I feel like this topic is coming full circle.\u00a0 Remember that night, not quite two years ago, in the hotel lobby in Cape Town?\u00a0 A group of LGP8\u2019s, new to each other and travel weary, stayed up late in the evening to earnestly and respectfully discuss homosexuality and the church.\u00a0 We were vulnerable, we were seeking, and we were listening and sharing.\u00a0 Fast forward to today \u2013 and I don\u2019t know how many books later \u2013 we are back on the topic of homosexuality and the Biblical directives to the church.\u00a0 I\u2019m so curious to read and discuss the LGP8\u2019s thoughts, emotions, and spiritual growth on this topic. My heart desires to write a quality, well researched blog\u2026but my time is truly limited this week.\u00a0 So please listen (through my words) for my desire to exhibit love and openness to ALL.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve been reading my blogs regularly you may already anticipate my perspective on our text this week, Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church, <\/em>Sprinkle et al.\u00a0 I appreciate the challenging and controversial topics we\u2019ve tackled this semester and this week is no exception.\u00a0 Sprinkle, as editor, delivered a brilliant manuscript which literally captures two (well actually four – two \u201caffirming\u201d and two \u201ctraditional\u201d) views on homosexuality.\u00a0 \u201cEach of these scholars sets forth his or her own understanding and their reasons for that understanding–rooted significantly in biblical, cultural, and contemporary research as well as pastoral concerns.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a> Even though you may perceive me as solidly liberal, I actually appreciate hearing both sides of every controversial argument.\u00a0 I want to draw my own conclusion – informed by education, consciousness raising, prayer, and impact on marginalized and oppressed populations.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve heard me openly admit I\u2019m not a theologian, so please understand my thoughts, feelings, and spiritual conclusions regarding homosexuality are based on my own Biblical study, direction from the Holy Spirit, relationships with LGBTQ family and friends, and affirming arguments as well as counter arguments.\u00a0 \u201cRead all the essays with an open mind and an open Bible. Have the courage to go where the text leads and explore how it applies to the twenty-first-century church\u201d.[2]<\/sup><\/a> And if we don\u2019t share the same conclusions about homosexuality, the Bible, and the church, please know that\u2019s ok with me.\u00a0 I respect you, so please respect me.<\/p>\n Megan DeFranza, a contributor to this book and researcher on intersex, argues that although \u201cAdam and Eve may be the majority story, but they are not the exclusive model for what it means to be human. By extension, heterosexual marriage can be seen as the majority story, not the exclusive model.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 I appreciate DeFranza\u2019s perspective because it\u2019s similar to how I approach the teaching of sexuality orientation to my social work students and to my clients.\u00a0 I often provide the analogy that sexuality is on a spectrum\u2026with very concrete attraction to the opposite sex on one end of the spectrum to concrete attraction to the same sex on the other end of the spectrum.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s a lot of space in between (where someone might identify as bisexual, or have some feelings of attraction to the same sex or opposite sex).<\/p>\n Heterosexual ——————————————————————————–Homosexual<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u00a0Sexuality Spectrum\u00a0is a proposed theory of human\u00a0sexuality\u00a0that posits there is a continuum that accounts for every variation of human\u00a0sexuality\/identity without necessarily labeling or defining all of them.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 It is na\u00efve to believe that a \u201ctypical heterosexual\u201d experiences sexuality in the same way as every other heterosexual. \u00a0Just look around your family, your church, your community, your state, your country, your world.\u00a0 Heterosexuals are choosing to express and act on sexuality in very different dimensions \u2013 i.e. Porn, S & M, adultery, swinging, abstinence, polygamy, etc.<\/p>\n While the \u201cbiology\u201d case is often presented by the Christian Traditional Framework as humans are made physiologically to engage in sexuality via opposite sex attraction (and I too believe this was the case when God created Adam and Eve), I often counter that discussion with our human \u201cfall\u201d.\u00a0 As soon as Adam and Eve fell from grace, we (meaning humans) were no longer perfect.\u00a0 We are born with disabilities, we are born without limbs, sometimes our brain doesn\u2019t develop in utero, our DNA may carry genetic mutations which make us prone to cancer or Alzheimers, our heart may have a congenital defect, we may be missing an organ\u2026we have a predisposition to addiction or mental health.\u00a0 I can go on and on and on with human physical limitations. But the truth is that although God may have originally designed us to have a perfect, heterosexual body, it is no longer the case.\u00a0 I, for example, carry the BRCA 1 mutation which makes me 72% likely to develop a breast cancer, 44% likely to develop an ovarian cancer, and puts me at risk for fallopian tube, peritoneal, and pancreatic cancer. There are also some studies that link melanoma to the BRCA 1 mutation.\u00a0 And whose fault is this mutation?\u00a0 No one\u2019s…it\u2019s pure genetics.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the fault of the individual or the fault of the parent.\u00a0 But it is our family reality.\u00a0 I\u2019m not being blamed or shamed for who I am.\u00a0 So why is it ok to do so with homosexuals?\u00a0 My personal belief (and that of mounting research) is that homosexuality is biological.\u00a0 It may not make sense to the heterosexual who has never experienced same sex attraction, but the research is showing genetic\/chemical\/brain differences.<\/p>\n To my LGBTQ friends and family, and to the LGBTQ community, I am sorry for the targeted persecution from the religious right.\u00a0 You are a child of God and a person of worth and I stand with you as an ally and advocate.\u00a0 I earnestly call on Christians around the world to embrace you with love and understanding and to welcome you as a valued member of the church.<\/p>\n You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God\u2019s judgment seat. It is written: \u201c\u2019As surely as I live,\u2019 says the Lord, \u2018every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.\u2019\u201d So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.\u00a0 <\/em>Romans 14: 10-14<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/29491972-two-views-on-homosexuality-the-bible-and-the-church<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> http:\/\/servantsofgrace.org\/two-views-homosexuality-bible-church-editors-preston-sprinkle-stanley-n-gundry\/<\/p>\n