When I was in the 11th grade (1993-94) I had a friend come out. She was just an acquaintance, but she was a very good friend of a very good friend of mine. So, I was involved in the conversation through association. I wasn't too surprised when I found out, but I was incredibly impressed that she had the guts to do it. Remember, this was the early 90s and being gay was rarely talked about.
I saw this girl in the hallway with my good friend two days after she came out to her parents. She said the conversation actually hadn't gone that bad - so she thought. But then she got home from school the next day and her stuff was on the lawn. And the locks were changed. Her parents had kicked her out. She still had a semester of school left, no where to live, no job, and no diploma. I ached for her. I asked her if she had any close friends or family that would take her in? She said no. I kept thinking and wanting to help so I suggested that she contact her church. Wouldn't they help you? I asked. She looked at me and laughed. "Are you kidding? They kicked me out too."
That's when my world changed. I felt like she had punched me in the gut. I wanted to cry, I wanted to say NO! you're wrong! But she was dead serious. I naively asked why and she looked at me with an expression of pity, disbelief, and anger. "Because they think I'm going to hell."
I didn't know what else to say. She had just single-handedly crushed my belief system in 30 seconds. You mean to tell me that this church that I see as a second home, that I have loved since I was 3, that has taught me that I should love everyone, help everyone, and basically be like Jesus, is now saying that I shouldn't do this for some people? That some people aren't worthy of that love? Why?
Well, my good friend and I wanted answers so we went and talked to our youth director. It was a good conversation but he couldn't expound on the why, so he sent us to the pastor. The pastor didn't really want to engage in this conversation so instead gave me a book written by our denomination - the PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA). It was written I believe in the late 80s or early 90s. It was not widely publicized outside of our congregations - it was one of those books that the PCUSA sends out every 4-5 years to pastors and churches - something like the book of order. Maybe it was the book of order. It was over 30 years ago so the title escapes me. But I remember it was written and published by the denomination. At that time, the Presbyterian church had not made any kind of public statement towards this issue. It wasn't for another 20 plus years that this became enough of an issue to vote on. But they had taken the time, in the 80s, to write a chapter about homosexuality in this book. If you don't already know, the Presbyterian church relies much on the writings and teaching of John Calvin and Karl Barth. One thing I like about this denomination is that it requires its pastors to have seminary degrees. It requires them to study Greek and Hebrew, to learn how to exegete passages, and to have a good understanding of Bible history.
Are you asking yourself right now - but doesn't every denomination do this? No. Unfortunately, they do not. More than a couple denominations allow lay people to approach the church and say - I want to be a pastor, and then bing, bang, boom, in a month they're a "pastor". If your denomination does this, I strongly urge you to look into another church and denomination. This is NOT safe. This means your pastor doesn't have the knowledge necessary to teach you the Bible anymore than you, yourself have. They are instead, teaching you ideologies that they have been taught (and their grandparents, and their grandparent's parents) and basically their opinions of what the Bible says. Not surprisingly, these are some of the same denominations that teach their congregants that the Bible says LGBTQ+ are going to hell. It's based more on opinion and bias and prejudice, than studying the actual Bible and it's text. I'll delve into this at the end...
But I digress, my point is, the book that I was given was not only ahead of its time, but obviously not widely published. I found it to be very well written and informative. It used facts, knowledge, and not opinion. I like things black and white, so this was good for me. I also like proof. Although it was only one chapter, it took the time to walk through every single piece of Scripture that is used to condemn homosexuals (there are around 5-6 of them). I didn't know the word at the time, but they exegeted each Scripture. That means that they looked at the original language. They considered the context, the history, and the audience. They looked at the writer, the time period, and the verses that came before and after. (Pastors are supposed to use exegesis before they preach...to help the congregation understand the meaning and background of the passages they preach on).
Friends, whether they meant to or not, they debunked every, single, Scripture that was listed. Every single one. And not just a little. Not just planting doubt or saying "maybe this verse could mean this or this." It was flat out debunked. How? Well friends, it was over 30 years ago and I wish I knew every single scripture and argument that was used, but I don't. (I don't need to) I do remember these few things that applied to almost all of the Scriptures listed.
One, in Leviticus 18, there is a verse that, in English, straight up condemns homosexuality. The problem is, the Scripture verses before and after that one verse are kind of insane when looked at in our culture - as this part of Scripture is directed to a specific group of people. Once you delve into the context, you see why and for whom the writer is addressing. One can't logically pick out that one verse and say that we need to live by it, yet ignore the verses surrounding it saying they aren't "relevant". And, unless you never eat nuts nor ever wear clothes with more than one material in them, then you're not living by these laws. lol. You can't pick and choose which parts of the Bible you think everyone should live by and ignore the others. Well, you could, but it makes you a huge hypocrite. And, it makes you sound ignorant. (and unfortunately, many denominations do this exact thing).
Another part of the book that stuck in my mind, was when it exegeted the words for "homosexuality" in some of the verses. Without going into all the Greek and Hebrew (which I can't remember anyway), basically it said that the word for homosexuality more accurately would be translated as "sexual sin" (based on the same words being used in OTHER parts of the Bible). It was our English translation writer who decided, that in this instance, sexual sin meant homosexuality. Kind of ticks you off to learn that doesn't it? It certainly did me. How can a word mean one thing in one verse and then something totally different in another? Bias. That's how. The word homosexual didn't even exist until the 1800s - the first time it is found was in Germany in the late 1800s. So, that exact word could never have been included in the original writings.
So, at the age of 17, I took the time to research and understand what the Bible actually says about homosexuality. And what did I learn? Well, I learned enough to really tick me off at the Church for condemning a whole group of people based on their individual prejudices and ignorance and not the actual Bible. I learned enough to convict me to write a research paper about it for my 11th grade final paper. I wanted others to understand this as well. I learned enough to know that those in the church that condemn gays are doing it out of personal prejudice and ignorance instead of the words in the Bible. Otherwise they would've taken the time as I did, to learn this as well...but instead they chose and choose to live by what their grandparents' grandparents taught them about Scripture through their own opinions and biases.
What's even more crazy to me, is that it's 30 years later and people are still trying to use the same Scripture to prove the same tired point, when it's been debunked over and over. Instead of trying to learn and understand WHY, people simply want to support their own prejudices and believe what their pastor and church tells them. Reminds me of the KKK who used verses to support their claim of violence against blacks...or Hitler using Bible verses to go after Jews.
What needs to happen is people need to become adept in understanding the arguments and showing those religious fanatics who support this claim - politely - that they are wrong. That the Bible, when understood and studied correctly, does NOT condemn homosexuality. Since I can't recommend that you read the book I read, cause I'm sure it's no longer in print, a fellow pastor who supports and advocates for LGBTQ+ suggested this book as a resource.
"Churches in America are experiencing an unprecedented fracturing due to their belief and attitude toward the LGBTQ community. Armed with only six passages in the Bible—often known as the “clobber passages”—the traditional Christian position has been one that stands against the full inclusion of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Unclobber reexamines each of those frequently quoted passages of Scripture, alternating with author Colby Martin’s own story of being fired from an evangelical megachurch when they discovered his stance on sexuality.
UnClobber reexamines what the Bible says (and does not say) about homosexuality in such a way that breathes fresh life into outdated and inaccurate assumptions and interpretations."
Another great resource that was recommended to me was: Bible Gender Sexuality
Pick it up and read it. Arm yourself with it so you can help defend our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I am reminded of a conversation I was having online with someone from one of these denominations that condemns gays and doesn't require pastors to be educated through seminary...and she was also using verses about women submitting to their husbands and what our roles are, etc. I asked her what she thought about the verse where it says husbands should also submit to their wives. She responded that "no where in the Bible does it say husbands should submit to their wives!" I politely sent her the verse to read. Of course, I didn't hear back. But it really bothers me and hurts my heart when people (especially those that WORK in the church as she did) are willing to believe anything their pastor or church tells them because it is supposedly "Biblically based". Just because the same message has been preached for centuries doesn't mean it's correct. I think history has proven that over and over. So please, educate yourself on this subject - and any other subject that tends to demean or exclude any group of people.
If you still believe the Bible condemns gays, then please read the above book and educate yourself. Ask yourself - why do I believe that? Who taught me to believe that? What was their education and background and authority to do so? Could they have been biased? And, if you still want to say that our LGBTQ friends are going to hell, please stop using the Bible as your defense. Admit that it is you and your own prejudices that believe this and don't use the Bible as your weapon - it was never written for this purpose. As I mentioned above, it is important how the Bible was translated and by whom. Some versions are translated straight from Greek/Hebrew and others are translated from other English productions (like the KJV). Sadly, there is a lot wrong with the KJV - the main thing being that the 46 scholars that were picked to translate the Bible were not all Biblical scholars and that they didn't have a lot of the original manuscripts available to us now (in fact there are some parts where scholars had to "make guesses" as to what the original Bible said). They also had a political agenda for their king. Compare that to the NRSV (CE - current edition) that was translated from the original manuscripts by Biblical scholars and theologians.
And once you're educated, please look at your church and denomination. There are hundreds of hate groups out there against LGBTQ+ and I took a look at some of the biggest ones. Of the top 20 I looked at, 18 were run by churches, self-professed Christians, or entire denominations. Hurts to hear doesn't it? Many of these hate groups actively promote discrimination against gays - not serving them, charging them extra, banning them, taxing them extra, etc. A couple were even cited for promoting and inciting violence. And all of this is based on 6 verses in the Bible that they have interpreted to fit their agenda...instead of becoming educated on their own and learning what they actually mean. Is it any wonder so many young people are leaving the church?
Be an educated Christian.
May God bless ALL of you <3
