The Jesus Response to Homosexuals

I was reading through the forums today and happened across a post from a Christian man who is struggling with his sexuality. His question was essentially this: "how do I come out to my straight Christian friends without losing their friendship?" Let me say how heart-wrenching it is for me to hear someone fear losing a friendship for being true to himself. No one should have to fear ending a relationship for being oneself; especially if one's friend is a professed Christian. Jesus of all people felt the hurts of humankind and grew closer to people in such a situations, instead of moving away from them. If you are a Christian and have shown any sort of judgment on a person for being gay or for having had an abortion or for having gotten divorced or for anything, if you have acted in a way that pushed someone from the Church, know that Jesus would have reacted differently, and that he calls us to act contrary to that. Jesus calls us to support other people and love them, even if we disagree with something they do.

I would like first to address Christians who believe homosexuality is a sin and who, therefore, feel it necessary to exclude the LGBT community from worship and/or leadership. I am not going to argue with you here that homosexuality is not a sin. If you want to see my argument you can go to Is Homosexuality a Sin? What I am going to argue is that we are interacting with so-called sinners in a completely unbiblical way. We are treating homosexuality as an unforgivable sin that precludes a gay person from being a Christian. When a Christian comes out of the closet we immediately void their Christian membership card and exclude them from all things Church related. I know a man who was involved in a Church ministry who as soon as he came out of the closet was expelled from that ministry and banned from leading any ministry from that point on. But did Jesus exclude people from ministry because of sin? Absolutely not, that was the job of the Pharisees. That was what Jesus criticized the Pharisees for doing. We read in Matthew 23:13 (if you haven't figured out yet, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." This applies not only to the afterlife, but to this life as well. When Jesus describes cutting people off from the kingdom of heaven, he is also describing cutting people off from the Church, which is what we tend to do with sinners.

Jesus dined with all kinds of sinners and selected them as his inner circle of twelve. I described in the post Reaching Out to the LGBT Community that Jesus selected tax collectors and prostitutes (the worst of all "sinners" in Jesus' time) as his closest disciples. So why do we pick out a particular group, call them sinners, and treat them differently from all other sinners. For instance, we call divorce a sin, yet we allow two divorced people to marry. We consider premarital sex a sin, yet we allow two people who have partaken in "fornication" to marry. Why do we not allow gay people to marry? Why do we lift up one group of people as sinners, and place them above every other group of sinners?

But most importantly, why do we create an atmosphere where gay people do not feel comfortable being honest with us? Why do we create an environment where no sinner feels comfortable coming clean. Sinners had no difficulty coming to Jesus with their sin, and that is because Jesus did not treat them with condemnation or judgment. That is because Jesus did not respond with shock and awe at their sin. Jesus simply smiled, told them all was forgiven, and changed the subject. Jesus showed love and compassion and made people feel comfortable and safe to be honest around him. And that is what we need to do as Christians.

For my gay brothers and sisters, I know that it is difficult being honest with your straight brothers and sisters about who you really are; and I am sorry that is the environment we have created for you to come out in. You know that I do not believe homosexuality is a sin and you can use my article on that when discussing your homosexuality with your straight brethren. I want you to know that I am here to support you when you make the leap of faith to come out to your friends, and that I know of many other Christians, gay and straight, who are here to support you too. Most importantly, know that Jesus is here to support you and he will not ever let go of his tender grasp on you. He will hold you up forever.

Let me suggest that when you come out to your brothers and sisters in Christ, that you do it individually with each one. Let me suggest that you make them aware of how difficult this is for you and how much you need their support. Let me suggest that you tell them the acceptance you have experienced from Jesus and how much you need their compassion and love as you make this difficult step in coming out. Let me suggest that you then pray together. Be completely honest with yourself and with them during this process. If they accept you, then all is well and you can ask for their support as you tell others. But if they do not accept you, do not argue with them. Do not fight with them. Give them some time to think and some time to come to an acceptance of what they have heard. If they do not, and they desire to end the relationship, grieve over the loss of the friendship. But do not give up hope in finding a community of believers that will accept you and love you for who you are. If it at all helps, you may use my letter entitled A Letter to My Gay Brothers and Sisters as a tool to assist you and support you.

To all of my readers, know that I love you and that Jesus loves you.
Blessings,
-Brandon

Osama bin Laden's Death and the Christian Response

In yesterday's post I started off by saying that I was not going to tackle such a difficult topic as the killing of Osama bin Laden. I am glad I did not address the topic yesterday since I needed some time to think about it. But I now think it is my responsibility, as one who professes to explain the contemporary Christian response based on Jesus' interactions in Scripture, to address this complex issue.

I had someone ask me yesterday, "as a religious person, what do you think about bin Laden being killed?" Thinking I had to give her an immediate response, I vomited up a response I am not proud of, without having had time to think about it. Now that I have had time to think about it, I can give a more thoughtful response.

But before I get all spiritual on you, I must say that my first response was joy. I was happy to hear that that murderous (insert profanity here) was finally taken from this earth. Good riddance, I thought; one less evil in this world. I want to let you know that I think this is an extremely natural response and one that I do not condemn. The kind of response (the Christian response) I am about to advocate for, is a hard one to develop, but a necessary one. I will tell you why it is necessary in a moment. But first to the response.

As for the model of any Christian response I turn to Jesus who is above and beyond the exemplar of all things in relation to how we respond to our fellow human being. The question is, which responses of Jesus should be our example for how we should, as the body of Christ, respond to Osama bin Laden and his being killed? I think many would look to Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees, and particularly to Jesus' diatribe against them in Matthew 23 where he comes just short of spitting on them. Today we would say that Jesus ripped them a new one. But the reason Jesus treated the religious leaders the way he did was because they were given the truth through the Jewish law and they twisted the truth they were given and manipulated it to oppress the Jewish people. They had drifted from God and the true faith, and were abusing their authority. It was because of these things that Jesus railed on them the way he did. (For more on Jesus interactions with the religious leaders of his day, go to Jesus and the Religious Leaders in the Bible).

Now, I do not believe Jesus ever intended us to use his railing as an example for our own interactions (though it is nice to use this passage to justify such railing sometimes), but it is for another post to discuss how to interact with our own religious leaders. What is important to know for this current post is that this type of reaction is intended for our own religious leaders and not for those outside of our religious perspective. It would be absurd for us to expect someone from a different ethical world-view to act according to our own ethical belief system. Bin Laden held to an extremist, terrorist worldview, so it would be absurd for us to expect him to adhere to Christian ethical practices which alone would justify such a railing. That does not mean that we should stand by and let that person do harm to others. If that person's behavior (i.e. bin Laden) was harmful, we are justified in doing everything necessary to prevent that person from doing more harm. But does that mean we should rejoice in their death? I think the answer is "no."

When Jesus came across an enemy of his from outside of Judaism, he was sorrowful. We are even told that Jesus lamented over Jerusalem. When he was being crucified, he prayed for those nailing him to the cross saying, "forgive them Father, for they no not what they do." Jesus told his followers to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them.

Evil begets evil, and when evil is killed it begets evil through the rejoicing of something terrible: the killing of another human being. I am not saying that bin Laden's death was not justified or necessary. I think his being killed was necessary; but it was a necessary evil that should not be celebrated, but mourned over.

Proverbs 24:17 states, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles." Instead of rejoicing that Osama bin Laden was killed, it is the Christian response to lament that there was no other way; it is the Christian response to lament that he had to die so others may live; it is the Christian response to lament that he had to be killed because he caused so many deaths.

It is the terrorists' response to rejoice when his or her enemy dies. So for us to do the same, sinks us to their level. It is the Christian response to love at all times and to forgive our enemies. Forgiving does not mean that we forget what has happened. Forgiving does not mean that we diminish the severity of the evil committed. Forgiving does not mean that we forego punishment. Forgiving is simply not letting what someone else did hold us back from living our lives. When we fail to forgive, as atrocious as the crime may have been, we hold ourselves back from being who we really are, and we let the criminal win.

If more people practiced the Christian response of love and compassion, if more people forgave and let go, maybe there would be more peace; maybe more people would get along.

I do not rejoice that Osama bin Laden had to die. Frankly, now that I have had time to think about it, it makes me sorrowful that he had to die. It makes me sorrowful that one more soul is lost. It makes me sorrowful that his life had to be a waste. Maybe if more people felt sorrow over the killing of a person, there would be less killing in this world. Maybe, if we practiced what Jesus taught, it would be contagious and the whole world would feel sorrow at the loss of a life. Imagine living in such a world.
Blessings,
-Brandon

Banning Gay Marriage is Today's Slavery

As I sat down to write this post, I was heavily debating if I should write about Osama Bin Laden's death or the issue of banning gay marriage. I am glad that everyone else decided to write a blog on Bin Laden today, because that gives me the excuse to shy away from such a difficult topic. So, on to the easy topic of gay marriage then.

As Minnesota (and many other states) pushes to bring the issue of banning gay marriage before the voters in next year's election, many gay couples are praying for the same freedom and acceptance that women received in 1920 when they got the right to vote, and the same freedom that African Americans began to have in 1865 (I realize that in our history, African Americans did not really gain full freedom until the 1960s; and I realize that there are some parts of the country where they are still trying to gain acceptance).

If you ask most supporter of a ban on gay marriage, why they support the ban, they will say it is because of religious grounds. The Christian right and the Church of Latter Day Saints are the greatest opponents of gay equality in the United States and they justify their opposition on Biblical grounds. I have proved elsewhere why this thinking is based on a poor interpretation of the Bible, and you can find that at, Is Homosexuality a Sin. Well, you know what they say: "those who do not know history are bound to repeat it." Apparently all of these supporters of the ban on gay marriage forgot that our institution of slavery was also supported wrongly from a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the Bible. And if I am not mistaken, those who were against women's right to vote also supported their beliefs on a biblical basis. That is why it is important for us not to proof text (taking a passage out of its context) or to read things into Scripture, manipulating it to support our beliefs, because it always results in the subjection and exclusion of a particular group of people.

Jesus was a person who broke down boundaries and included instead of excluding people. Jesus opposed the religious leaders because they were then they way today's Church leaders are: they patrol the community looking for people that do not fit the mold they have designed and they exclude them from their group until they are willing to change to fit the mold.

The religious leaders of Jesus' time would not associate with prostitutes or tax collectors, they would exclude those who "broke the Sabbath" or ignored the laws for ritual cleansing, simply because they did not fit the mold. Then Jesus came. He, being one who, in contrast to the religious leaders, had authority, welcomed everyone into his fold. Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, he allowed the breaking of the Sabbath and the ignoring of the cleansing laws because he understood the human need. Jesus never devalued any group or excluded them on any basis or for any reason, and when we start reading Scripture and using it to justify inequalities and exclusion, we need to read it another way and know that our interpretation is wrong.

God himself ordained the institution of marriage, and my gay brothers and sisters should not be held back from enjoying that institution. And please do not quote to me that "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." That was a different time and God needed to create a man and woman in the beginning for the purpose of procreation. I think at this point the world is well populated and what matters most to God is that two loving people, are allowed to enjoy the institution that so many straight couples have been able to enjoy for many years.

So how does the LGBT community go about doing that. It certainly begins with prayer. Paul tells us that we "can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Second, we need to enlighten people to the true way of reading Scripture so they do not continue to repeat history by using the Bible to restore boundaries that Jesus tore down long ago. And finally, you need to be courageous, and find a courageous leader who will stand up and advocate for you, who will help bring a resolution once and for all that brings about gay rights. Remember what God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:9, "Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." God will be with you and will fight on your side. But remember, this cannot be done with a hateful attitude. We need to do this with the attitude of love and compassion that the other side is so unwilling to give you. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths." Do what Abraham Lincoln did with slavery, do what Susan B. Anthony did with women's suffrage. Fight hard for your freedom and you will earn it. Say what Paul was able to say at the end of his long hard struggle: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."
God bless,
-Brandon

Related Posts

Is Homosexuality a Sin

Reaching Out to the LGBT Community

Homosexuality, Robert Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and What Jesus Did

Being Compassionate without Ulterior Motives

Jesus Shows Compassion to Outsiders

Manipulating Scripture

Gay Christians