We are defined by the choices we make. The choice to serve Jesus is not what defines a person, nor is sexuality. I am defined by the way I treat my wife, my friends and my family. I am defined by the way I serve God, not that I choose to do. We either accept all of God’s word, including what it says about homosexuality, or we don’t. Scripture is not subject to our approval.

Homosexuality is no different a spiritual offense than heterosexuality practiced outside of marriage. Of course it could be said that my decision was easy given my heterosexuality. If there were no temptation involved with heterosexuality, that would be a relevant statement. The fact is that there are plenty of ways to step outside of God’s will as a heterosexual. I know several gay people and I don’t treat them any differently than anyone else. What I believe about their way of life makes no difference with regard to respecting them as people and peers. If they were to ask me what I thought about homosexuality, I would have no reserve with being honest with them. Those who choose to live according to God’s word do so whether they like it or not. That is the very essence of obedience. When one joins the military, that person obligates him or herself to follow any order they receive, regardless of how they feel about it, and the same is true of those who choose to obey Jesus. To deny your desires and feelings is exactly what is expected, hence the term self-control.

My sharpest rebuke comes from my brother, the man I am closest to, and vice versa, because we know what God expects of us and we hold each other in high account because of our love for each other. It is out of intolerance for certain behavior that we may see in each other that this rebuke comes, but it is done out of love for the benefit of the other. That is my brother, and it is an appropriate place for that level of accountability. To present that kind of assertion to someone who is less than a friend in high confidence, much less a group of strangers, is out of place.

Contrary to popular belief, intolerance does not equal hate. If I were a hateful guy, I would not enjoy as many amazing friendships as I do, and I enjoy quite a few. It is because of the ignorance of those who call themselves Christian, those who feel the need to label certain groups of people “sinners” as if they were not a part of that group and who thrive on telling people that they are going to hell that there is a very high level of hostility toward those associating themselves with the term Christian or the name of Jesus. I neither belong to that group of so-called Christians nor agree with what they have to say. There are no lines between Christian and “sinner,” straight or gay, left or right; there are only those who choose to obey God despite themselves, the obedient, and those who do as they wish, the disobedient.

It makes no difference whether or not you “believe in God.” If your faith is not acted out with obedience to the Bible, you have no place with God. To those who believe that denying yourself leads to “unhappiness,” I say this: I have lived both according to my will and according to God’s will. If you have never lived according to Biblical standards, then you have no place to tell me that my current quality of life, both mentally and physically, is worse than that of when I did as I pleased. Jesus is king; I am his subject. That is my definition. My obedience to God is what makes me his child, not my beliefs, my sexuality or anything else.

Jayson Pierce is a guitar performance major. He can be reached at [email protected].