Homosexuality

[Scott Peterson]

What are your thoughts on how a church community seeking to live out God's shalom should handle the issue of homosexuality?

[Scott Peterson]

It has been a long while since I weighed in on this post.

It seems that this thread has veered primarily in the direction of addressing whether homosexuality/homosexual behavior is sinful. In regards to that issue, I land considerably more on the traditional understanding of human sexuality. However, I believe that most of the Biblical exegesis used by supporters of the traditional view is flawed. When I stated in my previous post that, "the Bible does not directly address the issue of homosexuality as we know it" I was referring to the modern awareness of the complexities of human sexuality. Paul seemed to be working from an understanding of heterosexual attraction as standard across all of humanity with anomalies occurring only through blatant decisions to act in a way foreign to "natural" sexual attraction. Creating a hermeneutic of this text which ignores the reality of homosexual attraction from a very early developmental age as well as the lack of heterosexual attraction does a disservice to our communities which must wrestle with this issue today. I don't believe that taking a different view on this particular text rules out a traditional understanding of human sexuality. It just shifts the argument to find more appropriate support (ie. creation narrative).

Although this thread has focused primarily on whether or not homosexuality is a sin, this was not actually my original intention for creating this thread. While our view of sexuality will alter our response, I want to know how our communities should handle this issue as Christ followers committed to the way of shalom as exemplified in Jesus. How do we treat our LGBT neighbors? How should our churches reach out to those who have been routinely persecuted by the church?

How do you think Derek Webb's new song, "What Matters More" informs the conversation?

[dlw]

Scott,
I'd say I'd use the word "sexual orientation" rather than homosexuality for your question.

Like I said before, we tend to lump together apples and oranges in our popular use of the term homosexuality, which can make the issue get unduly heated.

1. Delineate the facts carefully. Our sexual orientations are not determined by genetics and neither are they immutable but they are not easy to change either. If homosexuals want to be supported in developing their heterosexual capacities then we can support them in such. If they don't, there's no coercion or theology in the world that will change their mind.

2. Focus on ministering to individuals.

3."If I were dictator..." Legal marriages are an artifact of constantinized Christianity. We can dispense with them to avoid any effect of "social approbation" or gov't support for a particular side of the cultural wars or what-not and ensure that bilateral civil unions are permitted for committed same-sex couples. I'd even limit the availability of full civil unions to two per individual during their lifetimes to emphasize that such is meant to be only for lasting relationships and I'd provide the option of permitting the partners to guarantee at the onset that the economically-less-productive partner would have extra protections against divorce than the current "no-fault divorce" laws permit.

4. Minister to individuals in ways that affirm them without treating their sexual lifestyles/orientations as critical to their true identities.

5. Play a priestly role of reminding people, aka some of the writing of the late Stanley Grenz, of why the heterosexual sex act in marriage has a special significance for us in such a way that does not demean people with homosexual orientations or what-not.

6. Remind LGBT rights activists that there are some important qualifying diffs between their movement and the civil rights movement. Not every heterosexist is a homophobe.