I've been watching the new Queer Eye series on Netflix. I never saw the old one, and I didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but I thought I'd watch one just to check it out.
Wow. It's terrific. Here are a bunch of guys who go in and shower love on someone. OK, yes, it's their job, but it's more than that. They each, in their own constructive way, choose to love on the person. The hair and makeup guy doesn't just make them look fashionable - he constantly tells them they're beautiful, and means it. The home makeover guy doesn't just make their place stylish, he gets to know them so that he can make it a reflection of who they are and what they need.
I cry every episode. And the more I watch it, the more I think every Christian should watch it, so they can see terrific examples of how to embrace and love the Other. Some of the best episodes are when they're helping Christians, even though they themselves have been hurt and ostracized by Christians.
I watch this show, and it kinda makes me wonder if God didn't look at the Christians and say, 'Hey, you're not doing your job. So, I'm gonna raise up these people that you've marginalized and have them do it.'
Look, if you know me, you know I'm not entirely comfortable with gay people, especially the flamboyant ones. And you don't have to agree with their choices. But you must try to be kind.
As The Doctor says, "Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind."
Because that's the example we were given. The sermon at church today was about the woman at the well. And here's a woman who has been ostracized and mistreated and avoided. She is, for a Jew, the very definition of Other - she's the wrong people, and a woman, and she's had 5 husbands and now she's living with a man outside of marriage. But this is the woman Jesus gets close to. This is the woman that Jesus makes time for. And this is, in fact, the woman that Jesus uses to save the whole village.
Mind you, I'm talking to myself here, too. But, Christians? It's time to embrace the Other. If a drag queen walks into your church, you should welcome them with a hug. Don't hang back and see how it plays out - be the one to go over there and embrace them. You don't have to agree with them. Just welcome them and then let them work out their own faith.
It's time to get uncomfortable.
THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS. This is why I'm at the church I'm at, because being there helps me do this, provides me with constant opportunities to do this, and also sometimes makes me the Other (a straight couple in our church was an oddity when we first joined, but we were welcomed SO HARD).
ReplyDeleteThis post made me cry because it's so true. It's God's truth. On TV, of all the darn places.