(5.5 minute read)
God created day and night and everything in between.
God created light and dark and everything in between.
God created earth and sky and everything in between.
God created man and woman and everything in between.[1]
The thing to do.
I start with the basic premise that in the Christian faith, my faith, God created man and woman. Then I simply add my understanding that the gospel of Jesus was inclusive.[2] (Love God. Love people.)
The bible is portrayed as being universal in application to all of humanity throughout time and to also be divinely inspired.[3] Paul is credited with writing 13 books (letters) of the New Testament and believed that his words were divinely inspired.[4] His buddy the Apostle Peter backed him up.[5]
The Mormon faith was started by Joseph Smith who also claimed that he was divinely inspired.[6] Religious mass murderers have also claimed divine inspiration. (I’m not going to glorify their names.) I’m also not going to claim that this writing is divinely inspired even though Holy Spirit has moved in my life at different times.
However, the point is, if you’re going to start a cult, other religion, other Christian sect, or build a sect around a particular issue like taking up snakes or speaking in tongues just claim divine inspiration.[7]
It works.
Taking liberties
Scholars and theologians have and continue to study the bible and what certain things mean; what certain words mean. This means this and that means that. A mere person can’t read and understand the bible unless some knowledgeable person is around to ‘splain things properly about what the bible really means and supply the necessary historical context. The problem is that scholars and theologians disagree with some interpretations being made of certain scriptures.
Take being “saved” (Finding eternal salvation through Jesus Christ as one’s personal savior.) for example. There are diverse views about how salvation is not only obtained but held onto.[8] Some Christian sects believe once saved, always saved. For others, keeping hold of salvation is an ongoing quest requiring constant renewal. Others believe anyone can be saved. There are Christians that believe that there is a preordained select group of people that are saved and no personal act of “free will” can change that.
Just to kind of sum up this part, there are so many different Christian denominations/sects because there are so many different interpretations of infallible inerrant holy scriptures.[9] Regardless of our personal interpretation of scriptures we’re supposed to behave as Christians.
Easier said than done.
Where’s the Love?
Boiled down to brass tacks the Christian faith is comprised of two groups in the current struggle for equality for LGBTQIA+ in the faith in this country. We have the originalist conservative teams’ Jesus versus the progressive teams’ Jesus. While progressives have the cooler name the conservatives currently have the upper hand in secular America.
What I have found in dealing with conservative team Jesus people is that in general they have a more apocalyptic view of the bible. They are literalists and have little leeway in what they are willing to believe or accept as gospel. Gospel literally meaning “good news.” They lean into a more punishing and vengeful Old Testament God under the flag of tough love. Hate the sin. Love the sinner. Their Jesus is a patriotic Jesus. Their Jesus embraces Christian Nationalism. They focus on scripture like those calling LGBTQIA+ people an “abomination.” When bad things happen it’s likely to be called “God’s plan” or “God’s will.”
What I have seen all this translate to is hostility towards gays and others having different beliefs than theirs. They don’t support LGBTQIA+ rights in the secular world either. They seek to extend the control they have over people in their own churches to others not of their faith. They want the “law of the land” to reflect their limited world view.
The progressive team Jesus believers are more flexible in their outlook, not as apocalyptic. There’s less emphasis on these times that we’re living being the end times mentioned in the bible. They lean into the New Testament, deal with what are called the “clobber passages” of the bible differently,[10] they apply different, more inclusive interpretations. They have a greater emphasis on free will in dealing with the travails of the world. They are not into Christian Nationalism. They are more open to being affirming and accepting of LGBTQIA+ people.
Not a big leap
I’m inclined to think that when God told Jeremiah that he had a plan for him since before he was born that may not have meant that God is a micromanager that has all our lives planned out from beginning to end in minute detail. Maybe God just had plans for Jeremiah in that passage. Most of us have to make our own plans. Perhaps it’s all as simple as those two great commandments that all the law of the prophets hinges upon.
Love God. Love people.
The kicker
Those of us of the faith are supposed to be spreading the gospel, the good news. So exactly how do we go about doing that when nationally Trump Party Republican Evangelicals are leading the charge against LGBTQIA+ people and pretty much anybody that doesn’t believe in their life views.
Evangelicals have the loudest voice and the most money in the Christian arena. They are Christian Nationalists that are pushing for and winning government support for their religion and the marginalizing of gays in the religious as well as the secular world. The Trump Supremes are backing them as they tear down the walls separating church and state.
Where we live there aren’t any accepting and affirming churches for LGBTQIA+ people. The closet such church to us is in another state and 45 minutes away. The closest in the state is over an hour away. The churches that are openly affirming, with a few notable exceptions like the one in Eureka Springs Arkansas, are nevertheless still in decline. Churches that attempt being accepting and affirming are often torn apart irreparably.
The younger generation of LGBTQIA+ people are by and large not coming from a church background and don’t really miss what they never had in the first place. Just because a church takes the position of being affirming doesn’t mean that queers are chomping at the bit to attend, accepting or not. Like so many others they are not out looking for Jesus. It’s up to us to show them Jesus, so that they want to learn more. It’s up to us to not hurt them more than they have already been hurt.
There are no easy answers.
[1] Genesis 1:27, English Standard Version (ESV)
[2] Matthew 22:34-40, ESV
[3] 2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV
[4] 1 Corinthians 14:37-40, ESV
[5] 2 Peter 3:15,16, ESV
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith
[7] https://www.christianpost.com/news/snake-handling-christians-faith-prophecy-and-obedience.html
[8] https://www.religioustolerance.org/salvintro.htm
[9] http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/a106.htm
[10] https://www.politicaltheologymatters.com/what-are-the-clobber-passages/
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