Baptist Church in Rochester, NY 1870’s:  A deacon confronts the pastor for placing a piano in the church, describing it as a “sign of the beast.”  This incident, recorded in Helen Barrett Montgomery’s memoirs, was a sign of the times.  Although we can only speculate, it has been suggested that this attitude stemmed from the fact that pianos were used in dance halls and saloons.  Today there are still churches that claim all instruments EXCEPT the piano and organ are of Satan, but most Christians today enjoy instrumental music as an integral part of worshiping God.

Eastern Europe, late 1930’s-1945:  Even theologians participated fully in Hitler’s call to exterminate some 11 million human beings, including Jews,  Mentally Handicapped Persons,  Disabled Persons, Homosexual Men, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholic Poles, Soviet POW’s, Political Prisoners, and Romani People.  Why?  Presumably because Hitler convinced them that these were all sub-humans and were a threat to their well-being??  Today those of us who read the memoirs of Holocaust survivors, or visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC are muted in disbelief at the horror of such inhumane treatment.  One man, who was then well respected and trusted, managed to convince an entire culture that all these groups of people were sub-human and were outside of God’s plan for the human race.  Before reading on, pause here for a moment, and really think about this atrocity.  How could so many supposedly well meaning people, including God’s people, buy into this ideology?  Are we immune to such persuasion?

Southern Baptist Convention, June  20, 1995:  The SBC adopted a resolution in  1995 renouncing its racist roots and apologizing for its defense of slavery.  1995.   A 1968 survey conducted by the SBC’s Home Mission Board showed that only 11% of Southern Baptist churches would admit African-Americans.  Think about that.

North Carolina Baptist State Convention, Nov. 14, 2006:  Voted to throw out any church that advocated homosexuality in any way, even knowingly having a gay person in membership.  Other denominations have made similar rulings.  “Go away homosexuals!  You are not welcome in our churches.  We prefer to keep you out of fellowship with Christian people, so we can accuse you of being godless and promiscuous!”

There are certain words that set Christians off.  Words like abortion, evolution, stem-cell research, women in ministry, Bush, and the winner for this decade, homosexuality.  We hear these words, and our brains and tongues go into automatic pilot.   We don’t even hear the questions or the issues, just the word.  We have rehearsed our responses and are proud to hone our speaking skills every chance we get.  Well, I want to ask you to do something different on this blog.  This will be a blog that will “ruffle the feathers” of most of you who read it, because it’s purpose is to challenge us to think deeper and to step beyond the comfortable box we have built around ourselves.  If you are already finding yourself formulating an earth shattering response, please stop for a moment.  Please do one of two things before continuing:  1)  Take the time to carefully read and listen to this entire blog. (Yes, I know it’s long!)  or 2)  move on to another blog without commenting here, and come back later if you’d like.        

Still here?  Great!  I was afraid I wrote all the rest of this blog for nothing!  Great, pull up a chair, and grab a drink!  We could be here a while!

HOW CHRISTIANS REACT TO GAY PEOPLE

OK, first of all, why is this issue so important to us as the Church?  It is important  because it is the daily struggle of so many people all around us everyday.  Hurting people, searching people, people created by the God who created you and me, the majority of whom have turned their backs on the Church and God, because the Church has turned its back on them, and they don’t make the distinction between the perfect God and His fallible Church.  You think you don’t know any gay people?  You are blind to them probably because they perceive that you do not understand and would feel the need to share with them how abominable their lifestyle is to God (they have heard it already!), and whatever respect you have for them now would disappear.  True, isn’t it?  What if you found out your supervisor was gay?  Your nephew?  Your child’s teacher?  Your music minister?  Your brother?  The guy in the next cubicle?  Your daughter?  Your husband?

Chances are you would want to protect those you love from them, and/or you would want to help them change.  This normal response is riddled with fallacy.  First, gay people are no more likely to be predatory or child molesters than are heterosexual people.  They are all around us everyday living normal lives just like the rest of us.  Now, that said, there is a tendency to more promiscuity within the gay male community, due I think to two reasons:  1)  the church has shunned them, so they are not welcome to be a part of a fellowship that’s growing in Christian principles, and 2) men in general are more sexual, and without the constraints put on by God (and wife!), many men fall naturally into promiscuous lifestyles.

Second fallacy:  Homosexuals can be changed into Heterosexuals.  Despite what we Christians want so strongly to believe, an intelligent view of science and psychology is fairly conclusive that sexual orientation is not a choice.  That causes serious problems for our Christian thinking, so we will argue the opposite position until we are red in the face, but ultimately, it doesn’t change the facts.  Why are people gay?   I don’t know.  That jury has been out for a long time, and that chapter is not in this blog!     

Having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, for better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. -Ben Franklin (1787)

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The one obstacle to Christians accepting what science knows to be true is their personal interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.  There are those who have been taught that the Bible is God’s exact words given directly to us for the purpose of telling us how to live, and that every word in our KJV or NIV is without discrepancy and meant to be directly applied to our everyday lives.  A large number of today’s churches teach such an interpretation.

Others, however, view each individual scriptural writing with regard to such questions as who wrote it, who was its intended audience, when was it written and why, etc.  This is an extremely important point in understanding the issue of this blog, so if you truly desire to understand the viewpoint I am about to present, please pause for a moment and read THIS BLOG first, pertaining to Scriptural interpretation.

There is much written on the Biblical interpretation of the homosexual passages of the Bible.  The literalists cling to such passages as Lev. 18:22 to say “case closed,”  and they close it.  Much has been written by Christians on both sides of this issue, and I would do it a disservice to attempt to cover the Biblical arguments in a couple of paragraphs.  I will say, however, that, despite my assertion that sexual orientation is not a sin, I am offended and opposed to the irresponsible “scholarship” of those who claim the homosexuality of Jesus or his disciples . . .  Jesus had a mission far greater than marriage and family, a mission of salvation for all His people.  Truth is what it is.  Truth needs nothing added to it.  It stands.  It is.  And extremists on both sides have taken their “truth” too far.  I will advocate neither the “closed book” view nor the “homosexuality is condoned in Scripture” view.  Homosexuality as we think of it today was nonexistent in both OT and NT times, although the orientation itself is evident across lines of time and place.

For those on the “case closed” side, consider the following Scripture passages.  The Bible says it.  Shall we apply them to our lives?

Gen. 6:2-4 Uncircumcised males have broken God’s covenant and should be cut off from his people. (bad pun?)

Ex. 21:22 When a man hurts a pregnant woman and causes miscarriage, “yet no harm follows,” (huh?),  he shall be fined.

Ex. 31:14-15 Whoever does any work on the Sabbath shall be put to death. (!)  (Num. 15:32-36 A man gathering sticks on the Sabbath is stoned to death at God’s command!)

Matt. 23:9  Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven.

Lev. 3:17, 11:6-7, 14:11ff  Eat neither fat nor blood, hare nor swine, ostrich

Lev. 11:10 Eating water creatures that don’t have fins and scales is an abomination!

Lev. 15, 20:18 A menstruating woman is unclean, and a man who has relations with her (cut off from people)

Lev. 19:19 Don’t let cattle mix-breed, don’t sow two different kinds of seed in one field (corn and beans?), don’t wear clothes made of two different materials (cotton and polyester?)

Lev. 19:27-28 Don’t round off your hair at the temples or mar the edges of your beard; no tattoos.

Lev. 20:18; Deut. 21:18-20 A child who curses his parent shall be put to death (!); If you have a stubborn and rebellious son, turn him over to the elders to be stoned to death. (!)

Lev. 20:10 Adulterers shall both be put to death.

Lev. 24”17-20 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, fracture for fracture (opposite of Jesus’ teachings to turn the other cheek)

Lev. 25:39-46 Rules for owning slaves

Num. 5:2 All with a discharge and all who have been in contact with a dead body shall be put out of the camp.

Mark 10:2-12 Remarriage is adultery.

Mark 16:17-18 Jesus said the signs of those who believe will be: casting out demons, speaking in tongues, picking up serpents, drinking poison without being harmed, and healing the sick (Can we call ourselves “believers”?!)

1 Tim. 2:9-15 women, do not wear braids, gold, pearls, or costly apparel;  don’t teach or have authority over men;  you will be saved in child-bearing (huh?)

Deut. 22:13-21 A woman found to be not virgin (by her husband’s testimony that garment was not soiled), she shall be stoned.

Deut. 23:1 A man with crushed testicles or a cut off penis cannot enter the assembly of the Lord (I’m not making this stuff up!)

Deut. 23:2 Nor a bastard, even to the 10^th generation of his descendants (This is plain mean!)

Mark 12:25 No marriage in heaven (not many sermons on that one!)

2 Kings 2:23-25 Elisha curses young boys for calling him “baldhead”, and bears tear 42 of them.  (Again, not good sermon material!)

1 Cor. 7:14; 15:29 Paul says an unbelieving spouse is consecrated through the believing one (He also admits these are his own words.); then he defends baptism on behalf of the dead.  (Not many Christians believe either of these.)

1 Cor. 11:14 Long hair on a man is degrading.

I’ll stop there.  This started out as a blog, not a novel!  My point here is that literalism to be applied directly to our 2008 lives causes many problems.  God is not confined to any time or culture, and He (not the law) continues to be just as relevant in our culture as He was in the OT times.

CULTURAL ATTITUDES

Attitudes about homosexuality vary greatly from culture to culture and from century to century.  There has likely never been a culture without homosexuals, even in the animal kingdom,  but in many cultures, it has been a non-issue.  Somewhat like people with red hair.  Notably different from most, but an insignificant distinction.  Many of the Native American cultures honor their homosexual members, referring to them as two-spirited people, and honoring their special qualities and gifts.  Other cultures have made homosexuality illegal and punishable by death.  Others, like ours, have singled homosexuals out as morally reprehensible and socially deviant persons.        

The culture of our age, including the Christian subculture, has an inflated fixation on sexuality in general and especially on homosexuality.  I wholehearted affirm that our younger generations are living in a sexual culture that is harming them emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as the lines of sexual morality are being erased.  The free sex mentality, whether homosexual or heterosexual, is most definitely apart from God’s plan for His children, and He stands, arms outstretched, awaiting our repentance.  It grieves me to see the emotional and spiritual confusion of my young students as they experiment sexually with multiple partners, sometimes even with both genders.  I sympathize with a generation that falls into such harmful choices amidst such a confusing culture, but in no way do I condone such sexual freedom.  

WHO ARE GAY PEOPLE?

Who are gay people?  Homosexuality has no boundaries.  Gay people are born into families of every race, every culture, and every religion.  Gay people are businessmen, public servants, waitresses, parents, siblings, sons, and daughters.  Gay people are as varied as their heterosexual counterparts. 

Without attempting to stereotype, there are some typical qualities and gifts that gay people often bring to their worlds that are worthy of mention here.  Gay men are often especially caring and sensitive to others’ needs, thus often choosing ministerial careers.  It is the gay man who will often take in his aging parents to care for them.  He is often gifted in the arts, musically talented, and attracted to careers in entertainment, theatre, fashion or design, or often to church music ministry.  Gay women typically enjoy sports, many rising into the college and professional levels, and are often driven in their careers, many making great contributions to their professions.  One day our culture will stop calling gay people by “sexual” names and embrace the gifts they bring to our world.  I hope I live to see it.

Sexual orientation is a misnomer.  A person’s sexual orientation is not about sex.  It is about identity.  This unfortunate label is, in my opinion, a lot of the problem with our ability to see them as we see everyone else.  We cannot say “homosexual” without conjuring mental images of “what they do.”  I call this the “ick” factor.  It has to be wrong, because it’s “icky.”  Why do we want to think about what ANYONE does sexually?   Do you think about what your supervisor does with his wife?  Do you think about what your parents do?  (Now, THAT’S icky!)  If the ick factor is a litmus test for right and wrong, it is definitely a sin for our parents to have sex, is it not?  Not to mention our married daughters.  Let’s not think about these things!  Not about heterosexuals, not about homosexuals.  

The estimates of what percentage of the population is gay vary greatly, depending mainly on the “agenda” of the organization conducting the study.  Studies conducted by those who see homosexuality as an atrocity, for example, tend to find far smaller percentages (1-2%) than studies conducted by organizations whose focus is mainly on homosexual advocacy (about 10%).  The more trustworthy sources are those with no extreme bias.  The American Psychological Association in 1989 estimated that 10% of men and 5% of women are gay.  Personally, although I’m certain it is more than 1-2%, I will remain outside this argument, as it seems to me impossible to arrive at an accurate estimate for something most gay people are not going to disclose when asked by pollsters.  If only 1% of Americans are gay, however, that would be over 3 million people.  And if 10% are gay, that would mean over 30 million.

Who are gay people?  They touch every segment of our population. 

In my college days when I was trying to teach myself to play the guitar (a goal that’s not yet accomplished), the first song I taught myself to play was Come to the Water.  Remember that one?  “And Jesus said, Come to the Water, Stand by my side, I know you are thirsty, You won’t be denied.  I felt every teardrop when in darkness you cried, and I strove to remind you that for those tears I died . . .”   One of those campfire songs that spread quickly across the young Christian scene, much like “It only takes a spark to get a fire going . . .”  Well, years later, churches were tearing this song out of their hymnals, and its popularity was squelched.  Why?  Because it was discovered that the writer, Marsha Stevens, was a gay woman.  (See video below.)  Never mind that she wrote music that inspired a generation of Christians, leading us to seek closer communion with God.   She was quickly shunned by the Christian music industry. 

More recently, gospel singer Kirk Talley who never even had a homosexual relationship, fell from "grace" after it was exposed that he confided in a friend his same-sex attractions. On Dec. 22, 2003, Kirk Talley, beloved Christian singer/songwriter ("Step Into the Water," "He Is Here," et.al.), Dove Award winner, Grammy nominee, the boyish-faced man dubbed "Mr. Gospel Music" found himself pleading to his friend to kill him, and to God to let him die. (GQ Magazine, August 2005)

In 2007 Evangelist Ted Haggard was exposed for a 3-year homosexual relationship.  After three weeks of therapy, he claimed he was cured of years of homosexual struggle.  He may have even believed it.   (I believe in miracles, but have my doubts that this was one of them.)  Then there was Rev. Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Church, and New Jersey governor James McGreevey.  The Christian community hears these stories and sees sin.  I hear these stories and see a culture that forces gay people to deny who they are, and the problems this inevitably brings.

Who are gay people?  They as varied and unique as are heterosexuals.  Their one distinction is that they are attracted to like-gendered partners.

WHAT IS THE GAY AGENDA?

To be treated with equality.  Period.  The term gay agenda is one of many political watch words, meant to set off our emotions.  Every person and every group has some kind of agenda.  Evangelicals want to Christianize the world.  Merchants want to make money.  Gay people want to be understood and respected.

WHY IS THE GAY POPULATION GROWING SO RAPIDLY?

It isn’t.  The gay population, by all reputable evidence has remained fairly steady, percentagewise, throughout history.  The recent difference is not that there are more gay people, but that, with the internet, cable tv, etc., more gay people are becoming comfortable enough to disclose their sexuality, and more are deciding to seek equal rights and recognition.

WHY ARE THERE GAY CHURCHES?

Not only do we like to condemn gay people for not going to church, but we like to condemn them for having churches of their own.  What must they do in these churches, we speculate.  Probably sexual orgies.   The early church was similarly accused.  They met privately and talked of such things as love feasts, drinking the blood, and eating the body.   Many outside the church accused them of orgies and cannibalism.  Having never been to a gay church, I cannot answer this question, but, like you, I have an opinion.  I doubt the orgies.  I suspect they are Christian people who desire to gather for worship and fellowship, and who unfortunately, are not welcome in our mainline churches.  They could push themselves into our churches, and be told repeatedly they are living in sin and need to get right with God, an assertion that by the way, they know to be flawed much better than any of us, or they can create their own sanctuary where they can worship God with others who understand and accept them, or, as is the case for many, they can choose to stay away from organized churches altogether.    

RESPONDING TO CHRISTIAN  REACTIONS:

1.  Love the sinner, Hate the sin.  This is probably our favorite response to the issue of homosexuality.  It does have a nice ring to it, but it’s flawed on at least two levels.  First, it assumes that homosexuality is a sin.  And second, I have yet to see what that love for the sinner looks like.  It is overshadowed by the hate for the sin.  If we believe someone is living in abominable and repulsive sin, does He sense God’s love radiating from us?  I challenge us to refrain from SAYING this overused platitude, and to pray instead that we will be filled with God’s love.

2.  God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.  This one is so trivial on so many levels, but some find it catchy.  Without giving it more attention that it merits, here’s my quick response:  God created trees, so does that mean he didn’t create broccoli?  If Adam had green eyes, would that mean that God didn’t create people with brown eyes?  Were we to take the time to examine the Hebrew words from which Adam and Eve were translated, there would be more fodder for discussion, but  I’ll move on . . .

3.  The Bible says be fruitful and multiply.  Again, I could write an entire blog responding to this one argument, but I won’t.  We have amply populated the earth, too amply, many would argue.  Embracing homosexuals as our brothers and sisters would not cause everyone else to stop populating.  Homosexuality is not a choice.  A certain percentage of people are homosexual, despite what laws we may have for or against, and a much larger percentage of the population will continue to multiply, no matter how much we try to stop it.  (Look at our teen pregnancy rates, etc.)  The earth is already filled with unwanted and exploited children, in need of love and attention.  And Jesus, by the way, was not a physical “multiplier,” as were not many others in the NT.

4.  If we don’t stop homosexuals, it will open the door for polygamy and bestiality.  Polygamy and bestiality have no relation whatsoever to homosexuality.  This has become one of the many alarmist slogans within the opposing political agenda (yes, we ALL have our agendas), meant to appeal to uninformed peoples’ vulnerability.  Polygamy and bestiality are behaviors, and behaviors are choices.  This political agenda will continue to do all it can to convince us that sexual orientation is also a behavior and a choice.  Studies have shown the more times we hear something, the more solidly we start to believe it, and the slogan repeaters are well aware of this.  Studies have noted that bestiality practices are not uncommon among boys who grow up on a farm, but if true, I have never heard of anyone desiring to marry his chicken.  (I know, “ick” again!)

5.  Gay people cannot be Christian unless they repent and change.  Nor can any of us.  But orientation is not a need for repentance.  Jesus said narrow is the gate that leads to  life.  Narrow indeed for all people, but orientation has no direct correlation with whether a person is or is not Christian.  (Indirect, yes, because the churches have shunned the homosexuals.)  Nationally recognized organizations like Soulforce, Evangelicals Concerned, and segments of many major denominations,  are set up specifically to nurture and encourage Christian gay people.  Every major denomination has begun struggling with this issue or most probably will have to do so soon.  All the answers for the church are not easy, but may we at least reach the point of understanding that gay and Christian and not by nature antithetical.  The most quoted verse of the Bible says WHOSOEVER believes will have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

6.  Protect the American family.  Another political watch word.  What does this really mean?  Is the American family healthy without gay people?  Why are we not wanting to put regulations on how easy it is to marry?  Or to divorce?  A quick glance into any public school classroom will give witness that the Leave It to Beaver family is not alive and well.  Do you know what homosexuals are doing to fit into society?  They are marrying your daughters.  They love them and try their best to be good husbands, but they will inevitably hurt their “American family”, even if they never stray, because she will always know that something is not right, or wonder what’s wrong with her that she doesn’t please him.   

7.  I don’t believe people are born gay.  OK, without getting too deep into the age old argument of nature vs. environment, it is technically true that humans do not fully develop a sense of sexuality prior to puberty.  However, it seems more and more apparent, that there is indeed a genetic factor involved, that some people are biologically predisposed to same sex attractions, and to deny this is to bury our heads in the sand.  Ignorance and closed minds are among Christianity’s worst enemies. 

Herein is the crux of what divides us as Christians on this issue:  Do homosexuals choose to be homosexual?  Traditionalist Christians adamantly say yes, and if this were true, I would agree.  Homosexuality would be a sin.  If it is true, however, that homosexuality is genetically determined, much like eye color, left-handedness,  tongue rolling, etc. (which is becoming more and more scientifically probable), then we are essentially saying that it is a sin for these people to be born.  A homosexual person can no more deny his same-sex attractions than can a heterosexual deny his. 

A century ago we were shouting that pianos in the church were of the devil.  Then we shouted that abolition was of the devil.  We shout that women in ministry is an outrage.  And we quote Scripture to back up all our claims.  Now, if the question is about homosexuality, our automated answer is “abomination.”  Even Southern Baptist Seminary President Al Mohler recently blogged of the likelihood that homosexuality is biological, and found himself in the line of attack.  One thing is for sure, either people are born gay or they are not, and that truth is not dependent on what we think about it.

SO I’M SAYING THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT A SIN?

Let’s look at a hypothetical scenario.  We probably all choose to think of nuns as asexual beings, but that is not reasonable, as sexuality is a part of the human experience.  Nuns, however, have chosen a life of celibacy, choosing not to act on their sexuality.  But does that make them less heterosexual or homosexual?  No, it doesn’t.   If she is heterosexual but celibate, the church reveres her.  If she is homosexual and celibate, do we call her a sinner?  If