Many from my evangelical camp have taken a non-affirming posture towards the gay community, claiming that the Bible tells us to. Some have said “no” to this, citing errant interpretations of the “hot” passages commonly referenced in this debate.

In almost every case, in my opinion, these pastors and leaders are trying their best to honor our belief that the Bible is the very word of God, and that it should have a high place of authority, even when it leads us to take whatever unpopular stand.

Let’s be honest: if God were to pen a document with his own hand, it would be loaded with propositions that would seem upside down, maybe even unjust. By definition, it’s impossible for us to understand the universe as He does. If the Bible reflects the heart, mind, desires, etc. of the almighty, who are we to argue when it doesn’t make sense, or calls us to do stuff we don’t want to do?

The Bible doesn’t condone slavery, or the crusades, or people who make “God Hates F#gs” signs. Rightly interpreted and applied, it calls us into the deepest expressions of compassion, forgiveness, intimacy, unity, humility, and a host of other powerful expressions that aren’t highly valued in today’s culture.

There are, however, passages in scripture that don’t seem too friendly towards homosexuality. While there are heated discussions about whether or not these passages have been interpreted correctly, there are many pastors, leaders, and well-heeled Bible scholars who read a non-affirming posture in the Bible.

I know some of these folk. They’re good people, working hard as pastors and teachers, trying their best to bring hope, healing, and the face of Jesus into our broken world.

There are, however, three passages in the Bible that get skipped over when we try to figure out how to reconcile our understanding of scripture with our very strong desire to be open and inclusive to all.

While these verses have nothing to do with homosexuality per se, they indict any level of non-affirmation towards the gay community, and force us to reconsider.

These quotes from Jesus use strong language to condemn a practice that’s common in our culture, and our churches. The very CEO of Christianity took a clear, non-affirming stance towards this thing.

We don’t. It’s something that we rarely talk about. We certainly don’t write “position papers” about it, or place restrictions on people who are “guilty.” For some reason, black-and-white as the Bible is here, we’ve decided to address this issue with kindness, compassion, and a mountain of inclusiveness, almost as if Jesus’ thoughts on this topic don’t exist.

I’ve never heard these scriptures quoted from the pulpit. It would crush too many.

There was a time, long ago, when Jesus’ words led us to adopt a strong, non-affirming stance towards these “sinners,” but we’ve since come to terms with the fact that there are times when we’re forced to lead instead with compassion and understanding, even when the Bible openly condemns whatever it is we’re dealing with.

Thank God.

These passages have to do with divorce. The Bible is just as unfriendly here as it is towards homosexuality. Jesus Himself, in three of the four gospel narratives, claimed that divorce is not what God intended when he crafted the institution of marriage.

I’ll post these passages below1, but don’t hear me condemning divorce and remarriage. It’s not my place to judge, and it certainly isn’t my place to walk up to someone who’s remarried and “help” them understand how God feels about all this.

What idiot does that?

If you’re divorced and/or remarried, reading this, God bless you. God bless your second marriage if you’re remarried, your kids if you have them, etc. I fully support you, with no reservations whatsoever.

Again, I share what’s below to ask the question: if the Bible takes a strong stance against divorce, and we don’t, why do we take such a strong stance against homosexuality?

With much hesitation…

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verse 18 quotes Jesus, saying, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. Anyone who divorces her husband and marries another commits adultery.”

The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 32, quotes Jesus, saying, “I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries her commits adultery.”

The Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verses 11-12, quotes Jesus, saying, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

It’s impossible to interpret our way out of Jesus’ strong, very unaffirming stance on divorce. And it’s understandable why us Christians, for so long, were just as unfriendly to divorced people as we are towards Gay people today.

But, again, we applied the overall stance of the Bible – love, compassion, mercy, unity, humility, etc. – to the problem of divorce. We shifted our cultural gears (though it took forever) and adopted a fully affirming stance towards the divorced/remarried community.

Good job, us.

To the crowd who believes that the Bible condemns homosexuality, why haven’t we extended the same grace to the gay community?

Because it’s a sin, right?

If you’ve read this far, and you can’t see the rabid inconsistency in how we’re reading our Bibles and responding/failing to respond to the gay community, I’m not sure how to help you move forward without being painfully direct.

I have a friend who just left her church, a place that she loved and cherished, because she recently learned of the leadership’s non-affirming stance.

Can you imagine how crushed re-married folk would feel if we told them that their marriage was illegitimate? Or that it’s OK for them to be married, they just can’t have sex? Or if we refused to perform a wedding because one or both had been married before? We do shit like that to the gay community all the time and don’t bat an eye.

Why?

If you believe that:

The Bible is the word of God The Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin The Bible condemns divorce/remarriage as adultery And that the church should openly condemn homosexuality, publish position papers, place limitations on where/how gay people can serve in the church, tell gay married people they can’t have sex, refuse to do their weddings, etc…



… you are forced to apply the same interpretation to the divorced/remarried community.

Please don’t.

Instead, given how we posture ourselves in favor of something the Bible condemns, consider approaching the gay community in the same manner. Do you think homosexuality is a sin? Fine. I understand. You can be completely, 100%, openly affirming and still interpret the Bible as you do.

The problem isn’t our interpretative method, it’s our posture. If the Bible doesn’t force us to “take a stand” against divorce, why have we set our face against homosexuality? Why do we have to go out of our way to make sure the whole world knows how we feel about this?

I’ve been a Bible-believing, Evangelical Christian for 20 years now. I’ve lived squarely in the non-affirming world for most of my adult life. I’m now beyond comfortable declaring, online, for a small percentage of the world to see, that we are conspicuously inconsistent here. And our inconsistency smacks of a bias towards gay people.

Rest assured that they feel it, and they won’t be coming to church. But we’re fine with that because they’re sinners, right?

If you’re gay and/or married, reading this, God bless you. God bless your marriage if you’re married, your kids if you have them, etc. I fully support you, with no reservation whatsoever.

I’d be honored to officiate your wedding.

If you pastor a non-affirming church, God bless you, too. I’m 9000 times more free, more at peace, and more likely to do the work of God because of your ministry. But I beg you to turn away from your “we love you, but…” theology, and free your people to love, embrace, and support the gay community with no barriers, save the ones you extend to everyone else.

1) Scripture quotations are my translation from the Greek text, with links to other translations if you’re interested.

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