized and conferred on me through the hands of the leaders in my former religious tribe, but the calling and the ordaining into that priestly order of ministry called pastor is from the heart of God, not from a denomination.

So please hear my heart. I am 100% here for you! I am a pastor who truly loves you, exactly as you are. I don’t believe that the Bible or God, sees your sexual orientation as being something that is in need of being fixed or that it is somehow a mutation from what is normal. You have been perfectly crafted and are a beautiful reflection of the very creative character of God. My calling is to be here for you and all those who the traditional church has pushed aside.

Having been part of the leadership of the traditional church for many years, I know that they push you out and ostracize you because they don’t have an answer that reflects Jesus. So they just get rid of you. They don’t know how to express the kind of love, acceptance, or inclusion that Jesus clearly offered to those he encountered on the margins of his own world’s churchy society. I want to be your pastor, whether that’s in person, online, by email, Facebook, Skype, Twitter or whatever method works best for you. I want you to know that I am available to walk with you through the joys and the struggles of your life journey.

To my longtime friends and family members who disagree with this path Michelle and I have chosen, I am sad that this disappoints you. Please know that I love you and I do care about our relationship! It is important to me. However, as is always the case in ministry, following the call of God must be the highest priority. I must do what I believe is truly right. I must be the pastor God has called me to be. That call requires that I get outside of our church bubble.

Getting outside of the church bubble has opened my heart to the joy of doing life with, caring deeply for and walking alongside so many people that our protective and secure church bubble would have never allowed me to truly get to know before. God has reformed and reshaped my heart on behalf of these understandably religiously gun-shy people. I understand why they are hesitant to trust religious people (especially evangelicals) even if they are no longer evangelical.

Friends & family, I have no desire to push you out of my life or to diminish the importance of our relationship. But my priority must be those precious people who find themselves on the outside of church. These folks often suffer mental, emotional and even physical trauma as a result of growing up hearing hate-filled words being preached from church pulpits directed toward LGBTQ+ people. They have been beaten up by pastors and church leaders misusing both the Bible and God to justify their hateful words as they pushed them away from the church and more significantly from God.

I am called to serve and care for the LGBTQ+ community, not simply for the purpose of gaining their trust and then metaphorically sucker punching them by telling them they’ll have to change their DNA in order for God to accept them. No, that is simply wrong. I firmly believe that the evangelical church has a made a huge error in judging any person as being unworthy to participate in the kingdom of God or when they place special mandates on them that don’t apply to anyone else, such as a celibacy requirement. I have been called to be their pastor and these precious people must be my priority.

To my LGBTQ+ friends, I’m completely serious! I’m here for you! If you would like to connect with me directly to confidentially talk, cry, vent, scream, rant or whatever, you can do so in several different ways. You can connect with me through the contact tab of this blog site or connect with me by email at: Murphy@MurphyGill.com message me through Facebook at: www.facebook.com/murphy.gill I’m also on Twitter ( @Nvstalot ) and Instagram.