In this concluding post to the series “Being Christian and Gay”, I want to do more than “put myself out there” in some kind of existential witness to faith and sexuality through my personal story, even though it’s through our stories, through the particularities of life, that the practicality of theological truths can most readily be observed.
I talked about the context for these posts in Part I . In that post, I wrote that the context was the “intersection of faith and sexuality, particularly my faith and sexuality.” My intent was to put a face to the debate. Fears become less mysterious when faced in the context of conversation with people we know. I hope I have helped fill in some gaps in your understanding of how someone can be Christian and gay.
But what are the things I have “put out there”? What value do they hold for advancing the common soul of humanity? How do they touch the spiritual nerve that runs to the core of who we are?
I am not being prescriptive and declaring the response to being gay and Christian that everyone should follow. Rather, I am providing a description of my existence and how I understand myself. I believe each person has the privilege and responsibility to follow Christ and I will not force myself into that relationship.
In this series, I have founded my understanding of being Christian and gay on Scripture. To do this, I acknowledged what Scripture is and how I read it. With this as foundation, I considered my relationship with Jesus and concluded that I am foremost a Christ-follower. Scripture helps inform that relationship and provides examples of other Christ-followers.
Then I sought to interpret human sexuality, societal mores, and how to navigate the various channels in which the powerful human force of sexuality is expressed, particularly as a Christ-follower.
The bottom line, is that a person can be both a Christian and gay. Today’s cultural climate places someone who is both Christian and gay in a unique position as though they are standing in a DMZ with landmines scattered around. Some of their Christian friends cannot understand them and, furthermore, many refuse to even try to understand them having already condemned them. Some of their gay friends cannot understand them because of the deep hurt they have received from their church that cut them to core of their soul. The gay Christian, like me, stands in the middle trying to give witness to both sides.
The ethic of love, which is the foundation of all biblical commandments, must prevail. Living with Christ through the power of the Spirit of God results in love. It is an unconditional love and not one that requires change before it’s offered. It requires openness toward, and faith and trust in God and people.
An ethic of love is not exclusively Christian. There are many people who do not profess to be Christians, that is, they are not Christ-followers, Yet, they have wonderful loving relationships. The difference is not in whether or not they can love someone, but whether or not their world-view includes Jesus, the Christ, as a person in the triune God. Thus, the sexual ethic based on love is for the common good of humanity. A Christian has the added value of knowing the Creator of all that is and the author of love. Actually, Scripture says, “God is love.”
One person who has been reading this series, questioned even having a public conversation about it. Their position is that sexuality is something private and not proper for public discourse. I disagree. Our sexuality is a significant part of what makes us human, a part of God’s creation, and a good part. We can’t hide it from the conversation as though we should be ashamed, that it is something dirty. Rather, we must bring sexuality out of the shadows and talk about it. It is a glorious part of our lives, a much larger part than sex in the bedroom, though that too is beautiful. By reaching into our emotions, by surfacing poetic expression, by being extolled in song, our sexuality touches a spiritual nerve that runs to the core of who we are.
I am grateful to God for the marvelous way he put us together. We are not set in the world to float rudderless on a sea, as it were. We were not created to muddle through life alone. In the economy of God’s grand experiment, we were created out of relationship. The Genesis account of the creation records these words, which some scholars interpret as a trinitarian statement by the use of the word “us”: “God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…’” (NRSV Genesis 1:26).
Being created out of relationship, humankind was created for relationship. In Genesis, chapter 2, we read a second account of the creation in which “God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’” This account tells us that God first created man and then he gave him a woman “as his partner” so he wouldn’t be alone.
When all of this is combined—the ethic of love, a relationship with Jesus, a relationship with another human being straight or gay—we are indeed blessed.
Thank you friend, for reading this series. If you would please take a moment to add a comment below, I would appreciate it. Your input is invaluable and may hold value for other readers.
