I wonder how many Christians realize that when Jesus told the parable of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine sheep to find one sheep that was lost, he was saying we must sometimes leave the church to comfort those whom Christians have rejected?
The word “church” in Greek means “called out.” We are not defined by closed boundaries but by inclusive horizons. The church is not a gated community of insiders, it is a temple consisting of stones the builders have rejected. A church of purists and insiders is a contradiction in terms.
If a church shuns a parent for loving their transgender child, it is not the movement Jesus was talking about. Jesus said our love should be like the sun, which gives its light without judging who is worthy. He said love is like the rain that falls upon the just and unjust. If the church rejects someone for the supposed crime of honest doubt, it is not the movement Jesus was talking about.
If there were even one soul in hell, a true follower of Jesus would refuse to enter the gates of heaven until that one last missing member of the human family was found and included.
Jesus called his followers not to sectarian religion, but to universal love. Nothing less will do.