What? Some of you will say? What does this mean? Jesus never said anything about the LGBTQ (Quickly, before some of you say, it’s no longer LGBTQ, it’s _____. I know that, but it’s so hard to keep up with the other letters and even numbers that get included that I am just going to stick with the most familiar acronym for now). Well, those of you who are my Facebook friends and who have read my blogs will know that I like to come up with titles that catch your attention. How else do you get people to read what you say? Unless you’re already famous as a writer.
Yes, reader, you are right when you said Jesus never said anything about the LGBTQ. How could he have? That set of letters, that acronym, did not exist in his time. All right, now I might be sounding a bit facetious. Others will say, but there were homosexuals in Jesus’ day and he never said anything about them. That is partly true. The word homosexual had not yet been invented either, so, again, Jesus could not have taught on that. But, you might protest, homosexual behavior was known. Indeed, that was. There is a famous statement on that in Leviticus and some of Paul’s writings are interpreted or translated as referring to homosexuals or their behavior.
Indeed, many discussions have been held on these subjects and many sermons and lectures have dealt with it, not to mention all the ink spilled on it. Of course, nowadays you can google the internet and you will find enough material to keep you reading, enough Youtube videos, to keep you occupied for a lifetime. You will find a variety of approaches and conclusions in all of these. Some are based on traditional views still held by many Christians. Others delve into scripture to try to explain what the passages referred to might mean as opposed to what they are generally understood as saying when taken quite literally. The first party generally still believes all LGBTQ behavior is wrong, even ‘sinful’, essentially judging and condemning them all at once. The second group tries to explain how scripture can be understood in ways that can lead to different, more positive outcomes for the LGBTQ.
So, what did Jesus say? Jesus had a lot to say about The Law that his contemporaries, the Jews of Galilee, Judea and the Diaspora followed still. The key in understanding what Jesus’ view on the LGBTQ subject might have been, since he did not address it directly, would, I contend, lie in how he interpreted this Law. We know he often said, “The Law says, but I say to you,” or words to that effect. And what were his ultimate words on the Law? This is recorded in more than one place and sounded like this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” Period. That’s it.
How are we to understand this? Some call it the law of love. It has also been called the royal law, as we Believers acknowledge Christ Jesus as our king. If we understand what love is, or does, I think our attitude to the LGBTQ should be quite plain. We can find biblical material on love, especially in the writings of John (or the Johns, if you think all those John books were not written by the same guy), and that famous poetry of Paul’s from I Corinthians 13.
Let's just look a little at I Corinthians. The key section of this poem is numbered as verses 4-7:
"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
It is not difficult to see that we have, as The Church, failed our LGBTQ type neighbors in many ways when we read that. Are we patient with them or do we jump to judge them and their lifestyle as being sinful, and therefore condemned, unless they repent. Are we really kind to them? In believing that we, who hold the traditional view, are right, have we been arrogant and perhaps even rude about that? We have certainly insisted on our own way, what we believe is right, in this regard. Have we rejoiced with them in the truth? Do we really know for sure that the pronouncements we make in this regard are the truth? We, as Christians, should know that for us, truth is more than a word. It is embodied in Jesus, the Word. If we believe that Jesus was the Son of God, one of the three elements of The Trinity, then we must also accept those passages that say that God is love as applying to Jesus. And what did we say a couple of paragraphs back? Jesus some of the practical part of the law which pertains to how we behave towards others, as loving our neighbors as ourselves. Surprise! This includes people of the LGBTQ type.
Many Christians believe they have made significant progress when they come to the point where they accept that there are individuals who fit into this LGBTQ category. However, many say that, although they may be born in which ever way they are expressing their gender, to fully act out their love as humans, they must refrain from the kinds of affection and intimate love that we believe we as heterosexual persons can enjoy. What kind of logic is that?
I have just finished reading a book titled Misguided Love by Denham. You might think that title refers to what LGBTQ individuals want to do in expressing their deepest and even sexual love for one another, that this is misguided. You would be wrong. The author goes to great lengths, from pre-Christian times to the present day, to show that it is The Church’s ‘love’ that has been misguided.
I won’t go into details. You can read the book. The writer’s ultimate conclusion is that The Church, thinking over the ages that it was showing love in various ways, including torturing and burning homosexuals to save their souls – or the rest of The Church from this ‘evil’ has caused untold harm. It has certainly not been heeding Christ’s words about The Law of Love. Families and friendships are torn by the Church’s actions. Too many who have tried to be accepted in The Church and failed have committed suicide. Is it showing love when we drive people to that extreme?
In fact, the author also suggests that the current broader society’s homophobia and other ill-willed actions against the LGBTQ community stems from The Church’s teachings down through the ages. One might raise one’s eyebrows at that, but don’t forget, until the 19th century, it was The Church that pretty much set the entire moral tone of western society. The Church’s teachings led to hatred of this segment of the population because it was believed they were contributing to the moral breakdown of society. They were seen as an evil blot that had to be removed. The Church, in effect, granted permission to those who fear and hate this group to commit hate crimes and worse against them.
We also read in scripture, “perfect love casts out fear.” Why is there so much fear of this community? Their efforts to gain equal respect and rights as the rest of us are interpreted in fear as that they have an ‘agenda’ to destroy society. Schools that allow teaching about this area are accused of contributing to the breakdown of marriage, the family and society. The LGBTQ are trying to turn the rest of us into them. Really?!
There are people in this group in society who are committed Christians. You could not find fault with their faith story, their testimony; even their lifestyle might be equal to that of many of their fellow Christians. They are in committed relationships with one another, the nature and characteristics of which are no different than heterosexual’s marriages. Yet we deny them from fully expressing love. We deny them complete personhood.
We believe love does no harm. What harm are these Christian couples – and I don’t speak for non-Christians, ; we have no jurisdiction over them - doing to us? If their lives, including their love for one another, is every bit as exemplar as many of the rest of us, how and whom are they hurting?
It’s time we stopped obeying old laws, biblical and societal, and obey The Law of Love taught by Christ. It’s time we repent of the harm we, not the LGBTQ, have done to society and to countless individuals and begin to move forward. We have a lot of reconciliation and reparation to do to. Let’s start on this journey and show the world what true and full, complete love is. We’ve done the opposite long enough.
