TransPreacher

Faith leaders sing at the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda as people gather in opposition to HB 183, Ohio’s Bathroom Ban Bill.

In Luke, Chapter 4, Jesus came out to his hometown people of Nazareth when he read the scroll of Isaiah and proclaimed:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

In claiming to be the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah, Jesus came out to the people who knew him best as the long awaited Messiah. People were so scandalized by this assertion they attempted to throw him off a cliff.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus continues to come out to people in different times and ways.

Jesus asks the disciples, “who do people say that I am”. Rumors provide different answers. When Peter gets congratulated for giving the right answer, Jesus then “ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.” His time to fully and publicly come out had not arrived.

We can see in Jesus that coming out is a process that is never fully completed. To this day, people debate who Jesus was.

However, we also see that Jesus coming out was not for his benefit, but so that others could have life and have it abundantly. Jesus coming out gave identity to people who had been excluded because of their social status, health, race, and class.

When we, as LGBTQ+ people, come out it is not only so we can be more authentic Coming out gives other people permission to be their full, true selves. This could be in terms of gender or orientation, but also happens in a myriad of other identities.

We are all told we are too much or not enough. Like Jesus, we have to constantly judge who it is safe to be out with and when we have to hold back. But know that your sharing of who God created you to be gives other people space to take off their masks. Together, we more fully reflect the diversity of God and in doing do so we make the more world a more beautiful place.