A couple of years ago, I did a blog series about homosexuality. I want to re-do that series, partly because I want a chance to re-write, re-think, re-order some of what I wrote, and partly because my blog audience (and those who read my blog on Facebook) has changed.
I am concerned that this single issue is fostering an unhealthy suspicion between the church and the world. Now, of course, we should desire that the church be different from the world. Jesus promised that the world would hate his followers, and he even went so far as to encourage us to rejoice when this hatred turned to persecution. But I think the divisions caused over the issue of homosexuality are quite different. Some divisions are healthy, but this is unhealthy.
I have heard the arguments against homosexuality, both ethical and Scriptural, and I have found them to be unconvincing. I just don’t think that passages such as Romans 1 say what Christians think they do. When I took the time to interpret ‘slam-dunk’ passages such a Romans 1 properly, it became quite embarrassing for me to think that for most of my life I read that passage as a condemnation of homosexuality.
Jesus said in the Sermon of Mount that we are blessed when we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. But that does not mean that we should desire to be persecuted for the sake of sloppy Bible interpretation. I’m going into a line of work (philosophy professor) where I will have many colleagues who will think that I’m a nice enough person but a little crazy and perhaps a bit close-minded to believe that the universe is being controlled by God, and that we can be reconciled with God through Jesus. And unless you work in a church or in Texas, you are probably in the same boat.
So look, you and I have a limited amount of ‘capital,’ and we’ve got to spend it wisely. If we want to have influence in this world, we need to be careful to disagree with others only about things that are actually in the Bible. I want to convince you that homosexuality is not. And then, my hope is that we can move past this issue and get the real business of sticking out like sore thumbs in our world for all the right reasons.
