My name is Brady, and I’m a pastor. Over the last few months, my ‘tribe’ (the church) has protested your right to marry the person you love and snickered about bathrooms. I know that for centuries, you have been harassed, attacked, and persecuted by my tribe.
Today, the world awoke to the story of no less than 50 human beings being murdered for the audacity to be at a gay bar. And you will undoubtedly turn somewhere for healing, care, and comfort, as we all would. And I’m aware that you may not be welcome in every church across the country.
But you’re welcome in mine.
Over the next few days, there will undoubtedly be some talking heads and social media posts, no matter how few, that talk about this attack as ‘the cost of living in sin’, as if you somehow deserve this hatred. Some of these statements will come from pastors and religious leaders.
But not from me.
For whatever differences you and I have, I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to offer love, comfort, and care. I serve a God who calls us to comfort those who mourn and bind up the broken hearted.
Please hear me on this: We do not have to see eye to eye to weep together.
One of the most iconic movies of my generation is ‘The Karate Kid’. It’s not just a good martial arts movie; it’s just a great film. The film shows us the life of Daniel, who is a kid who finds himself in a new high school, which comes with a new breed a bullies. Daniel’s situation grows so bad that the maintenance man of his apartment complex, Mr Miyagi, offers to take Daniel-san under his wing and train him in karate.
The Dead Drop 