I just remembered that today was the day of the NYC Gay Pride Parade, pretty much the only parade I ever enjoyed watching, but that's what having your parents march in it will do for you. Talk about pride!
By pure coincidence (although as a Calvinist I don't put much stock in coincidence), I logged on now to post about an incredibly courageous pastor I read about. He took a stand for gay rights, even as it cost him much of his congregation. You can read about Rev. White here. For those with shorter attention spans, there's also a video here.
Rev. White has until June 30 to pay some $200K in debt on the church or its doors will close permanently. Some will see that as God's providence, along with the loss of membership since he "came out" in support of marriage equality. Such thinking mistakes failure for defeat. It's the same thinking that demanded that Jesus come down from the cross "to prove" that he was truly the Messiah. That he failed to do so hardly meant that he had been defeated. That is the "wisdom of the world," a wisdom that seeks to quantify success in souls saved, bodies in pews, and offerings collected. That's not wisdom but foolishness, "[f]or the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight" (1 Cor 3:19).
By pure coincidence (although as a Calvinist I don't put much stock in coincidence), I logged on now to post about an incredibly courageous pastor I read about. He took a stand for gay rights, even as it cost him much of his congregation. You can read about Rev. White here. For those with shorter attention spans, there's also a video here.
Rev. White has until June 30 to pay some $200K in debt on the church or its doors will close permanently. Some will see that as God's providence, along with the loss of membership since he "came out" in support of marriage equality. Such thinking mistakes failure for defeat. It's the same thinking that demanded that Jesus come down from the cross "to prove" that he was truly the Messiah. That he failed to do so hardly meant that he had been defeated. That is the "wisdom of the world," a wisdom that seeks to quantify success in souls saved, bodies in pews, and offerings collected. That's not wisdom but foolishness, "[f]or the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight" (1 Cor 3:19).
You once shared with me where and why you stand on this issue, and I acknowledge that you are much more grounded on the reality of it than I am. Please help me develop my thinking:
ReplyDeleteWhether or not homosexuality is sin, I think a common pitfall for many Christians is to elevate the sinfulness (if it is sin) of it beyond other sins. There are many ways we do this, but I feel that the most destructive way is to speak out about homosexuality while not doing anything about other sins that we've grown used to as a church (which is sad). We're not willing to talk about sins we tuck under the pew and condone in each other while being quick to condemn homosexuality (more often than not, without tact).
Maybe a good response to this wave of governments reflecting the people's choice by giving way to homosexuality is to incisively reexamine ourselves as a church and seek God's forgiveness from within.
But then again, the homosexuals and their advocates will condemn us for calling it a sin. How can we dare compare someone identity to other despicable things, like murder and adultery??? It's unfortunate that homosexuality becomes such a tenacious part of someone's identity, but I guess it's natural when that quality has been under fire for decades. Still, isn't that true of most sins? Doesn't following Jesus require, at times, being offended by His Spirit and his call to deny ourselves?
The students back in Notre Dame has been speaking out against the administration a lot this past school year, and the administration is due to make a decision about its stand on including sexual orientation in its non-discrimination clause. I've been forced to think a lot about this (which is good), but I still don't have an answer.
In any case, I think you'd agree that there are big difference between supporting gay rights and saying that homosexuality is not a sin. It seems like Rev. White does both. Just a thought.
Peter,
ReplyDeleteIt's so good to hear from you! And thanks for your typically thoughtful comments. I have met a few people at Princeton who come from the more traditional point of view on homosexuality but who are seeking to encounter what has largely been "other" to them. What I mean is, they are making the move from thinking about the issue in the abstract (whether through scripture, theology, or morality) to actually talking with people on campus who are out about their experience of being gay. Of course, not everyone's experience is the same, but if you are interested in developing your thinking, as you say (and I don't doubt that you are), I would encourage you to seek out people who are out and talk with them.
None of this is to elevate human experience above scripture (as a former Catholic now Protestant, I won't go there), but we don't read scripture in a vacuum; we read scripture in light of our experience. If we know someone who is in a loving same-sex relationship, that impacts the way we read those passages of scripture that are opposed to homosexuality. And these passages are much more complicated than a cursory reading--which is how they are often read--would reveal.