The Chosen Flies a Pride Flag: But What Does It Mean?
Unraveling the hoopla and culture wars in light of authentic Christianity
Throughout my 30s, I spent my summers on the traveling music festival, Vans Warped Tour, working for a nonprofit. As one of a handful of Christians on the tour, there was quite a lot of stigma to overcome. To the dismay of many — Christian and non-Christian alike — I befriended members of the tour who worked for an entity that promoted Satanism and sold absurd amounts of t-shirts featuring pentagrams, upside-down crosses, and Baphomet. I would swing by their pop-up tent and chat, often laughing, and getting to know the stories of the men and women working there.
While speaking at a church one evening and recalling this moment, I heard audible gasps from a few members of the congregation. They were flabbergasted that I could befriend people with beliefs that were the very antithesis of mine. Afterward, a well-meaning woman approached me, genuinely curious about how I could put myself in such an environment that she deemed “evil.”
“Well, a few things,” I responded. “First, if you believe human beings are created in…
