THE PRESS LOVES COMING-OUT TALES WHICH DAMN THE CHURCH

In a Huffington Post article, Hannah Brashers relates her painful “coming out” tale from a fundamentalist church to lesbianism. She claims that “Christianity is dangerous to queer people,” signaling the fact that the gay agenda is no longer “live and let live” but a frontal attack to silence and marginalize Christianity. She, therefore, recommends that if a Christian claims to be gay-affirming, they should “hold other Christians accountable.” They need to prove themselves by acts of “real allyship”:

·       Hearing our cisgender, heterosexual allies promise to stand up for us and then actually seeing them follow through is what real allyship looks like.

This requires Christians to become agents committed to subverting any Christian prohibitions against sexual conduct. However, to say that the Bible is wrong in these matters is also to open the door to the possibility that the Bible might be wrong in many other matters, perhaps even in all matters. Either the Bible is the Word of God or it isn’t. We are not free to pick-and-choose which verses are trustworthy. Jesus didn’t. Instead, He affirmed every Word of the Scriptures during His conversation with the devil:

·       But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

However, I can sympathize with Brasher’s charge that “Christianity is dangerous to queer people,” in the same way that I can sympathize with a friend’s complaint about receiving a speeding ticket. Even though he was wrong for speeding and possibly endangering others, I can still sympathize with him. However, this doesn’t mean that we should get rid of police or the consequences for breaking the law.

Likewise, the Church issues important warnings from the Word of God about what happens when we refuse to repent of our sins. Similarly, I think that many had found Jesus’ Words highly disturbing:

·       And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:2-5)

For those who were willing to repent of their sins, I’m sure that, in the long run, this warning proved to be liberating. However, for those who refused to repent, this warning must have been experienced as condemnation.

Brashers felt condemned by her church because it was faithful to the Word, as it must be. We can only hope and pray that it had planted seeds that will germinate in time.