In this morning’s issue of The New York Times, Neela Banerjee reports a story which literally hits close to home when it tells the tale of a young evangelical man in Raleigh, NC. Peculiarly enough, this man is also openly gay. Her article in full can be read here.
The subject of the story, Justin Lee, is reported to be a spokesman for the latest aberration of evangelicalism, which accepts monogamous, committed homosexual relationships as compatible with the Holy Bible. By arguing that the contexts of the biblical passages which prohibit homosexuality merely speak against promiscuity, violence, or idolatry.
This brings to the forefront what I believe to be one of the defining theological issues of our time. Within a great deal of what are considered evangelical circles, the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures are assumed. What will be the crux of theological debates for years to come is proper hermeneutics (the art and science of biblical interpretation). Hermeneutics determine one’s theology, and one’ s theology determines one’s practice.
One sentence in particular struck me as hitting the nail on the head in the Times article. An anecdote was given about another Raleigh resident who grew up in a Southern Baptist church. I quote the article verbatim here: “When she figured out at 13 that she was gay, she believed there must have been something wrong with the Bible for condemning her.” The tragic irony here is that the human heart does not change within any of us. In Genesis 3, we are given the account of the Fall of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. If you recall, the serpent (Satan taking animal form) tempts Eve to disobey God by appealing to her trust in what God has said when he asks, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree in the garden?’” (3:1) The result is that Eve decided to transgress the express, clear directive of God and plunged all of humanity into chaos and turmoil. Furthermore, please recall that when God asked Adam to give an account for all that had just occured, Adam slyly blamed God (3:12, “The woman you gave to me…“).
Here’s the point: this article illustrates in vivid terms the way all of our hearts rationalize our attitudes and behaviors when confronted with the stark truth of the Bible. We do one of two things. First, we can choose to do what Adam & Eve (and the individuals in our article) did, which is to doubt what God has said or blame God for being too rigid or unfair. The other option is to fall down on our knees in prayer and admit that we have sinned, and beg mercy from the good God who has secured forgiveness for sinners by the death of His own Son. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)
No matter how we feel, Jesus Christ is the Lord of all our lives. The same Word that gives us the Law which tells us to be holy also tells us that Jesus Christ has died to rescue those who believe that they are indeed sinners and Christ is the Savior.
Finally, the question of how evangelical churches must respond to this situation must be addressed. Let me take a couple of sentences to give my recommendation. First, evangelical churches must absolutely, dogmatically, and completely refuse to treat homosexuals as if they are sub-human and not worthy of courtesy or respect. This Pharisaical, “holier than thou” behavior denies the gospel which says we are all sinners in need of grace. Secondly, churches must teach that there is an essential distinction between homosexual inclination or orientation and homosexual practice. A godly, gospel-loving, Bible-believing man may very well struggle with homosexual attraction. This man should be loved by His congregation and discipled by a pastor just as a man who struggled with heterosexual lust would be. The worst case scenario would be that the struggling man would come to understand that remaining single is a respectable, godly path for him to take. If, tragically, the man (or woman) pursued homosexual practices after being confronted about it by another believer, then church discipline may be in order. Again, even this church discipline does not differ from how the congregation would react to any other person who continued to dive into a sinful behavior (as defined by the Bible).
The Word of God has spoken concerning the issue of human sexuality. Let us all seek to obey Him, trusting in His grace for godliness and forgiveness.
wanna argue this over drinks in vegas?
Of course, I’d love to get together with you guys, in fact, Janel and I were planning on it! I’ll call you when we get in town.
great post, Dr. Jones.