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. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Being Christian and Gay’ Category
Being Christian and Gay—Conclusion
Posted: October 25, 2017 in Being Christian and GayTags: Christian, ethics, Faith, gay, Love, Scripture, sexual Ethics, sexuality
Being Christian and Gay—Part 7: Living Between Two Worlds
Posted: October 17, 2017 in Being Christian and Gay, Gay LifeTags: Christian, Christianity, church, community, gay, Justin Peck, LGBT, The Times Are Racing
In this post, I’m moving beyond sexuality to talk about straddling a fence. Living Between Two Worlds authentically and with integrity is not easy. Attempting to live such a life for a gay person is compounded by a perceived oxymoron—a gay Christian—by both the Christian community and the gay community. (more…)
Being Christian and Gay – Part 6: An Understanding of Sexuality
Posted: October 10, 2017 in Being Christian and GayTags: Christian, gay, Religion, sexuality, society
In this series on “Being Christian and Gay,” we have considered scripture and a Christian sexual ethic. In this post we’ll examine a general understanding of sexuality. There’s more, to being gay than the act of sexual intimacy. I, like you, both consciously and subconsciously are attracted to and seek to attract other people with whom to form deep relationships. This is the way we ward off loneliness. It is also the way we seek an intimate relationship. (more…)
Being Christian and Gay – Part 5: A Christian’ Sexual Ethic
Posted: October 3, 2017 in Being Christian and Gay, Gay LifeTags: Christian, Commitment, ethics, gay, Love, marriage, Relationship, sexual Ethics, spiritual
We have considered a context for our conversation—personal experience–and biblical texts that have been used to address sexual orientation; now let’s look at ethics, knowing right from wrong. My ethics are derived from my theological understanding, which is informed by my relationship with Jesus, my reading of Scripture, and my interpretation of the contemporary sociocultural environment. (more…)
Being Christian and Gay – Part 4: Specific Bible Passages
Posted: September 26, 2017 in Being Christian and GayTags: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:10, Bible, gay, Genesis 18-19, Leviticus 18-20, Romans 1:26-27, Same-Sex Behavior, Scripture, sex
Some people point to six key passages that they believe provide indisputable admonitions against homosexuality. We have considered how we relate to, understand, and interpret Scripture. That is to say, How We Read the Bible and I have shared with you My Relationship with Scripture. What about these six passages.?
Being Christian and Gay – Part 3: My Relationship with Scripture
Posted: September 19, 2017 in Being Christian and GayTags: Belief, Bible, Christian, Existential, gay, God, Jesus, Scripture, Sexual Behavior
There are existential questions about my existence—who am I? Where did I come from? What does it mean to be me? These kinds of questions my mom raised in my mind when, for some reason, lost to me now, she urged me, as a twelve-year-old boy, to “Just be yourself, David.” I wondered then what that meant and such questions continue to unfold as life inexorably moves forward. The answers are not simple.
Being Christian and Gay – Part 2: How We Read the Bible
Posted: September 12, 2017 in Being Christian and GayTags: Bible, Christian, Christianity, gay, Scripture, sexual orientation
This is the second part in a series about being both Christian and gay. Dealing with Scripture is the place we are beginning this conversation. In considering “How We Read the Bible,” I must first give you a statement of my faith: I claim faith in God and in Jesus the Christ, his Son. The totality of Jesus’ life among us—his teachings, his activity, his moral life, his resurrection after having been killed and buried—gives me hope. Yes, I am a gay man. For some people, mashing together my faith statement and my declaration of my sexual orientation creates a conundrum. (more…)
Being Christian and Gay – Part 1: Context for Conversation
Posted: September 5, 2017 in Being Christian and GayTags: Christian, Christianity, gay, sex, sexuality
The context for this blog conversation, which I hope you will engage, is the intersection of faith and sexuality, particularly, my faith and sexuality.
Beginning in the early eighties, I was drawn to every printed word about homosexuality I came across. I filed every newspaper and magazine article I could find. At the time, I had not self-identified as gay, but I was desperately trying to find clarity to my sexuality in the context of my faith.
