I’m not interested in changing your mind or convincing you of anything at all. I won’t be jumping through hoops to do so. I have done my best to lay down the pursuit of chasing such winds. I ask that you return the favor to me. And if you are not interested in considering how faithful Christianity aligns with affirming those who identify as LGBTQ, then please – feel free to close this tab and move on with your day. This message is only for those who are in the place to receive it.

If you stay, please do so of your own good intentions to consider that maybe what you’ve been told, and maybe even what you’ve believed is less aligned with the Gospel of Christ and more aligned with the religion of man. If you stay to try to understand how a “Bible believing” Christian can hold such beliefs that you have been convinced are “not biblical”, I understand you’ll feel the urge to push back. Please don’t take it up with me. Read the links included to further learn the perspective of other affirming Christian individuals, churches, and clergy. Pray: seeking wisdom, guidance, and discernment. It’s not between us and nor does it need to come between us. This is purely for your consideration.

I have the verse highlighted in my Teen Study Bible about how a man should not lay with a man. I specifically remember the passion and justification I felt in doing so after a discussion with someone. How it came up or why, I have no idea. Truly most of my childhood and adolescence were untouched by the overt concept of homosexuality. It wasn’t brought up in my church, my family, or my friendships (until that moment in time). It had just started breaking into mainstream TV with Ellen and Will and Grace. And yet, my topic search in the back of my Bible led me to that verse and for me, in that moment in time – that was that. Easy peasy.

Raised in the Bible Belt American South, I found that simple “truth” affirmed in the culture around me in what was, for me, a very benign way. I wasn’t privy to anyone’s personal struggles or questioning or fears regarding their sexuality and discrimination or hate or losing their family or being kicked out of their home or church or forced into conversion camps. I didn’t personally witness any hate crimes or bullying. I wasn’t personally offended by something like Britney kissing Madonna at that awards show, nor did it make me like either of them less (or more). It was all just whatever for me. Maybe it was “wrong”, but lots of things that lots of people did were wrong and it just wasn’t my cross to bear or my place to judge and so – whatever.

Until.

Until I found myself in the trenches of a season of spiritual formation where the rubber hit the road. Where I found that to be the salt and light I had to bear the burdens of my fellow humans. No more whatever. I had to abandon easy peasy one-verse-explains-it-all faith for deep messy faith work. I had to sit in the grief of people: all the ache and loss and hurt and injustice and misfortune and fear and abandonment and cruelty of others alongside all of my own. My youth pastor had once prayed for my heart to keep breaking for others and let me tell you, that prayer did it’s work. I had to let my heart break endlessly until it broke me free and I had to let my rage roil against the walls of the boxes I had let God be put in until those walls were destroyed. And from that place, I asked-questioned–demanded-dared God to SHOW UP and show me how to be a person who believes God is good and real and big and always working even in the mire of these darkest places, even in all this brokenness. Generations, centuries of it. “I believe, please help my unbelief” Over and over and over.

I had to let the scales fall from my eyes so I could see the fullness of the groaning of humanity for the Good News that is good news for every single one of us. If it’s not good news for any single one of my fellow humans, it’s not good news for me and it’s not the good news of my God. If my faith practice doesn’t honor the dignity of every single human as made in the image of God, it is not a faith practice of the God I know.

In that season, it became clear to me how lazy and incomplete and just bad some of the most popularly accepted theology was and how intensely and intricately it shaped society and families. It was clear how the systems of power throughout history have influenced and corrupted the message of the church and the people of God.

In regards to same sex relationships – Christ never spoke on it. It’s not part of the Gospel message at all. It’s not part of the message we as Christians are called to share with the world. It’s not part of the 10 commandments. There are a few verses mentioning it that many Bible scholars have identified as examples regarding sexual exploitation, abuse, and idolatry within the cultural/historical context. There is no mention of it regarding consensual and loving same-sex relationships. And as someone who regularly sees that foster children are sleeping in DSS offices because they have no where to be placed, the argument that we are supposed to only be with people we can procreate with holds no water in our current context. We don’t have enough willing homes and families for the children that are already here. (It’s not very pro-life of us, really).

And so, long story long (but could have definitely been longer) – to affirm that people who identify as LGBTQ are a part of the family of God who are not lesser than, not deviant nor an abomination, is not in any way contrary to the Biblical spirit of the law and in no way hinders the spread of the Gospel.

To affirm that all people should have the same rights, freedoms, privileges, and opportunities regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, faith, etc is good Christian ethic and furthers the Kingdom and our testimony in this world.

Consider the members of this body of believers most affected by the refusal to affirm they are your brethren. Consider how this affects the Church when some members are cut off from community of believers and their spiritual gifts and fruit are not incorporated into the local places of worship. God does not stop working in their lives and through their lives just because their family or church refuses to accept them or embrace them. Consider the strength of unity when we recognize our family members as just that – part of the family of God, with us.

Consider the LGBTQ individual (and those who love them) who will turn from the church though they long for a place of faith and community because all they hear are noisy bells and clanging gongs. Consider if they instead found sweet words like honey, drawing them in, sticking to them.

Consider also the LGBTQ persons who have been told they are an abomination, they are disgusting, they are immoral, they are choosing to “go against God”, they are “loved” but not accepted. they are not welcome – or, they are welcome as long as they hide that part. Who are told that they can’t teach or preach or use their God given gifts. Consider these things.

We are for one another. We are the salt and the light. We take the plank from our own eyes before we tell our neighbor about the speck in theirs.

We can trust the Holy Spirit to change people’s hearts, we aren’t given that commandment. Only to love God and and one another. So, even if you can’t stop believing what your pastor or your parent or whoever told you about homosexuality (because it wasn’t the words of Christ), you can rest in the truth that you don’t have to change anyone or fix them. You don’t need to declare to them “where you stand”. They will see you if you stand beside them- otherwise, they will know where you stand. Because you may have been told it’s a lifestyle choice, you may feel it’s okay to let them know you “hate the sin, but love the sinner” but even said in the most well-meaning way, that falls so short of the mark of love that it is a sin itself. I imagine that most people who use that phrase don’t also say it to every other person in their life (all sinners).

Just like every other facet of humanity, sexuality and gender are personal and complicated. No one in God’s Kingdom is reduced to any one aspect of our being. It’s no more or less important than anything else about a person. And yes, during Pride Month we have it in our face more. It feels overwhelming and sometimes it’s crude or overly sexualized – but so are tweets from our public leaders, so no one is holding the monopoly on that unfortunate behavior.

To focus more on the “dangers” of someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity than on violence, injustice, poverty, homelessness, human trafficking, greed, lust, idolatry, the imprisoned, and those who are in need is to blatantly disregard the message of Christ and to indulge in the worldly religion of culture war (also referred to by some as “crotch Christianity” which sounds gross because it is gross to reduce people to that).

You can be unsure about it, be uncomfortable with it, be awkward regarding it. You just can’t honestly claim it’s “against” God with any real teeth.

There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV

Same sex love? Not there. Transgender persons? Not there.

I know, I said I’m not jumping through hoops. And I’m not. I’m not playing the Christian apologetics game (it’s so tempting but exhausting and not the point of this piece).

Anyways, consider. Consider what you believe about God, about Christ, about the Gospel and about our call as Christians. Consider who God says God is. Consider who God is to you. Consider your religion, your faith. Consider if it aligns with the life and teachings of Christ or with something more worldly, more man-made, more “appropriate”.

And one last thing I’ll say is this, while same-sex relationships have become a norm in pop culture, they are still not a norm in my culture in many of the places that are most intimate in my life. So no, I didn’t shape my beliefs to “fit in”. I didn’t feel the need to write two paragraphs to preface this piece because I am saying something “popular”. I know to share this on facebook, where many people who are part of my real life will not particularly like it will make me uncomfortable and sort of defensive and also maybe sad. So it’s not “the easy way” by any means.

But, for the people who may see it who will be shored up in their own faith, for the people are willing to consider, and for the edification of the family of God when the people of God dig deeper and love bigger and hold one another up in love and faith and truth, I share with deep conviction that it matters to use my words as they are gifted to me in that they may make brighter the way towards the love of Christ and the justice and mercy of the God who made us all in the image of the Divine.

For further consideration on this matter:

https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/lgbtq : blog by Rachel Held Evans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_affirming_LGBTQ_people : List of Christian denominations affirming LGBTQ people

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