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Respect Him That Weareth Gay Clothing | Sexuality – Part 1


Sexuality is a massively contentious subject within the Christian faith.

 

In the past the church, on the whole, has spoken harshly against homosexuality, especially in recent years, as some Christians have spoken out for LGBTQ people, and have affirmed same sex marriages, despite the apparently clear teachings of the Bible. Some evangelical church leaders have been particularly outspoken and critical of the LGBTQ community, leading me to think that those pastors doth protest too much. It’s true that there have been a significant number of prominent anti-gay church leaders, who have been caught engaging in homosexual behaviour with rent boys, but to be fair, most evangelical leaders are evidently straight and fiercely promote traditional family views, and in doing so, have managed to succeed in keeping their homosexual exploits a secret, throwing people off the scent by adopting macho personas, wearing butch leather jackets and checkered shirts, angrily preaching that men should be more manly, and making misogynistic remarks about women.

 

If you look at certain Christian groups, sexuality seems to be the most important issue in the church today. It is a discussion often shrouded in anger and hate, and completely absent of love, and regardless of what you feel the Bible teaches about sexuality, the one fact that Christians shouldn’t ignore, is that the church has treated LGBTQ people, without sense or compassion. As I say, this isn’t a subject I ever intended to talk about, but after hearing different stories, and thanks to a TV show about a crime fighting vicar, which I’ll come to shortly, I felt convicted to look into what the Bible actually says.

 

For the majority of Christians, the issue of sexuality is an open and shut case. If you look in the Bible then you will read that God clearly doesn’t approve of homosexuality. The Law of Moses condemns it, the apostle Paul condemns it, and Jesus condemns it, well, he says that people shouldn’t have sex outside of marriage and gay people can’t get married, ergo, Jesus condemns same sex relations. God created man and woman to be united in perfect sexual union, or, as many reactionary evangelicals would put it, “God created Adam and Eve, he didn’t create Adam and Steve”. The Bible is the word of God, and he has spoken on the matter. It is an unnatural act which is abhorrent to God.

 

Counter arguments are usually along the lines that the Bible prohibits sex between two men, but it says nothing about sexual orientation and loving relationships between same sex attracted people. God loves and accepts all people, and Jesus says nothing to condemn homosexuality explicitly, so it’s fair game.

 

There are more Christians now who hold the middle ground, admitting that God loves people whoever they are, and accepts them as they are. They welcome LGBTQ people and state that same sex attraction is not a sin itself, but that if people are this way inclined, then they shouldn’t act on their unbiblical desires. Often the mantra of these Christians is to “love the sinner and hate the sin”, which is weirdly only a line that appears when they are talking about sexuality. They teach that same sex attracted people should live lives of celibacy, which is a fine biblical virtue, or that they should pray for healing, or for God to give them an attraction to a partner of the opposite sex. I have heard testimonies of people who say that they have been called to, and who have accepted a life of celibacy, and I have heard of people who say they have found partners of the opposite sex, who they have fallen in love with, and who God has given them an attraction to. If those testimonies are true, then fair enough and good luck to them. If they have peace in those things and they are really happy, then great, I’m not going to argue with that. However, I have heard many accounts from people who set out on those paths, who have eventually admitted they were living a lie, and have ended up hurting themselves and their loved ones, because they have denied their true identities.

 

In the research I have done and through the discussions I have heard over the years, I have felt that most of the arguments on this subject have been too insubstantial. For those holding to biblical truth, there is never any further probing into the historical context of events, and of what was happening when the verses concerning homosexuality were written. They don’t seem to be wrestling with these scriptures, because it’s apparently easier to rest on doctrines of biblical inerrancy and authority, and to confirm their own biases towards same sex relationships. The counter arguments concerning love and acceptance, seem valid and nice, but the feel flimsy when placed next to the evangelical stances. Much of them are based on feelings and intuition, or at best, they concern verses where Jesus talks about accepting everyone, rather than explicit interpretations regarding sexuality, because there aren’t any. Jesus doesn’t talk about sexuality explicitly.

 

The popular worship leader, Vicky Beeching, wrote a book called ‘Undivided’, which describes her journey in coming to terms with her own sexuality. Her story ends with her having an epiphany, that after spending time with God and reading the Bible, she came to believe that God affirms same sex relationships, but she doesn’t provide any of the details that led her to this view. It was as if it was just a personal feeling of acceptance and love, which is lovely for her, but it doesn’t necessarily comfort someone who is crippled by shame, because of their sexuality, and who is looking to the Bible for answers.

 

As for the middle grounders, it’s nice that that they are willing to accept people regardless of their sexualities, but it becomes a mine field when they try to put this into practice. People are either called to celibacy or given attraction to a member of the opposite sex, or they aren’t and are alienated and cast out of the church when they ultimately admit they are living a lie.

 

I hadn’t checked in with the evangelical views of homosexuality for a while, so I looked at some recent YouTube videos of Christians speaking about sexuality. I knew it wasn't an issue that had gone away, but I was surprised at the number of videos regularly being uploaded on the subject. There are some videos which speak out for LGBT Christians, others which are strongly against them, and some that were just mad. I saw one video where the woman on camera was explaining that Satan was the god of transgender and gay people, and as evidence she put up a picture of Satan, with a goat’s head and massive tits, a drawing that someone had probably drawn for a school art project and which I am almost certain is not a biblical source.

 

 

Text taken from “Unanswerable: Exploring the Complexities of the Christian Faith and Biblical Truth”, which is available from Amazon, and from all good book shops. An audiobook is also available at https://mindmole.bandcamp.com/music

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