I've been nervous to express my thoughts on a certain subject, but I feel like it's important.
I'm an ELCA Lutheran Church member. For those who don't know about the ELCA, it stands for Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and recently we sent a bit of a ripple throughout the Lutheran community.
The ELCA elected their first homosexual bishop:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/15637-nations-largest-lutheran-denomination-elects-first-homosexual-bishop
Now having a religious blog probably gives off the impression that I would be opposed to this. Religion tends to be labeled "right winged conservative". That's the impression in the media. No wiggle room. However, I support the ELCA's decision. In fact, I'm proud of it.
Here's what I really want to say. I support the movement toward equal rights for the LGBT community. I support marriage equality. And I have a hard time swallowing that being gay is a sin.
I've been reading the Bible on this issue. This disheartens me:
"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women
exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up
natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one
another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their
own persons the due penalty for their error" (Rom. 1:26–27).
I wish the Bible had more kind things to say about homosexuality simply so modern conservatives wouldn't use the Bible so vehemently to condemn the act. I'm not suggesting that all religious follows do so. In fact, I know many people of faith who also support LGBT, but like me, are too nervous to step forward.
Let me explain. If homosexuality is a sin, than it is no more or less a sin than gluttony. I am fat. I'm 30 pounds overweight. I've also been known to binge eat from time to time. I'm a glutton. Am I going to hell? I certainly hope not, but even more than that, I believe in the promise that Christ died for our sins. He died to wash me clean from my gluttony. In that case, wouldn't a homosexual also be without sin (if homosexuality is a sin)? And we all have sins. So aren't we all guilty of something? Didn't Jesus die for all of us?
Also, Jesus wanted us to love one another, the way he loved us. It's so saddening to hear hateful language coming from a religious leader. That's not the purpose of the church and it makes everyone of faith look bad.
What if we stopped pointing fingers? What if we stopped trying to scream the sins of another directly to their faces? Is that really helping anyways? I know that when I was younger, and people called me names for being fat, it hurt and only made me resentful, angry and depressed. What gives anyone the right to make another person feel that way?
I know this is a touchy subject. I just wanted to let everyone know my opinion. I felt that by sitting in the back of the pew, not speaking up, I wasn't being true to the opinions God gave me. I hope you'll consider my point-of-view, and as always, I welcome respectful debate.
I respect your opinion, and it certainly takes courage to share it, but you should consider what God asks us to do regarding sin: to repent. What did Christ do when he found a crowd wanting to stone an adulterer? He told the crowd to consider their own sins and the punishment they should receive for them. He told them to stop being so self-righteous.
ReplyDeleteHe showed his love for the adulterer, despite her act. And then he told her to go forth and sin no more.
Every sin and every sinner should be confronted with love and understanding (and that's everyone, really.) I certainly understand the displeasure with the Church and church members for not carrying this loving attitude when confronting sin, and for ignoring their own sins or somehow thinking that one sin is any worse than another. They're all bad in the eyes of God, and every sin is deserving of God's punishment. That's why Christ came: to save us from that judgment.
But that doesn't give someone a license to sin. I think the problem with homosexuality is not really about homosexuality at all. It's about the mindset that goes with it--a mindset that isn't unique to that sin. It forgets the part where Christ commanded the adulterer to "sin no more." If we look at a sin, shrug our shoulders, and say, "well, it's what I am. I can't help it. In fact, I'm proud of it. It's not a sin at all, and I'm going to keep doing it." That mindset is a significant problem, because it rejects God's command to repent and to make an honest effort to change.
Thank you so much for your thoughts! I really appreciate and respect your opinion on the subject! You bring up a really good point about repentance. I've actually struggled a lot with that topic. It goes to the idea of, can we really ever repent fully for our sins? Martin Luther significantly struggled with this and ended up discovering that grace, not our works, are what gets us saved. It's his findings that really connected with me, hence making me a Lutheran :)
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to sexual preference, I do believe that people are born with an inherent desire toward one gender. This doesn't mean that we don't pick our partners. We do. We can pick between a nice person or a cruel person, or a smoker or non-smoker. But when I think back on my own preference, I realize that I've always known - since my first crush on a boy in first grade - that I've preferred males. So I have no reason to believe that it isn't the same with those who prefer same sex partners.
So if it's inherent, couldn't you perhaps say that we can't help our desires toward a certain gender? And if homosexuality is a sin, and a gay individual wanted to suppress those desires, wouldn't it be fair to say how devastatingly difficult that would be? Imagine if it were flipped, and heterosexuality were the sin. Would you ever slip up? Probably.
I'm always a little worried when homosexuality is thought of as something that someone can control because I feel like there are so many people struggling, and saying they should be able to suppress their actions would perhaps only make them more depressed. (I'm thinking of teens or young adults, specifically)
Now, of course, there are human behaviors that we should clearly suppress. But I don't think that homosexuality is hurting anyone. It doesn't physically hurt anyone for a gay couple to get married.
Did I get off topic? Maybe :) It's a big discussion, no doubt. I see your point-of-view. I've thought of it before as well! Thanks so much for contributing and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts!
I found this article interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/2013/06/24/judaism-homosexuality-and-supreme-court?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Referral&utm_content=Goldwasser&utm_campaign=PrideMonth
It's hard for me to ever believe in a God that would find it a sin to love another person. I could say more on the topic but really it all boils down to that.
Thank you so much for your input Kim! That was a really interesting article and one I would suggest others read as well. The view point on the Leviticus text is actually something I've heard before and tend to agree with. The term "homosexual" wasn't around back then, at least, not in the context of what it means today. When I read text about homosexuality in the old testament, it wasn't in the context of two men or woman in a consensual loving relationship. Something to consider.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've heard a ton of view points on this issue, but I think you summed up your point very elegantly.
A while back, I read the book The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. I've recommended it over and over not only because it's really entertaining, but it address these sorts of issues. Jacobs spends an entire year living the Bible literally. He dresses as it says in the old testament, he only eats what they used to eat, he follows every rule as closely as he can, basically as a way of living as one should if they literally followed the Bible. The interesting thing is when he comes to hot topics, like homosexuality, he asks a ton of different sources how they interpret the text, and they each have something slightly different.
However, when it comes to representing the church, it's about love.