Showing posts with label Homosexuality. Show all posts

I recently published a superb article, “‘A Few Like You:’ Will the Church be the Church for Homosexual Christians?” by a good friend, Wes Hill, which you can read here.

When I say it is a superb article I mean it is well written, discerning, winsome, and true—true to life and biblically orthodox. I was pleased to publish it, am pleased it is on our web site, and am convinced it contains a simple yet important point that must be faced by the church. The point is not original to Wes, but was stated clearly, for example, by Francis Schaeffer:

If a person who has homophile tendencies, or even has practiced homosexuality, is helped in a deep way, then they may marry. On the other hand, there are a certain number of cases who are real homophiles. In this case they must face the dilemma of a life without sexual fulfillment. We may cry with them concerning this, but we must not let the self-pity get too deep, because the unmarried girl who has strong sexual desires, and no one asks her to marry has the same problem. In both cases this is surely a part of the abnormality of the fallen world. And in both cases what is needed is people’s understanding while the church, in compassion and understanding, helps the individual in every way possible.

What Wes achieves in his piece is to explain how faithful Christians whose homosexuality is not transformed by regeneration face a life of deep loneliness. And he asks—properly—whether the church will be the church for these believers. This is hardly a radical position, nor should Wes’ piece be unsettling to those who take the Scriptures seriously. He is not asking for compromise; on the contrary Wes submits to God’s Word, even at personal cost. He is not asking that we dumb down our understanding of the faith; on the contrary Wes champions Christian orthodoxy.

I am happy to report that all the letters and emails—without exception—that we have received in response to Wes’ piece in Critique have been positive. That hasn’t been the case, however, on some blogs that have noted Wes’ article.

I’ve spent some time on those blogs, reading the various posts, and would like to record a few reflections here. This is not intended to be exhaustive nor is it meant to be a sufficient response to all the issues that have been raised. It is, instead, a few general reflections that I hope will be of some help to Christians wanting to think and live in distinctly Christian ways.

Reflection #1: Rhetoric matters. Be careful to say things with winsome compassion. Responding to blogs can undercut that aspect of faithfulness, so be cautious. Write out your response but don’t post it immediately. Wait a day. Or two. Remember that without love, the most you have on your hands is a clanging gong.

Reflection #2: Listen (read) carefully. Some posted responses are so unfair to what Wes actually wrote that the only fully godly response would be to say, “Shut up. Read Proverbs 18:13.”

Reflection #3: Conformity is not righteousness. Some seem to insist that orthodoxy requires conformity in how things are expressed, what terms are used, and how Christians express their own experience. And some even go so far as to insist this about experiences they themselves do not share. I find it difficult not to see this as arrogance.

Reflection #4: Be content with biblical revelation. Some have gone so far as to insist that anyone that holds Wes’ position is unqualified to minister God’s word as a preacher or teacher. They are not able to sustain their conclusion by biblical exposition, of course, for the simple reason that the Scriptures do not support their conclusion. It does not honor God to try to be more righteous than he. That was the error of the Pharisees.

Reflection #5: Be honest. All these tangents, all these red herrings, sadly, answer the good question that Wes has raised. Sadly, much of the church will not be the church. It is too committed to the reigning political ideologies of our secular age. At least have the integrity to say so, instead of trying to confuse the issue with all sorts of side issues.

Reflection #6: Be teachable. How many of you know someone like Wes? Have the honor of friendship, sharing the lovely fellowship of warm hospitality, unhurried conversation, and a kinship of spirit that comes from a deep commitment to the truth of the gospel in Christ? I need to learn from Wes, and am eager to do so. He is a man in whom the glory of God is evident. Perhaps all those commenting on the blogs are not like me in this regard, but I hope it is not hubris to say I doubt it.

Source: Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer, Lane T. Dennis, ed., (Westchester, Il., Crossway Books, 1985). To read more on this topic, see Mardi Keyes’ piece, “Homosexuality: Speaking the Truth in Love,” which you can read here.

I am deeply committed to the historic Christian faith. I am part of a theological tradition that stretches through the centuries from the Apostles, through St Augustine, through John Calvin, and to the 21^st century through believers like Abraham Kuyper and Francis Schaeffer. Essential to my faith is a conviction that in the Scriptures we find not just wisdom from the past (though there is plenty of that), but the very word of God.

That being the case, when I read and interpret Scripture, to try to determine what the text means, I do not want to be creative. Instead, I want to be orthodox. By that I mean I want to understand the Bible correctly, and do not believe I have the right to determine my own meaning for what it teaches. St Paul teaches that God has graciously given teachers to the church (Ephesians 4:11-16). So, I check my interpretation with the commentators and preachers who have gone before me in this great stream of orthodox belief. The biblical text is rich and multi-faceted and deep, but its meaning is not thereby up for grabs. When I interpret the text, my concern is for orthodoxy, not novelty.

Creativity comes into play, however, when we seek to apply the text, faithfully finding ways to flesh out the teaching of Scripture in our life and culture. We live in a postmodern, globalized, pluralized world that is very different from the world that existed when the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles received God’s revelation. The truth remains the truth, but how we speak about and live out that truth can change over time, over cultures, and over generations. The basic issues remain unchanged, but the questions raised can change radically. One expression of faith can appear devout to one generation but ludicrous to another.

It can be hard for the church to face this reality. Since we’ve always done something one way, raising doubts about continuing the practice can seem like an attack on the faith. Perhaps the person raising the difficult question is slipping doctrinally—after all, since the underlying belief hasn’t changed, shouldn’t our practice remain unchanged as well?

So, for example, since the biblical understanding of homosexual behavior is that it is one more tragic example of the brokenness that inflicts us all in a fallen world, and since the biblical pattern for marriage is one woman and one man in a covenantal relationship of oneness, does it not follow that Christians must politically oppose any effort to legalize gay marriage?

The difficulty with even raising this question is that civility quickly gets frayed. Old arguments are trotted out and repeated, as if doing so settles the issue. And when they don’t settle the issue, voices get raised, accusations begin, and soon the evidences of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13 are in short supply.

Let’s think the issue through—carefully, calmly, prayerfully, and charitably. The interpretation of Scripture is not at stake; how we speak about and live out the truth winsomely in a pluralistic world is what we need to consider. It’s hard work, I know, and we are all busy people, I know that too. But if we desire to live faithfully before the face of God, there is no escaping the issue.

So, here is my proposal. Review what the Scriptures say about homosexuality. And then let’s think through what this means for how we respond in the public square to the political and legal issues surrounding homosexuality.

An online resource that will help is the honest, thoughtful writings of Misty Irons. I commend both her web site (Musing on Christianity, Homosexuality & the Bible) and her Blog (More Musings on Christianity, Homosexuality & the Bible) to you. I do not know her, but wish I did. As I read what she writes I sense in her a kindred spirit, a fellow believer who is unwilling to sacrifice either biblical orthodoxy or holy spirited faithfulness—and that is a precious combination.