Gay Christians have to listen to a lot of criticism and judgment from members of the church who don't understand sexual orientation, and we get tired of it. As a result, most gay-friendly churches and Christian communities tend to spend their time focusing on God's grace - a quality decidedly lacking in many Christians.

Grace is a crucial doctrine of the faith; it is what separates Christianity from those religions that rely on good works to earn God's favor. The idea that we are saved by grace, not by our own goodness, is a central tenet upon which all of Christian teachings rely.

And yet, sometimes we fall into the trap of focusing too much on grace, behaving as if our status as "the people of God" were the only thing that mattered. Paul witnessed the same situation in the early church, and that's what he responds to in this passage.

1 Corinthians 10:1-10

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did - and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as some of them did - and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did - and were killed by the destroying angel.

Here Paul compares our situation to that of the Israelites following Moses through the desert. Although they hadn't yet witnessed the ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ, Paul suggests that they were Christians, in a sense, and that Jesus was there with them spiritually. They were a single body of believers, following Moses in faith. And yet, Paul points out, God was displeased with many of them.

Paul's intention here isn't to send us back to the chains of guilt and self-loathing. We are saved by grace. There is forgiveness for our sins. Nevertheless, we need to be conscious of how we live as Christians. Just because God loves us enough to bail us out every time we screw up, doesn't mean we shouldn't try our hardest to do better the next time.

In this passage, Paul highlights four sins in particular that we should avoid.

1. Idolatry.
For Paul's audience, living in the midst of a culture where idols were being worshiped all around them, this was a fairly straightforward command. For us, there isn't much temptation to "worship idols" in the traditional sense. However, anything in our lives can become an idol if it takes precedence over our commitment to Christ.

2. Sexual immorality.
This is perhaps the least popular one to talk about in gay circles; many of us have been told that merely being gay is sexual immorality, so we bristle anytime someone mentions the words. Still, we must not forget that there are moral and immoral ways to handle the sexuality God has given us as human beings, gay or straight. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you get a free pass on this one just because you're gay. We don't.

3. Testing the Lord.
The Israelites had just witnessed all kinds of miraculous signs in Egypt, but they quickly forgot about them when they were wandering in the desert and had no water. Sometimes we do the same thing. Even though God has brought us through countless obstacles in the past, the moment a new obstacle pops up, we start doubting God all over again. "Please take care of this problem, please!" we beg, but we pray like a drowning man who thinks he's about to die, not like a little girl who knows her father will take care of her. When we force God to prove Himself to earn our faith over and over, this is testing the Lord.

4. Grumbling.
I must admit, I have a hard time with this one. When things don't go my way, I like to grumble about it. There are other Christians who do a much better job than I at being beacons of light in the gloomiest of times. But even though I know this is something I need to work on, I often forget that grumbling is actually a sin. And it is!

Which of these do you need to work on the most?  Take some time to pray about it today, and see what God has in mind for you.