As someone who attended a predominantly United Methodist Seminary (Asbury) and someone married to a United Methodist pastor, I'm interested in the current discussion in the Methodist Church about homosexuality. I've heard a bit about General Conference, and how heated the discussion was. I have a lot of respect for Wesley and the Methodists, as my own tradition (Christian and Missionary Alliance) comes out of the holiness movement he started.

It's interesting to me how much attention is given to the topic of homosexuality. While I believe the church needs to weigh in on moral issues that are hot topics in the culture, at times the church has focused on homosexuality entirely too much. I rarely talk about the issue, partly because it's not something I deal with in rural Ohio on a regular basis. But as a pastor, I'm sometimes asked what my stance or the bible says about homosexuality. My hope is that they are one in the same. So here are a few thoughts of mine on the topic...

1. My stance is entirely based on the bible. For that reason, if someone doesn't accept the bible as the Word of God, I don't expect them to agree with me, or even to be able to have a fruitful conversation on the topic. My reasons for believing that homosexuality is a lifestyle that is contrary to God's desire for humanity come from scripture, and only scripture. If you're not a Christian, or you're a Christian who doesn't believe that all of the bible is God's Word, or that it's not applicable in modern times, we're simply not going to agree on this issue. Some argue that homosexuality is a destructive lifestyle, or that it has a negative impact on children. That may or may not be true, and honestly in the end it doesn't really matter to me. This leads into my second point:

2. We should expect God's morality to be higher than ours. As Francis Chan mentions in Erasing Hell, we should expect God to say things we don't understand. The moment we say “I wouldn't believe in a God who would....” we're putting God in submission to our own line of reasoning. His sense of morality should be expected to be higher than our own. While this can be unnerving and maddening at times, it should also give us comfort. If God says something is wrong, even if it doesn't make sense to us, we have to trust Him. In many ways, our biblically illiterate culture has created a god in their own image – a god who happens to have the exact same morals that they do.

3. It doesn't matter if people are born gay or not. Many Christians argue that homosexuality is not genetic or inherent. Some argue that they were born gay, therefore if God made them that way, it must be okay. I think the latter argument fails to consider a basic belief essential to Christianity: that we're born with sinful desires because of the fall. As a Christian, it would make perfect sense to me if people are "born gay". I certainly was born with my own sinful predispositions. I'm naturally selfish, naturally prone to anger, I naturally want to lie to protect my own interests. Yet just because I was born that way doesn't mean God created me that way, or that it's acceptable. I know how hard those natural urges are, and I struggle with them every day. Yet I hope I never get to the point where I accept them as God's will for my life.

4. Yes, homosexuality is a sin like other sins – yet an open lifestyle of any sin is different than an admitted struggle with the sin. When I have said that I believe that homosexuals should not be allowed to lead the church, I've often been asked why their sin disqualifies them from leading, yet my own sin does not. It's a great question. The answer is that there's a difference between admitting that we're sinning and taking steps to change, and openly living a lifestyle of sin and claiming it is good. I think someone who struggles with homosexual urges can lead the church if they realize it's something that is wrong and they're trying to fight it – but when they claim it as their lifestyle, they're not fit to lead. That's not just homosexuality, that's any sinful lifestyle. A man who openly says he's unfaithful to his wife and will continue to be is not fit for leadership. Someone who openly admits to lying and says that it's not a problem is not fit for leadership. Unfortunately, the church has often picked on certain sins while ignoring others.

5. Homosexuality is treated far differently in scripture than the treatment of woman and slaves. I often hear people say that women and slavery were oppressed because of scripture, and now we know better. They then go on to say homosexuality is the same. In Slaves, Women, and Homosexuality, William Webb does a great job explain the difference between these issues. Ultimately, it boils down to this: women and slaves are gradually given better treatment throughout scripture. In the Old Testament law, laws were put in place to limit the amount of power that men and slave owners had. In surrounding cultures, women and slaves had no rights, so the limits placed on their treatment was a step forward. In the New Testament, Jesus had female disciples, which was unheard of. Later, they had prominent roles in the church. It's similar for the treatment of slaves. First, limits were given to slave owners, and by the end of the New Testament we see Paul encouraging Philemon to see his slave no longer as a slave, but as a brother. Yet homosexuality is treated the same way throughout scripture – it is always condemned. Old Testament, New Testament – even in the midst of cultures where homosexuality was widely accepted. The Greco-Roman culture was one where homosexuality was commonplace, and if homosexuality was acceptable to God, it would have been a perfect time for Him to change the stance. But it continued to be condemned. For this reason, I don't think it's helpful to compare the issue of homosexuality with the issues of slavery and the treatment of women.

6. Jesus did address homosexuality when he said that marriage is between a man and woman. He left two options – faithfulness in heterosexual marriage, or becoming a eunuch for the Kingdom. Those are the only options. Some say that Jesus never spoke out against homosexuality, even though he did define marriage. Another reason he didn't address it – he ministered to a Jewish culture that stoned people for offenses such as adultery and homosexuality. It simply wasn't an issue in that culture. There wasn't widespread debate about the topic, as there is in our culture, and so Jesus probably didn't feel compelled to weigh in. (That said, I'm a lot less concerned with how the state defines marriage than I am concerned about how the church defines it.)

7. Love has lost it's meaning in this debate. Many proponents of accepting gay leadership have reduced love to simply being nice to everyone. Love is very different than being nice. Sometimes love means telling people that their behavior is not acceptable in God's eyes. That's never fun to do, or to hear. I've had to tell people that sort of thing, and I've been on the receiving end as well. Love means being honest with people about what God's Word says, even if it's not what they want to hear.  

Unfortunately, the church doesn't have a great track record when it comes to communicating truth in love, especially on this issue. Too often the church has been downright hateful and hostile towards those who practice homosexuality. I know some will think that I fall into this category simply for having the viewpoint that I do. There's nothing I can do about that. I believe that the truth is offensive. The question is whether I'm adding unnecessary offense in the way I'm presenting the truth. I hope that I am not.

While homosexuality is a huge issue at General Conference, I believe that issue at stake is actually a lot bigger – it's the place of scripture. I've read a lot of interpretations of the scriptures that condemn homosexuality, and I simply don't see any quality interpretations that suggest that scripture doesn't condemn it. Most arguments either write off the scriptures as irrelevant, or discard them from the discussion in favor of other scriptures that don't even address the topic. I don't want this to be a 'slippery slope' argument, but I truly believe that the more the church justifies things that are clearly forbidden in scripture, the more scripture takes a back seat to whatever theology seems to fit our personal desires.