The young host of a Christian music television show has come out publicly as a gay man, and to his surprise he has received more encouraging support than expected from churchgoers.
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Azariah Southworth, host of Christian television show 'The Remix,' announces he's gay.
"I’ve received literally hundreds of emails from everyone around the world and they're all encouraging," said Azariah Southworth, host of "The Remix," in an interview with After Elton, a publication on gay and bisexual men.
While many of the e-mail were also negative, 21-year-old TV host said the “amazing amount of support and encouragement has astounded me.”
“I've never received so much encouragement like this, not from the Church," he added.
Southworth made his announcement last week in Out and About, a Nashville-based LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) publication. He said it was a long time coming and that he now wants to live his life honestly.
"I believe by me living my life honestly and authentically now, I am able to be a better person and a better Christian," said Southworth.
Southworth personally believes many misunderstand the Bible on what it says about homosexuality. He was inspired by the controversial 2007 documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So" which argues that the Bible is misused by fundamentalist Christians and that Scripture does not condemn homosexuality.
Another inspiration for his coming out as gay was Ellen DeGeneres, an award-winning and popular talk show host who came out as a lesbian in 1997.
He's not alone as a gay Christian, Southworth says. There are many gay people in the Christian industry, he adds, but it's "hush-hush" and they're scared to come out.
Southworth's shocking announcement came just one and a half years after "The Remix" debuted on television. The show, which takes viewers into the day in the life of popular Christian bands or solo artists, can be viewed in more than 128 million homes worldwide and averages more than 200,000 viewers weekly.
After his coming out, Southworth expects the show to be taken off the air but has yet to hear anything from his employers, he told After Elton.
His fans have also been largely mum so far. Much of the positive response he received over the past several days has come from people in the Church who have not watched his show, he said. He expects his fans will let him know they care but won't support his being gay and Christian.
"I know I will be cut off from many within the Christian community, and if so, then they didn't get the point of the life of Christ," he commented. But he hopes the faith community will not push him out for being openly gay.
"I hope that they (Christians) don't do that, because that is not who Jesus was at all," he told After Elton. "His closest friends were the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the sinners. They were the low-life people of that time. So I hope they don't do that."
Randy Thomas, executive vice president for Exodus International, which helps those dealing with homosexuality, hopes Christians will respond to Southworth with compassion, especially at a time when many view the church as anti-gay and judgmental.
"I hope that the Christian community will reach out to Mr. Southworth with the compassion of Jesus Christ as well as the truth that God deeply loves men and women struggling with this issue and longs to set us free from a life dominated by sin," he told The Christian Post. Continue >>
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Southworth said, "I hope that they (Christians) don't do that, because that is not who Jesus was at all...His closest friends were the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the sinners. They were the low-life people of that time. So I hope they don't do that."
It is amazing that most that "come out" associate with the fringe society that Jesus ministered to in response to the religious establisment's rejection of His time. However, with their self interpreted "point of Christ" they make themselves to be more like the Pharisees who desired to manipulate and control any religious expression.
How appropriate.
Today's devotional from John MacArthur:
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:33-34
"The apostle Paul knew that those in the Corinthian church were being exposed to the heretical theology. This false teaching was having a bad influence on the Corinthians’ behavior. That’s why Paul tells them in today’s verse, “Bad company corrupts good morals.” It is impossible to be around evil people and not be contaminated both by their ideas and their habits.
This glimpse at the situation in Corinth proves that sound doctrine matters and does affect how people live. "
openminded
Personal Testimony about living out the Word of God:
One day God dealt with me about putting His will first in my life. When I surrendered and walked in obedience to Him, all the things in His Word that He wanted for me as a Christian to do came natural for me. I didn't have to think about what He wanted me to do, or how to act, or even how to interpret everything, It came out naturally for it was just a part of who I was. The same can be for you too.
Kudos to Azariah, what he did was truly brave and he is now testifying the love to Jesus to those who too often are cast out of the church. May God continue to lead him on his mission and bring those in the gay community back to the church that has caused them so much pain.
lidia: But they were customary - abomination usually referred to breaking customs and not the way we think of it today. There was lots of pagan rituals involving homosexuality which they saw as (and we still do today) see as sinful.
If they were "customary", they were ALWAYS regarded and noted as customarily SINFUL.
lidiapurple: Did it ever occur to you that perhaps some homosexual acts in the Bible were just "customary" as well?
ShuckCreations & lidiapurple- read Jude its a short book, right before the book of Revelation the last book of the Bible.
Dear Openminded,
The Bible is the Word of God without error. But there are different writing styles in the Bible. It was written over hundreds of years, by many different writers. A basic rule of thumb for reading the bible is to take it literally whenever possible.
Understand that those things you mentioned –“ yet they eat bacon and plant their garden with more than one kind of seed and wear multi-fibered clothing “ were part of the 600+ Levitical laws that passed away with the crucifixion.
You also need to understand that some of the things mentioned in the New Testament, like women not talking in church, or wearing head coverings, were considered customs of the time, and were to be adhered to out of respect for the customs.
Also, we believe that the OT is a foreshadowing of the NT. So, if something is different in the NT than the OT one always accepts the newer scripture.
It is very hard, if not impossible to know these things by just reading the Bible. That is why the concept of “Sola Scriptura” has never worked for me.
There are scholars who have written guides on how to read the bible. I’m sorry I can’t suggest a certain one right now. Maybe some here can.
Thank you for your replies.
As may be evident I am really stuggling with how to use the Bible. I have always heard that the Bible, the whole Bible was the Word of God and that it is without error.
With that said I am hearing that we should adhere to some of the Bible but not all of it. How should I choose which part to adhere to?
I am always hearing people say they live by the Bible - yet they eat bacon and plant their garden with more than one kind of seed and wear multi-fibered clothing - yet the Bible says we should not do any of these.
And what about women who talk in church? I talk to women in my church all the time yet I read somewhere that women were supposed to be silent in church - this is all very frustrating. How can we know what is true in the Bible?
“Sin is what dwells inside of you...things such as lust & greed. So stay away from those things and worry little about OT laws”.
I just want to clarify that the OT laws you are referring to are the Levitical law, not the 10 commandments. We are still bound by those.
Matthew 19:17-19
17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,'[d] and 'love your neighbor as yourself.
openminded, the OT is more like a history lesson of our faith. The laws stated in Exodus through Deuteronomy were given to the Isrealites not the Gentiles. In Acts 15 Peter explains that the Gentiles are not bound to this law. The OT acts as a prophecy of Christ's coming and of the way things are to be. You'll notice that the OT is quoted all throughout the NT as reference to these prophecies.
So I say to you that no, you are not to take the laws in the OT litterally. You should thank the Lord that Christ has come so that you don't have to follow these laws anymore.
Hebrews 8:6-7
"But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it."
Galatians 5:4-6
"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love."
You see it is the Holy Spirit that leads us to do right in the eyes of God. For through the love of God you will live a holy life and repent those things which were not that were not. Sin is what dwells inside of you...things such as lust & greed. So stay away from those things and worry little about OT laws.
Does all the stuff about the law in the New Testament mean that I don't really have to pay attention to what is said in the Old Testament? Is the Old Testament the Word of God that should be taken literally or not? Is some of the Bible to be taken literally and som not?
What parts are to be consider literal - killing my children if they curse me? Loving my neighbor even if my neighbor is a Samaritan?
Please help.
KC, you need to read some more of the NT. Being let free from the old law is discussed all over it.
Romans 7:6
"But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit."
Let's just blow the gates wide open; Lying is a sin; Fornication of any type is a sin; Stealing is a sin; Adultery is a sin; Not keeping the Sabbath holy is a sin; Not honoring your mother and father is a sin; Worshiping graven images is a sin; Having other gods before God is a sin; Taking the Lord name in vain is a sin; Murder is a sin, even self murder. These are all sin that exist in the body of Christ; There are christian praticing all these things. While I was yet in my sin, Christ died for me. We should be working to get rid of these as well. There is no one sin that rules the rest. The Law bring us to knowledge of sin.