Sexuality
Making Sense of...Sexuality looks at one of the most divisive issues in the church today: Homosexuality. How often does the Bible speak to the issue and when it does, what do the Scriptures actually say?
I have this belief that the most important thing you can do in life is to Love Well. I believe its more important than our political persuasions, our religious ideologies, the color of our skin & our sexual orientation. But, lately, I don’t feel this belief is widely shared. On some real level, we just don’t see each other as Beloved & we don’t hear one another when we speak. We’re just missing each other & also hurting each other. And I just think…what are we doing? When are we going to wake up & get it? That the single most important thing each of us can do is to love well?
What I am about to teach you today is & has been incredibly divisive & polarizing in our culture/churches today. But I am going to do it anyway b/c I’m your pastor & I love you.
###
Over the years, as I have read & wrestled with these texts, I have felt like Peter who struggled with the vision he had conflicting with what he had grown up believing that the Bible taught. But the more I understand them, the more I realize that these 6 passages have nothing to do with homosexuality as we know it today. None of them refer to monogamous, mutually consensual same gender relationships. In fact, the way we understand homosexuality now wasn’t even coined until the 20th century.
At the end of the day, you may disagree with my interpretations & if so, that’s ok, but I strongly urge you to do the work to solidify your own beliefs & convictions. I’ve put in hundreds of hours to get to where I am now. And I would say that my beliefs on this issue and other matters are still evolving. But, again, I just don’t see a Biblical prohibition against homosexuality as we know it. This is where I stand and I give you permission to stand in a different place provided that you love and welcome anyone and everyone who comes our way. Because no matter how you feel about this or any issue, a faith without love at its center is not a faith worth having!