Some of my thoughts on Homosexuality and the Church - Ha Kohen
Here at Letter from a Concerned Follower we often struggle with the marriage of our culture and our faith. Among the most divisive issues in Christianity today is that of Homosexuality. We like many Christians do not see things being as completely one sided as we used to. Our world is changing as is our understanding of scripture. How are we to love someone and yet label a sin something that they claim to be at the very core of their being? How do genetics play a role and how does choice? In order to answer these difficult questions I think it to be only fair to reveal my own biases. 1) The Bible is the word of God and if my personal opinions differ from His, I am in the wrong and must accept that. 2) Culture does not determine morality, neither does “Might make Right” or “majority rule”.
With that aside I hear proclaim a number of thoughts posted for Christian readers. They are my personal views and are by no means perfect and by no means do they represent the entire Christian Community or even this site. And please remember, above all “Love thy neighbor”.
· While many have argued that “in the New Testament we have no record of Jesus’ saying anything about homosexuality”. I have never personally understood the relevance of such a debate. Is not the whole Bible the Word of God? While it is true that I may take the Christological Canonical view of Scripture farther than some, it seems to me a clear biblical principle that God is the author of Scripture. Jesus’ words are then found not only in the memories of the evangelists but also in the words of Paul and even in the words of Moses. As such, for Christians this line of reasoning is fundamentally flawed.
· Some people have argued that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is more about hospitality than sexuality. This I agree with, but I would also remind these people to take into account that homosexuality is certainly not revered in these text. Rather, even if it is mentioned only in passing, it appears that it is assumed to be immoral.
· Lev 18:22, 20:13 and Deuteronomy 23:18 may actually be more about the abuse of captives or about the worship of other gods than homosexuality as we think of it today. It is possible that this is true and that these special circumstances may have influenced the writing of these passages, but again I would like to state that homosexuality is not spoken well of anywhere in ancient Jewish writings; rather these verses seem well in line with Hebrew concepts of morality in condemning homosexual acts in general. In addition these condemnations seem more likely to be influences by notions of purity or natural order than by notions of violence. As such, though they may possibly reflect the denunciation of rape or idol worship, they also seem to represent the upholding of natural order. What’s more this natural order seems clearly heterosexual in its context.
· It is also possible that 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 may be about molestation or prostitution. However, similar to the references from Lev. and Deut. these verses also seem steeped in Jewish traditions concerning purity and natural order. It seems to me highly unlikely that Paul would ever speak about anyone “acting against there own nature” as if he were condemning only heterosexuals who commit homosexual acts (or visa versa) as some have suggested. This seems completely out of line with what we know about Jewish culture and about Paul. It seems very unlikely that Paul would say anything about individual sexual orientation. That is eisegetical and Paul simply would not ever imagine any act as being “genetic” or “innate”. Rather it is exceedingly clear that “natural relations” and “unnatural ones” refers not to individual preferences but to the order of creation (Rom. 1:26).
· Although I can find no clear or compelling reason to believe anything other than the conclusion that God finds homosexuals acts sinful, I am uncertain how churches should deal with this issue. What sins keep people from worshiping in our churches for example? Do any? Because the original purpose of Church Discipline is no longer applicable how are we do deal with issues such as these? If gluttony is a sin against the flesh (as Christians often refer to homosexuality), why then do we allow gluttonous ministers and not homosexual ones? How can we allow obese people into membership but not homosexual ones? How can the church love the sinner and yet maintain a strong position against the sin where to two may in fact be impossible to separate? Can we allow this issue to divide the Body? These questions I cannot seem to answer.
· Another question concerns homosexuality itself. For me it seems that there is merit to both sides of the genetic debate. Clearly some people do choose to commit homosexual acts. Prisoners are a clear example of this. On top of that, there are many recorded cases of identical twins whereby one is homosexual and the other heterosexual. This is obvious proof (being that the two are genetically identical) that choice or possible “nurture” does play at least some role in orientation. On the other hand science seems equally clear that some genetic factors may influence sexual behavior.
· But does sexual orientation really matter or is it a mute point? What if some day scientists prove that pedophilia (just an example – not a parallel) is something caused by our genetics? Does that then automatically mean pedophiles have a right to commit sexual acts with “consenting” minors? Would that make pedophilia all of the sudden a moral choice? Would pedophiles simply claim “that is who God made me”? These are not attacking questions; they are valid queries. What’s more, if it is genetic a “cure” may in fact be possible – in this case would such a “cure” really be moral?
Here are some additional points:
- It is unfair of people to expect all Christians to abandon their sacred texts and thousands of years of history simply to embrace a lifestyle that has only recently become visibly prominent.
- The church must recognize special difficulties people in the homosexual community face and seek to elevate suffering. We should not express hate or violence against homosexual peoples in any way. The church should be available to address the high suicide rates among gay youth and provide comfort and non-judgmental counseling. We should remain a “sanctuary” rather than turn ourselves into fortresses.
- It is foolish of us to speak so heavy handed upon the gay community for seeking marriage rights. We who now have an equal divorce rate with the secular world have no right to speak “high and mighty” about “the sanctity of marriage” when our own marriages are failing. Perhaps our energy has been directed to outwardly and no inwardly enough.
- Non-Christians should not pretend to be theologians. Quoting verses that concern dietary laws or ancient cultural ideas do nothing for your case but show your ignorance of the Christian Bible. If you are not a Christian do not attempt to appeal to our sacred scriptures with insufficient knowledge of them.
- Perhaps most importantly – Christians have no right to impose our views upon secular society. If an individual church determines that it will speak out against homosexuality, that speech must only be directed towards other Christians who claim to follow the same scriptures, morals and faith traditions presented in the Bible. Christians have no more right to impose our religious views upon other faiths or secular communities than they do ours.
- At the same time, other faiths and the secular community must respect our traditions as they are taught within our own homes and walls so much as they do not teach hate or violence or stray from orthodoxy.
- Christians must accept not only the verses that they quote against homosexual people but also the context of those verses. Context creates meaning. The bible says, “Take your son, whom you love and sacrifice Him to me” but this is not a command for all people at all times; it was a “test” given to a particular person at a particular time. We must recognize context as essential to our understanding of all texts including those concerning homosexuality. If you do not have an in depth understanding of the context of a verse – do not quote it as if you do.
- The Christian community should not “hobby-house” any issue. There are literally hundreds of commands in the Bible for us to “feed the hungry”, “care for widows and orphans” and “visit those in prison” and only 6 verses about homosexuality (5 of them with highly debated context). We should continually be reevaluating the levels of energy and recourses we put into each issue and why.
- We must above all else remember: The Church’s primary task is to lead people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ not to spread our morality but rather the “Kingdom”.
- Lastly the church must remember that we are, all of us, a collection of sinners in need of a savior.
