Week 1—Welcome to the wonderful & messy, painful & hopeful world of church conflict

Welcome! Our first week of Holding Faith / Holding Family was all about introductions. This is hard work– looking at long-held beliefs and assumptions and daring to reconsider them. It can be anxiety producing. Kay and I are honored to be with you on this journey, and grateful for your courage in saying yes to the invitation.

       Our desire at Holding Faith is to be a safe space. It's a safe space for gay, lesbian, bi, transgender and queer folks. But it is also safe space for people who are conflicted about all those things. People who are not sure what they think. Most of us come from evangelical settings, places that don't affirm those things. Some of us might still be. Most of us have had a journey to get to where we are today. And really, all of us are still on a journey, discovering new things. So we want to just celebrate showing up, listening, being attentive. We want to make this a safe space to ask questions, have strong convictions or to be uncertain. Free to not know everything. Honesty, confidentiality, and non-judgmental support will be key as we move forward. Being known as our authentic selves is essential, so trust is vital.

Resources

       The topics we'll be exploring around LGBTQ+ inclusion are complex. Devout Christians have a range of views on these issues, as well as on the larger issue of biblical interpretation. So there is plenty of room for discussion, growth and wonder.

       Each week I will draw from resources to talk about the problematic clobber verses, includingTorn by Justin Lee and Changing our Mind by David Gushee. Many of you may be familiar with these from your own reading. We’ll spend the bulk of our time exploring a new book: The Widening of God's Mercy by Richard and Christopher Hays, which takes us beyond proof-texting to observe the wide overarching love and inclusion of our boundary-breaking God.

Sharing our Stories

       The Widening of God's Mercy is an intensely personal book. The authors share their stories with brutal honesty and with genuine contrition.

       Richard Hays’ earlier, influential book The Moral Vision of the New Testament opposed same-sex relationships, and became a driving factor for many who sought to exclude LGBTQ people from the Church. He writes:

       “I acknowledge that I bear responsibility for the pain such developments have caused to many believers who belong to sexual minorities. And for that I am deeply sorry... In this book I want to start over—to repent of the narrowness of my earlier vision and to explore a new way of listening to the story that scripture tells about the widening scope of God’s mercy.”

       Christopher Hays writes: “Fifteen years ago, I was hired by Fuller Theological Seminary, an institution largely governed by “compassionate conservatives.” The faculty held diverse views, but I understood the institutional stance going in... I simply didn’t care enough about it, or about the well-being of LGBTQ people, to consider it a deal-breaker in taking my job... But I’m done being safe while many others are not...

       “Some things have not changed. I remain committed to the unparalleled centrality of the Bible... The conclusions I have come to are not the result of a new revelation... but rather the slow and logical outworking of years of reading the Bible...

       “This book isn’t just about us changing our minds... the book is also for those who are already convinced that LGBTQ people are just as good as straight people but who are unsure about God and Christianity. Often this means people who were raised within Christianity and were repulsed by some of its contemporary manifestations.”

       My story: Thirty years ago, as a newly minted Presbyterian pastor, I was chosen by the evangelical contingent to represent them in a debate on the floor of Presbytery. To my surprise, my opponent was my hermeneutics professor, Dr. Jack Rogers. On that day, my side won the vote—but I walked away knowing I had lost the debate. That began a years-long journey toward inclusion, which led me in entirely unexpected directions. I was aided by reading the same resources we will use in this course, but also by some wise queer friends, patient with my questions, who walked with me.

Some Wild & Wonderful Opening Assumptions

       The opening chapter introduces the idea of the widening of God’s mercy as the overarching theme of the Bible. The Hays—either consciously or not—draw on some themes that resonate with Open Theism. Open theism is a controversial movement, that may seem shocking at first. It overturns a lot of our most basic assumptions about God. I have been working and writing in the field for more than a decade. While surprising and unexpected, I have found it to be powerful, biblical, and enormously helpful in sorting through some of the thorniest theological issues we face.

       I don’t know if the Hays would identify as Open Theists or not, but they list four opening assumptions that resonate well with core principles of Open Theism:

1. Open Theism: In order to make room for human freedom, God’s omnipotence and omniscience must have constraints. Hays: “Contrary to the common idea that God’s decisions are eternal and immutable, there are numerous stories of God changing God’s mind in the Bible.”

2. OT: God is moved by what happens in the world and responds accordingly. Hays:“Contrary to the common idea that biblical law was written once, in stone, and is unchangeable, the actual biblical story.. is one in which laws are under constant negotiation and revision.”

3. OT: God’s default stance toward all of humanity is love. Hays: “Contrary to the common idea that “God’s people” was a clearly defined entity based on ethnic or national boundaries, various texts... show that God’s plan was always wider, and that new groups were regularly being invited in from the margins, even when existing biblical laws expressly excluded and condemned them.”

4. OT: God does not coerce or impose their will on the world. God influences but does not force. Hays: “Contrary to the common idea that the New Testament brings complete and final closure to God’s revelation, the New Testament promises that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead the community of Jesus’s followers into new and surprising truths”.

       The Hays explain: “For...many readers of the Bible today, it is a comfort and a bedrock idea that God “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8)... We suggest that for those who would like to make sense of the Bible, these statements about God’s unchanging word must somehow be held together with a long tradition of examples where God does in fact change his mind... In particular, God repeatedly changes his mind in ways that expand the sphere of his love, preserve his relationship with humankind, and protect and show mercy toward them.”

       A key term used throughout the book is mercy, which the Hays describe as “God’s grace, compassion and favor...God’s overflowing love...propensity to embrace, heal, restore, and reconcile all of creation.”

Reading the Bible Together

       What bothers most Christians about queer inclusion is the Bible. The verses in the Bible which address homosexuality are called "clobber verses"—because to queer Christians they feel like they're used to clobber them. We might assume there must be dozens of these verses in the Bible, but in fact there are just six.

       We will explore not just those six "clobber verses" but what we believe about the Bible in general. Which is helpful, because LGBTQ+ inclusion is not the first major controversy the Church has had, nor will it be the last. The skills we learn throughout this process will help us to address a whole host of issues that will arise as we seek to live out our faith in real-life relationships and communities.

       Devout Christians have a range of views of the Bible. Some are what we call "inerrantists"— who believe that every word is literally the words of God's own self. Some feel the Bible is a book written by men a long time ago that is of mainly historical interest. Despite the common rhetoric that one must choose between these two binary options, in=n between those two extremes are a range of more nuanced beliefs—that the Bible is inspired by God in a way that the words of humans are intermingled with a movement of God's Spirit, or that the Bible is the best picture we have of God. All of these views co-exist within modern Christianity and even within historic Christianity.

       One rubric I've found helpful for dealing with troublesome passages is a "Jesus-centered hermeneutics." In John 10:30 Jesus says, "I and the Father are one.”

Col. 1:15-19 says: Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation… For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things.

       Jesus came to show us God. To show us God's heart, God's values, God's nature. Jesus is the best picture we have of God. So, while we may never answer every question we have about the Bible, we have Jesus. And Jesus shows us who God is. When we encounter troubling passages or differing interpretations like we will see in the weeks ahead, we can fall back on this: how does this interpretation square with the picture of Jesus we see in the New Testament? We should reject any interpretation that deviates from the picture of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

How do churches decide stuff???

       Before digging into the "clobber verses,” it's helpful to look at what we can learn from church history about how to resolve conflict. Queer inclusion is not the first time the Church has faced conflict over an important issue, and it won't be the last. The history of the early church in the book of Acts is a story of the church coming together time and again to resolve those conflicts and move forward.

       The first major conflict arises over the issue of circumcision in Acts 15:1-31. This is not something most churches are conflicted over these days, but it was in the 1st c. The conflict is triggered by the influx of Gentile (non-Jewish) converts to Christianity. Prior to Paul, the vast majority of new Christians were Jewish. The men would have already been circumcised when they were 8 days old—it was a done deal. But this influx of uncircumcised Gentiles raises the question of what Jewish practices do they need to adopt in order to be a part of the Christian church? For adult men this is obviously a really important consideration. And for the Church itself, there's a lot on the line that will determine how far their message reaches beyond the Jewish community.

       So in Acts 15, a meeting is called of the church leaders to resolve the issue—much like church leaders today are gathering to discuss and debate queer inclusion.

       As we read through the story of how they resolved this conflict in Acts 15, the first thing I notice is that both sides are using Scripture. The side arguing for circumcision references the "law of Moses" in verses 1 and 5. And James, who is the bishop of the church in Jerusalem, cites "the words of the prophets" in verses 15-18. Both of these are references to the Old Testament.

       So often in the church, the debate over including and affirming LGBTQ+ believers is framed as a debate of "Bible-believers" versus "Bible deniers." It's framed as one side having the Bible and the other side caving in to social norms or pressure. But this is not the case. Both sides are using and citing Scripture to make their argument. Indeed, most church conflict is like that— both sides leaning on Scripture.

       For most Christians, the Bible is the primary and most important source of authority– the tool we rely on to find truth and the data we need to make decisions. This workshop assumes that, and will focus most of our attention on what Scripture has to say about queer inclusion.

       But the fact that, like in the debate in Acts 15, most church conflict involves Scripture on both sides means that we need to bring in other tools to help us to interpret and apply Scripture to the particular issue. That doesn't lessen the primacy of the Bible. Quite the contrary, the effort to think and study deeply is one way that we honor Scripture. The other sources of authority we bring in are simply tools we use to help us consider how we apply Scripture to the concern at hand.

       In Acts 15, we can see several additional tools the early church leaders brought to the discussion to inform their decision. The first is found in the very fact that such a convocation was called. Paul could have just stuck his tongue out at those who said the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and continued on doing what he was doing. Instead, he submits himself to this process—allowing the decision to be made in community. So, while our discussion about queer inclusion might be fraught, anxiety producing, and even deeply painful at times—it is a holy process. It is a process about building a beautiful and loving community where all voices are respected.

       So the first supplemental tool we can see in Acts 15 is community. Reading on, we see a couple more. Both Paul and Peter describe what happened when they shared the gospel with Gentiles (vs. 4, 8, 12). Paul says there were "miraculous signs and wonders." Peter says, "God gave them the Holy Spirit." James references their testimony as important in v. 14. So we can see experience—our experience of God's movement and activity—as another source of authority.

       Finally, James begins his argument in vs. 19 with the phrase "it is my judgment" showing us that our reasoning—our intellectual capacity to research and learn and think about an issue—is another important tool in our communal decision making.

       This particular set of four sources of authority was most famously identified by John Wesley as an important way of discerning together God's leading. Called "the Wesleyan Quadrilateral" it places the Bible in the center as the primary and most important source of authority, with experience, reason and community (or church tradition) as subordinate tools to help interpret and apply Scripture.

       As we work our way through the six "clobber verses" that address homosexuality, we will come back to this pattern again and again—using these supplemental tools to interpret and apply Scripture to the question of queer inclusion, while also looking at what other biblical teachings might apply to this question.

       I love the way the final decision of the Jerusalem council is described in their letter to the churches in vs. 28: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." There's a lovely humility there that highlights the work of the community, as well as our faith that God's Spirit is working in and through our discussion. No matter how fraught or deeply painful this process may be, it is holy work, and God is moving in and through it.

       Our workshop is a place to lean into the practice of community, as we spend time each week discussing these passages together.

A particularly ugly story… but is it a story about gay sex???

       The clobber verse/passage that is most strongly associated with the Bible's position on homosexuality is the story of Sodom in Gen. 19:1-26. It's obviously where we get the term “sodomy.” But note that the Bible doesn't use the term sodomy—that's an English word coined long after the fact based on people's interpretation or association with Sodom, not on anything in the text itself.

       It's a very ugly and violent story, disturbing for a lot of reasons (let this serve as a trigger warning). The story begins when God calls Abraham to leave his home in Ur and resettle in The Promised Land (Canaan). Abraham brings along his nephew, Lot, who eventually settles in the city of Sodom.

       When the story begins, Lot is visited by what appears to be three men—but the text tells us they are actually angels. The men of city show up wanting to gang rape the angels. The city is then destroyed by God as an act of judgment for their wickedness.

       There are a lot of disturbing elements of this story—at one point Lot offers up his daughters to appease the crowd, the destruction of an entire the city, Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt. We could spend an hour on each of these disturbing elements, but for the purpose of exploring this as a teaching on homosexuality, I find three key questions to ponder: What is the most important thing in this story? Is this a story about homosexuality? Are the angels really male?

       What stands out to me most in this passage is not the apparent (but dubious) gender of the angels, but the fact that the crowd wants to gang rape them. We know, of course, that rape is not an act of love, or even of desire or lust. It is an act of violence and domination. We have seen this throughout our sordid and painful history.

       This story is offered up in Gen. 19 as an explanation for Sodom's destruction because of their "wickedness"—but Genesis never says what that wickedness might be. The closest we come to connecting it to homosexuality is in Jude 7, where it is described as unspecified "sexual immorality." Rape would certainly fit the bill, regardless of the gender of those involved. The context of Jude 7 is about angels—and it occurs to me there is something deeply perverse about a people who are visited by angels—messengers of God—and their first response is not awe or wonder or curiosity about their message—but rape. So it could refer to defiling the holy.

       But we have a much clearer explanation in Ezek.16:49-50: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen."

       Hospitality in the ancient middle east was not just a matter of etiquette or socializing. In a time before there was a Holiday Inn in every town and a Starbucks on every corner, showing holy hospitality to strangers traveling through the desert was literally a life-saving act. It was an act of compassion. Their callous response to vulnerable strangers in their midst is a peek into their hardened hearts.

       We will continue this pattern of exploring one "clobber verse" each week. In each case, it will be an invitation to move beyond a superficial reading to think deeply about what the text really says. When we are willing to do the hard work of digging in, we honor Scripture by taking it seriously and being willing to invest our time and energy. When we do the hard work of listening to the LGBTQ+ community, prayerfully learning about their experience, being willing to navigate painful conflict even in our families and churches, we are engaging in holy work. We are showing the compassion of Christ, and trusting in God's Spirit to move in and through it.

       Loving God, we want to be lead by you. So help us to lean in. Help us to listen. Help us to be kind and respectful to one another. Help us to open our hearts to what you are saying to us today. I pray your presence be with us as we seek you. May we know the height and depth of your love in a new and incredible way.

       In Jesus' name, Amen.