My latest confession...

I Must Confess That I Struggle With These Topics…

     This afternoon, as I picked my daughter up from school, she told me about a young man who has gone public with his desire to be a young woman.  This child is suing the school for the right to live as a teenage girl, including the use of the girls’ restrooms in the school. This teenager is obviously courageous in the fact that this is an issue that could bring so much trouble into a life that is already apparently filled with angst, and yet chooses to move forward in this attempt to live in a way that he or she feels is authentic.  But what is the desired outcome, and what will the measurable outcome be?  I’m just not sure.

      
     The teenage years (even as far away as I am getting from them now) are some of the most difficult years we face as we struggle to find out who we are and who we want to be.  So how do we engage in honest dialogue about these issues with our children and young teens?  How do I as a person of faith, who tries to lead others in their faith walks, engage in discussion of issues that have found no end of argument for as long as humans have been recording their thoughts on the subject?  And am I being authentic in my proclamation of God’s word and its authority in my life, if I don’t recognize that the subject is dealt with fairly clearly in that Word? 

     This is truly a Kingdom shaping moment.  God’s word has been misused so many times in the history of humankind that it renders it vile in many people’s opinions… I am very conscious of that fact.  I tend to be cautious when I approach subjects like this for just that reason.  But because it (like all gifts in creation) can be used for destructive purpose, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t valid or valuable.  It gets tangled and messy.  It challenges us and stretches us.  It tells us things that we don’t want to hear.  It clearly contains language and passages that are foreign to our current experiences.  But it is that “outsideness” that gives it value. 
If we only heard the things that didn’t challenge us, we would never feel the need to do or be better than we are, to relate to one another better than we do, or to strive for greatness that we know we can never achieve on our own.  If everything in the word was in agreement with my thoughts or feelings, then my life would be easier but the rest of creation would be “seriously jacked up” as my 15 year old daughter would say.  God’s view is outside of our context and therefore God is in a better position to be speaking into situations that we can’t or won’t see past.  (Not only in this one topic, but in every aspect of our existence and living.)

     God’s word is clear in its prohibition of homosexuality.  I don’t think that that is in dispute.  (Though there are varying opinions as to what that prohibition could or should be taken as.)  I believe in scriptural authority... and I don't seek to redefine what this God inspired word says.  However, I am very much of the opinion that though there are several “lists” of sin throughout the verses of scripture, they are not exhaustive (meaning they’re not complete).  More importantly, there is no sin listed that is greater than any other save one… the only unforgivable sin Jesus specifically mentions is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.  (Matthew 12:24–32, Mark 3:28-29)  And that is considered by many scholars and theologians to be a direct, unrepentant, and prolonged defiance of God's will and leading.  A denial of God's existence if you will, by actions and words that say we know more  than God; or that we are no more likely to follow God than the unbeliever who does exactly what they want to do without concern of consequence.  In only seeking to live the parts of the Gospel that we agree with, are we not "blaspheming the Holy Spirit"?

     So why is this topic more or less controversial than our consumeristic natures, or our desire to cheat on taxes, or to gain at the expense of someone else’s loss, to cheat on our spouses, our functional atheism, or any number of behaviors that the Bible so clearly speaks against as well?

     The short answer is that the LGBT agenda, or lifestyle, isn’t any larger a sin than the others.  But it is one that on many levels stirs deep emotions within the hearts of believers and non-believers alike.  This teen is no more of a sinner than I, and I recognize that.  I also recognize that as a teenager, there is so much more of life that this young person needs to experience before making a decision to live life in a manner that can never be undone.  There are gifts and abilities and future plans that God may have in motion that would help to remind this young person that there was intent and purpose for being created.  And while I cannot condone the lifestyle, and have some concerns about whether or not it is proper for this young male to share a girls’ restroom (even if this teen is self-identifying as a female, there is still the biological truth of gender), I can understand the quest to find out who he or she is.  I would hope that the answer would be found in God’s view of who that is; and that is something that this teen will have to work through with the Creator.  However, counseling and prayer are needed in liberal amounts, no matter which decision is made. 

     So I pray.  And I will pray again, and again, and again that in the end God’s will is done, and mine is laid aside…  That this young person is kept and guided by God’s loving spirit, not the whims of popular and/ or opposing opinion, or a rush to be something considered better (by whomever makes those determinations)… That my children learn from me not only what is right, but how to do what is right (and how to care for all of God’s creation)… And that, ultimately, this world may come to know that God DOES love us just the way we are; but also that God loves us too much to leave us that way.

     I’ll close with an excerpt from the United Methodist Book of Discipline that is a guiding principle for a people known as Methodists.  Found in Paragraph 161: F, under the heading of Social Principles it reads:

We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God.  All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self.  The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.  [But] We affirm God’s Grace is available to all.  We will seek to live together in Christian community, welcoming, forgiving, and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us.  We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends.  We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.

     In short we are here to be engaged in ministry for and with all of those that God calls with unending grace and forgiveness.  Jesus isn’t that picky in His invitation… He just presents the truth, lets people make their own decisions, and then He honors them.  Should we not do the same?

Your servant in Christ,

Chris.