I read the tiny words on my phone screen and my breath caught in my throat—they were the words I had been waiting for. For years, I had hoped and prayed and wished for this, and now suddenly it was all happening at once: my family wanted to meet the woman I love.
In the LGBTQ community, we joke that “queer culture” is really just people whose families know nothing about them or their lives. As heartbreaking as it is to say, it is so true. Because when we cannot be honest about who we are, the people who love us cannot understand all we are.
But here she was—my grandmother—throwing the door wide open and inviting us in. So we booked plane tickets and packed our bags and showed up in my middle-of-nowhere, Ohio hometown. I was nervous and terrified it would be awkward, but it turned out to be anything but. There were hugs and kisses and excitement and good food and good conversation and seemingly never-ending visits from friends and family.
And it was during that visit that I discovered the secret to the full inclusivity in the Church that so many of us have been searching for…
Love.
(Yep, it’s really that simple!)
Love over legalism. The End.
Choosing love over the legalistic Law Jesus came to free us from completely negates the need for full inclusivity—because it is inherently fully inclusive of all people. All we need to do is simply choose love over anything else:
Love over racism.
Love over sexism.
Love over homophobia and biphobia and transphobia.
Love over everything else—every. single. time.
For this is the way of Jesus.
So this is how I’m choosing to live 2018: all my love, fully extended to every single person every single day.
Join me, won’t you?
Bailey Welch-Pomerantz 