For the Bible Tells Me So

In the American evangelical church, no issue ignites emotions more than homosexuality.  At the first mention of the word, good Baptists reach for Leviticus, immediately dismissing any discussion of room for gays within the Church.  While I cannot profess to have many answers about God's perspectives on an openly gay Episcopal bishop, I did take a step of entering into the conversation a few nights ago by turning on For the Bible Tells Me So, a documentary questioning the legitimacy of the anti-gay fervor within the evangelical world.

I can say firstly that I don't get it.  I don't get why a man is attracted sexually to another man.  I can't relate.  It does not make sense in terms of evolutionary survival.  I have heard some promote a concept that "our sexuality is fluid," and whatever that means, I don't think I buy it.  But I do understand attraction, and I know what it is to yearn for lifelong companionship.  Personally, as long as the person you want to take on as your spouse or partner is not my wife (or myself), I am not all too concerned with your choice.  If you are a man and want to marry a man, so be it.  I can't imagine anyone would want to suffer the ridicule and scorn endured by gays and lesbians if he or she did not have at least some legitimate desire for sex with someone of the same gender.

However, in the scope of Christianity, I have always been taught that gay sex is sin.  The documentary did an excellent job of promoting thoughtful and insightful challenges to that belief.  The producers certainly had an agenda, which they well executed.  But it was one of the first times I recognized the struggles endured by gays who earnestly and honestly long for communion with the church.  Whereas before I couldn't even entertain the possibility that a Christian could be a lesbian, now I struggle to entertain why a lesbian would want to be a Christian.  We have been hateful and stubborn to anyone professing both homosexuality and the cross.

While we cloak our condemnations of homosexuality in bible versus, I do believe that our disdain for gays and lesbians is rooted much deeper in our macho psyche and disdain for women than our theology.  I admit that the idea of a man being with another man makes me uncomfortable.  But our faith calls us clearly and definitely to be more so repulsed by the idea of hate-mongers and terrorists who, in the name of Jesus, threaten death to gay Christians.

But what about scripture?  I cannot overlook or dismiss words that seem to specifically warn as God's children of the evils of sexual perversion.  And so I don't know exactly where I stand on all of this.  But I do know this: Christ has called us to stand with the oppressed, to fight for justice and to be vessels of mercy.  And so I will stand up for gays when they are put down, be it by Christians or not.  And I will likewise call gay brothers and lesbian sisters in Christ to live lives of dignity - not given to orgies or random hook-ups - in the same way I call my straight brothers and sisters.  I will continue to ask questions and I will not tolerate hatred in the name of Jesus.

While I cannot find a mention of homosexuality by Jesus, I can certainly find stark condemnations he preaches against the luxuries enjoyed by the American church.  Should we fail to repent of our inhospitality to members of the gay/lesbian/transgender communities, we are indicted "to a fate worse than Sodom."