“Where Are You?” — A Journey From Shame into Community
(Note: This is a teaser version of a longer more detailed blog that is coming soon)
Why am I so committed and vocal about building bridges of inclusion along with personal friendships with our siblings in the LGBTQ+ community?
The answer is simply because that has been God’s heart for all His beloved creations since the beginning. Picture this scene with me: As Genesis tells us, the creation is complete, and God had made all things good. But then the fall came, and with it the loss of the perfect fellowship & peace humanity once enjoyed in the garden.
Every time I’ve read Genesis 3, my focus has usually landed on the sin itself—and that’s important. But about a year ago, God showed me something fresh in this passage, something I’ve continued to reflect on since.
Let’s take a minute to review the text immediately after the passage detailing the fall:
Here’s the question that stops me: Why would God ask Adam and Eve where they were? The Lord knows everything. He is not confused. He didn’t “lose track” of them. You would not want to play hide-and-seek with God—He always knows where you are.
So, if the question wasn’t for God’s sake, then it must have been for theirs and therefore ours.
What we see happening is simply breathtaking. God is giving Adam and Eve a chance to step out of their hiding place—out of their sin and shame—back into His presence.
Yes, consequences were coming. The ripple effects of the fall would cascade for generations. But in that very first moment after rebellion, God’s instinct was not to condemn but to call His children back to Himself.
“Where are you?” was not a divine GPS check-in. It was an invitation.
In June 2024, I attended the Revoice Conference for the first time. Revoice focuses on conversations around Christian sexuality and LGBTQ+ lived experiences. One theme that struck me was this same question: Where are you?
When asked with genuine love, it becomes a way of saying to a friend—whether LGBTQ+ or anyone else—I see you. You belong. You are loved.
This is God’s heart. He detests sin, yes, but He never stops calling sinners back to Himself. His posture is not one of pushing away but of drawing near.
And so, I wonder: do we live this way as the church? Are we people who remember what it felt like to be called out of hiding ourselves? Or have we slipped into the role of gatekeepers, deciding who belongs and who doesn’t?
Our calling is not to exclude but to extend the same invitation God gave Adam and Eve: step back into His presence. Not so that we can fix or change people, but so that all of us—together—can encounter the love and grace of Jesus.
Genesis 3:15 reminds us that God already had redemption in mind, even as judgment fell. From the very beginning, He was writing a story of restoration.
I have seen this beautiful truth in action each time I have attended the Revoice Conference. (And I encourage you—look them up directly at https://www.revoice.org rather than relying on what Google or critics might say.)
Revoice is led by LGBTQ+ Christians who hold to the historic biblical sexual ethic while also rightly insisting that the church become a welcoming place for all. They embody that same spirit of God’s question: Where are you?
It’s a reminder that the church at its best is not a crowd holding stones, but a family calling each other into fellowship with God.
“Where are you?” was God’s very first question after humanity’s first sin. Not, “What have you done?” Not, “Why did you fail?” but “Where are you?”
Friends, that’s still His question today—for us, and for everyone He loves, which is everyone. May we echo it with the same tenderness, so that others might step out of hiding and back into the embrace of our good Father.
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