Sinners, Saints, and Supergirl

Hello, friends. Disclaimer: This became much more intense and potentially divisive than I originally intended.

I've recently been watching the wonderful show Supergirl. It's deep and meaningful and action-packed and also just plain silly at times. I love the idea that Supergirl (Kara) is an all-powerful alien and also a vulnerable person who sometimes needs to decompress over pot stickers with her human sister. It's actually her sister, Alex, who intrigues me the most on the show.

The sisterly bond between Alex and Kara is a joy to watch. They argue, they banter, they save each other's lives, they eat ice cream on the couch and binge watch tv shows, they do what they think is best for the other person with complete disregard for their own safety... Their relationship is the best part about Supergirl.

Beyond her connection to Kara, Alex is a fascinating individual in her own right. She's a bio-engineer, an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and a sharpshooter. She is courageous, independent, and strong. She dedicates her life both to protecting Kara and to protecting innocents. Everything she does is about helping make the world a better place.

She's also lesbian.

I'm well aware that many evangelical Christians would say that her sexual orientation negates all of her good qualities. That her sins outweigh her good works.

That is true for all of us.

I work for a confessional Lutheran church and I do believe that homosexuality is a sin. I also believe that lust, disrespecting your parents, cheating on homework, and idolizing sports teams and celebrities are sins. There are no perfect people. Romans 3:23 reminds us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." All means all. All means you. All means me.

I struggle with sin. In college, and again in Florida, I struggled with sin so much that I went to a trusted mentor and confessed it with repentance in my heart. And do you know what they told me? They told me that I was forgiven. They reminded me of the next verse in Romans that reads, "and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." I was convinced, and sometimes still am, that my sins were beyond forgiveness. That my sins were too big and too bad for God. But nothing is too big and too bad for God, and I am forgiven and free. I know my mentors well enough to say that if my sin had been homosexuality, and I had come to them and confessed it with repentance in my heart, they would have told me exactly the same thing - that I was forgiven. Because my sins do outweigh my good works. That's why I need Jesus.

Alex is just a character in a tv show, but she is not an unrealistic one. Okay, maybe the part about having Supergirl for a sister is a stretch, but apart from that? She is all of us. She's a sinner in need of a Savior. And if we reject her simply because her sin is homosexuality, then we reject all those like her. We offer hatred rather than compassion, inspire fear instead of trust, and ultimately fail in our call to minister to people who need Jesus in the same way that we do.

So the next time you're watching tv and you discover that one of the characters is gay or lesbian, don't reach for the remote. Instead, take the opportunity to understand.