Why gays, lesbians, bisexuals are welcome in true Christianity

I spend time sharing wisdom on Reddit, including the Christianity subreddit. Like much of the Christian world there is a steady flow of messages along the lines of "I'm Gay, they tell me I'm a sinner, am I going to hell? help!" with a range of responses from "love is love" to the other, less open extreme. The truth is that Christianity is a spectrum of many different churches and belief systems and nobody on earth is in possession of the absolute truth.

Let's look at where the anti-LGBTQ+ form of Christianity gets its ideas from and then break those down.

1. They believe that the bible is an unimpeachable source of truth.
2. In the Old Testament and in the book of Paul in the New Testament there are phrases that do appear to specifically say that anything other that heterosexuality is a sin.

Now, to be fair, one has to recognize that people that truly believe number 1 are being coherent with their beliefs. Many of those people are not hateful, they simply believe what mainstream Christianity has told them and don't question their beliefs.

But they are exactly that, beliefs.

Jesus did not dictate the bible, his followers did. If you truly believe that God delivered a perfect message that has been preserved for 2000 years then stop reading, nothing I say will convince you otherwise. However, I find it far more realistic to consider that Paul's writing reflect his beliefs. He was brought up in the Jewish faith and his ideas of moral life reflect those of society 2000 years ago. And I don't even waste time using the Old Testament as a source of morality- Jesus specifically came with a sword to break from the traditions of the past and I see no reason to derive my moral code from such antiquated thinking.

There is nothing in the bible to lead one to believe that Jesus had any sort of agenda against non-heterosexuals.

So, if you practice some form of non-hetero sexuality and struggle with self-acceptance due to your religious upbringing, please stop. Simply express love as best you can. Treat others as your brothers and sisters, even those that condemn you, as forgiveness and non-judgement are part of Jesus' fundamental teachings. And ask God to help you navigate the world's darkness so that you may shine brightly with your light.

Lastly, I would invite you to search out those churches that are welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. There are many of them, too many to list here. But seek and you shall find.