Non-Celibate Gay Christians, Ministers, Bishops?

While the Episcopal Church gained most of the media attention this summer, the confirmation of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson isn’t the only controversy about how to deal with homosexuals. At the same time, the Episcopal Church compromised on the half dozen or so other vital resolutions dealing with gay people. The question remains as to whether this will cause any serious split. Some local churches have threatened to blackmail the denomination by withholding diocesan and national support.  The Anglican Communion may deal with the possibility of split in an emergency meeting in October.

There was an attempt in the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s convention to push back a decision on whether to ordain gay non-celibate ministers to 2007. However, this action failed and the issue is on the agenda for 2005. Gays fared far worse in the Presbyterian Convention where the assembly voted against abolishing a 25-year ban on the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as ministers, lay elders and deacons. Worse yet, are the more fundamentalist Baptist groups, or Pentecostals like the Church of God and Assemblies of God, who simply will not allow discussion on the issue because they don’t believe gays can be Christian. It continues to look like the only place that gay Christians can find genuine equality is in the various smaller denominations, independent movement churches and the Metropolitan Community Church.

In order to think the Bible condemns homosexuals, you must believe that the Bible was written in this century with our culture in mind. The only way to truly understand the Bible is to look at it within its historical and cultural context. An example of this flawed view of Scripture is in the book of Romans, "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error." Paul was addressing people who had denied God and were participating in the fertility religions of the day through having same sex intercourse. This wasn’t an unusual way to worship certain fertility gods in the first century. Paul was certainly not referring to those who have natural passions for the same sex. The condemnation here is only for those who are not by nature homosexual.

Today we know that nature and nurture have combined to wonderfully create people who have natural passions toward the same sex. This isn’t something that Paul was talking about in any of his writings. Instead he was talking about false religions and abusive sexual contacts that are not life giving. A modern parallel would be people confined in prison or isolated for long periods of time who participate in sex that is not a natural part of their personality. This is what Paul was condemning, not the loving acts of a same-sex couple who share their love, joy, and pleasure with one another.

Are gay people true Christians and followers of Jesus? Yes, many are, but too many have been disenfranchised by a church that rejects them. Is it right and good that a non-celibate person who loves someone of the same sex should be qualified as a minister? Absolutely! The Bible never says otherwise. Is it acceptable for a non-celibate minister to become a leader and Bishop in the church? Certainly! God help us, if we don’t finally come to the realization that gay people have been there all along and stop marginalizing an entire segment of Christians whom God loves very dearly.