Homosexuality

The topic of homosexuality continues to be a hot topic here at Duke Divinity School. I attended a forum last week where this issue received attention from a group of Duke Professors and local pastors. The particular focus of this group addressed the need to reach out and include homosexuals into the Church. A friend of mine who I met at college recently told me that he was gay. With this in mind, I’ve become more concerned with how to welcome homosexuals into any Church community. But there exists a spectrum on which this issue is debated, and people are gathering at the poles.

For the forum I attended, to include homosexuals meant to accept them unconditionally, without any attempt to engage the sinfulness (which was not discussed) of practicing homosexuality. One of the pastors backed this up with the statement that “Jesus never rejected anyone.” Now I understand this idea and from where it comes, and this statement is true to a particular degree. The idea of a ‘come as you are’ Messiah, however, does not provide a sufficient appreciation for the holistic approach to Scripture, or even to just the Gospels. At the other end of the spectrum people reject the notion of homosexuals being ‘openly’ accepted into the Church in any fashion. I say openly because this issue has more than likely existed for quite some time in the Church in a subdued, ‘still in the closet’ fashion; it is only now becoming a more revealed concern.

Can the Church lovingly welcome people into its physical body without approving the lifestyle? Is accepting without approving really just another type of tolerant intolerance? For those who wish to reject homosexuals based upon their sin, are they willing to contend that their own sin does not also merit God’s rejection? What is to be said of the hierarchy of sin, and how much of our view of homosexuality is a cultural one rather than one based on Scripture and the tradition of the Church?

In order to accurately discuss this issue we must develop a very clear understanding of the Gospel. This cannot be done quickly and deserves more time than I am able to provide, but here are a few thoughts. According to the NIV, Jesus’ first words that he preached to others were, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’ (Matt 4:17). These words more closely fit the sermons of street preachers and prophets than an accepting Jesus who has no expectation of change or righteousness in those who come to him. The next words Jesus speaks are to Peter and Andrew; he tells them to, ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’ (Matt 4:19). In order to follow Jesus, both brothers are forced to change. They are no longer fishermen. Change seems to be expected in order to follow the Christ. After gathering his group of disciples, Jesus delivers his famous ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ where most of his comments offer criticism to the current religiosity pervading Jewish culture. This left Jewish authorities and the Pharisees in a difficult position, for according to Jesus, no one could possibly be righteous. He had set the standard too high, as if the Law was not already difficult enough to follow.

From these very brief and insufficient points, one can begin to see that Christ is not a vessel of acceptance but of forgiveness. The Gospels promote this idea as well. The woman at the well, the adulteress about to be stoned, the demon possessed man, everyone Jesus heals, and numerous other events indicate how Jesus is a God who changes people. (Thoughts continued.)