I'm A Gay Christian

Although that title will come as no surprise to longtime readers of this blog (or the folks who know me), it may be a bit of shock for those who have only read a couple of my posts or comments on other blogs. Indeed, for many of the folks within the ACOG culture and many more traditional Christians, the title of this post will appear to them to be an oxymoron! In other words, they believe that it is impossible to be both a homosexual and a Christian. This reaction, however, is both unscriptural and irrational.

In terms of Scripture, the first thing to note is that the term "Christian" was applied to followers of Jesus Christ by those outside of the Church and is only used three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, and I Peter 4:16). In fact, throughout the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and the book of Acts, Jesus' followers were referred to as "disciples." That's the English word - the original Greek word is "mathetes," and it literally means a learner, pupil, or disciple. Later, among the "believers," the terms "brethren" and "saints" were used to describe the members of the ekklesia or Church. Moreover, we should also note that the term "saint" <hagios> was originally applied to anyone who had received the Holy Spirit - it was NOT indicative of the miracle working, holy men designated by the Roman Church in later years.

Interestingly, our clarification of the "saint" moniker also gets us closer to a scriptural definition of what a Christian is - or who is/isn't a Christian. First, Scripture makes clear that we MUST believe in Jesus Christ and accept him as our Savior (John 1:12, 3:16, 6:29, 47, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9-10, etc.). Second, the "Christian" was expected to repent of their sins, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Indeed, Paul told the saints at Rome that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was essential - that anyone who did not have the Spirit of Christ didn't belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). Finally, the "Christian" was expected to live a life which adhered to Christ's teachings about loving God and each other and reflected the new person which his work had created (John 13:35, Romans 8:1, 4, 12, II Corinthians 5:15, Galatians 5:16-26, Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10, I John 3:4-9, etc.). According to the Bible, these are the things which identify someone as a Christian.

Now, as for the logic, it is self-evident that a person can be a Christian and simultaneously be many other things. For instance, a Christian can be a male, female, eunuch, soldier, slave, tax collector, fisherman, politician, Jew, Greek, Roman, etc. (and if you doubt any of these designations as being possible for "Christians," you aren't very familiar with the text of the New Testament). It is also intrinsic to the notion of a "Christian" that everyone who claims that name is a sinner (Romans 3:23, I John 1:8-10, etc.). In other words, Christians are people who have broken God's laws - failed to live up to the standards which are outlined in Scripture (and that covers a whole host of bad behaviors - like lying, stealing, murdering, adultery, idolatry, etc.).

Obviously, most Christians will admit that they are heterosexuals and have engaged in heterosexual activities. Moreover, if we could catch them in a moment of honesty, we would probably be able to get many of them to admit that at least some of those heterosexual behaviors which they have engaged in over the course of their lives were illicit (outside of what the Bible defines as acceptable to God). For instance, we know that Paul had to reprimand a member of the Corinthian congregation for having an adulterous/incestuous relationship with his father's wife!

So, we see that it is apparent that sexual orientation alone does NOT automatically make one righteous or sinful. Indeed, in terms of sexual behavior, love and fidelity appear to be the bottom line where the God of the Bible is concerned! Hence, just like my heterosexual counterparts, my sexual behavior can conform to God's will or not! In other words, homosexuals are also capable of love and fidelity.

Unfortunately, the attitudes of many Christians towards their brothers and sisters in Christ is NOT what it could or should be! The TRUTH is that there are a whole host of individual characteristics which we can possess that have absolutely NO bearing on whether or not we are a "Christian." Christians can be a Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, Unitarian, Trinitarian, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, gay or straight - as long as they meet the scriptural criteria outlined above. We have a tendency to add to the essentials. Many of us make things like sexual orientation, political affiliation, or doctrinal stances an integral part of our criteria for determining who is or isn't our brother and sister in Christ.

And, finally, too many "Christians" forget and/or completely ignore what the Apostle Paul related about the role of individual conscience in the life of a "Christian." He wrote to the saints at Rome: "Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong." (Romans 14:1) He went on to say: "Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval." (Verse 4) Paul continued: "Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall." (Verses 12-13) Sure, Paul was talking about the observance of days, and what members believed about things which were (not) appropriate for Christians to eat; but the context makes clear that he was getting at a much broader principle for the saints to follow. He wrote: "You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right...If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." (Verses 21-23). In other words, each and every one of us should be practicing what we believe to be God's will for our lives. In the end, you will have to answer for what YOU have done with your life, and I will have to answer for what I have done with mine!

But what about all of those clobber scriptures which explicitly state that homosexuality is a sin? I could say what about all of those scriptures that explicitly state that divorce is contrary to God's will, and that most of the folks who engage in that behavior and then remarry are sinning against God! The point is that each one of us is responsible for the way that we handle Scripture. It is possible for two people to reach different conclusions about the meaning of a particular passage and remain Christians! Thankfully, we don't get to decide who is and isn't a Christian - that's above our paygrade!