My church had its Bible study last night. I have two items.
1.
The church that I attend is a Presbyterian Church (USA). The issue of
homosexuality has been contentious within this denomination, which has
allowed openly gay clergy, while not permitting PC(USA) churches to
perform homosexual marriages. For some time, I've wondered where my
church stands on this, since I rarely if ever hear the topic come up.
But it did come up in conversation last night, right before we began the
Bible study.
Someone said that church membership in PC(USA) is
declining by 1.5 percent every year, and he attributed that to the gay
issue, since people are leaving out of dissatisfaction with the church
allowing the ordination of gay clergy. One guy said that the church
should not focus on this issue but rather on preaching the Gospel and
serving people. Someone else said that people who believe in the
biblical standard on this issue should stay within the denomination, and he
noted that there were problems when churches left the denomination, such
as property disputes. One lady did not care for the denomination
forcing a policy on its churches, when that policy may be against the
churches' consciences. At the same time, there was talk about open
communion (but I'm not sure if we were still on the topic of
homosexuality or had moved on to another subject). So I guess that my
impression (at least right now) is that my church (or, rather, prominent
people in it) tries to be inclusive in terms of who can attend and
participate in worship, and yet it regards homosexual conduct as a sin.
I'm
not overly surprised, since my church does tend to use evangelical
materials in its Bible studies. I wouldn't leave the church over this,
for it is a warm community, and I feel spiritually and intellectually
edified whenever I attend it. If I'm ever asked at church about my
stance, I'd probably respond that I struggle with where I stand on this
issue, since I think that it's unfair to require people who have an
orientation that they did not ask for to be celibate for the rest of
their natural lives, and yet the Bible does appear to me to be critical
of homosexual conduct. But I wouldn't be boldly proclaiming my stance.
To be honest, I really don't think that the issue will come up that
often, or (for that matter) that I'll be asked for my opinion on it.
My
Mom asked me how I would approach the issue if I were a pastor, and, to
be honest, I don't know. Most likely, I'd not mention the subject and
focus on the positive themes of Christianity, such as God's
unconditional love, forgiveness, helping others, etc. But suppose I
were to counsel a person who is struggling with homosexuality? I'd be
really, really hesitant to promote reparative therapy to him, or to tell
him to pray the gay away, or to say to him that he must be celibate for
the rest of his life, for I've heard stories about how this approach is
damaging. But, if I as a pastor of a fairly conservative church were
to tell him that it's acceptable for him to have a same-sex partner, and
word got out, I'd get into trouble.
2. We talked about the story
of Jesus and the rich young ruler, in which Jesus tells the rich young
man to sell all that he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow
Jesus. It was an excellent discussion. We got into whether Jesus'
instruction was for the rich young man alone or for all Christians. One
person said that the rich young ruler was idolatrous with regards to
his riches and Jesus wanted to break him away from that, and this would
imply that Jesus' command was for the rich young ruler alone. But
people in the group were hesitant to say that, for there were
indications that others left everything to follow Jesus, as well, such
as the disciples. Moreover, one guy said that you can't take your
wealth with you, so why be so attached to it? (I'd agree if I were
rich, but, as a struggling student, I try to save every penny I can!)
That seems to imply that it's a more general principle. But I don't
think that Jesus required everyone to sell everything they
owned. Zacchaeus, after all, said to Jesus that he would give away a
significant amount of his money, but he didn't say that he'd give
everything he owned away, and Jesus said that salvation came to
Zacchaeus' house. I think that there's a general principle that we
should be generous, but there may be some flexibility in terms of how we
can apply that.