Dear ______,
In a recent conversation, among other things, you made the claim that Christians are complicit in the tragic Orlando shootings by arguing that "you weren't the gunman, but you think gay people are sinful and need saving so you're part of the culture that built him." While it is understandable why someone might make this statement during their pain in the face of such grief, but ... aren't we all sinful people desperately in need of saving?. Those in the LGBT community are not unique in this. I am no better. My sins, no doubt, easily equal or far exceed the sins of most of the souls who died in the nightclub. I certainly do not deserve God's favor or forgiveness and that could have just as easily been me die in there. I cannot boast in anything - no merit, "no gifts, no power, no wisdom - I can only boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection."
The gospel is not "I am saved because I am better than you." The Bible has always taught "I am saved because while I have no righteousness of my own but Christ, the righteous one - He alone is my hope." Jesus came into this world to save sinners, like me ... He was a human being who was uniquely without sin and died the death I deserve, and it was MY sin that held him there on the cross. Jesus, now risen from the dead, declares freedom for the captives.