Well... okay, but: who said anything about driving them away? When we point out that even the uncritical, unqualified USE of the “LGB[etc.” term is a tacit admission of “legitimacy” for those categories (and “sexual sin, mental illness, sexual disorder” would be the true descriptors of those conditions), then anyone who uses them in such a manner is definitely “tipping his hand” in regard to the thoughts of his mind and heart. The plaintive cry of “Don’t drive me away because I’m gay!” is very often their OWN rendering/hearing of someone who, in reality, said, “Your choices are diseased and sinful, and they will lead you to spiritual death! I love you too much to let you continue on that path unchallenged... and no, we’re not instituting any “programs” which would confirm you in your disordered lifestyle. We want you to stay; but we hate the sin you love, with a passion, and we won’t rest until it’s dead!”
Loving the sinner does not mean “playing nice” or “watering down one’s words” for them... much less soft-pedaling the Gospel for the sake of sin-sensitive ears. Someone who’s dying of snakebite needs an injection of antivenin (and possibly a very painful cut and extraction of the poison), not a misplaced mercy which allows them to die without being offended or cut or stuck with a needle.
To let someone hear a Christian “confirm” a sinful stance (for the sake of being “sensitive” and “pastoral”), or even refuse an opportunity to condemn it (while making a clear distinction between sinner and sin) is NOT loving. It’s as good a working definition of “hate” as I can imagine. It’s tantamount to saying to them, “I’m willing to let you die, rather than suffer through the unpleasantness of having you be angry with me, hate me, let people think that I cruelly drove you away from the Church, etc. I’d rather see you damned than to see myself suffer.” That’s hatred, friend.
(James 5:13-20)
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.