I don't typically rant.

I have a homosexual friend.

"What?!"

Yes.  I have a homosexual friend.  And the hardest thing about having this homosexual friend is not that I have to pretend to be nice to him, because he's really a great guy.  The hardest thing is watching him be mistreated by 98% of the christians he knows.

My friend is a christian, a follower of Christ.  He actually outshines many of the believers that I know in kindness, generosity, love, friendship, evangelism, and many other things.  But it's really hard to be a believer when you can't rely on the support and companionship of a community of believers.  This friend is currently living a celibate life, but because he can't find the straight switch, he is alienated.  Who does he turn to?  He turns to the people that accept him and are willing to be involved in his life as much as he is willing to be involved in theirs.

For anyone thinking about being my friend.  First consider...I sin...often.  But I don't have to dwell on my sin.  When I turn my back on Christ for a moment, and then turn to follow Him again in repentance, I don't have a crowd of people throwing my past in my face, telling me how much of a sinner I am, unfit for the Kingdom.  No.  I know that my sin is not me; I am not a slave to my sin, it does not rule my life.  I live in the freedom of Christ's sacrifice, not my own good deeds.  I can only boast in Christ.

And what pisses me off is that a brother of mine is being driven to spend his time outside any community of believers.  It's lonely being an island; it's not the way Christianity works.  Alienation is a vicious cycle.  You drive him away, he develops extremely close attachments with the people that actually do accept him, and you drive him further away because you don't approve of his close attachments.

Be a friend, not a pharisee.  You just might save someone's life.