Evangelical and LGBT+ Ally: Why You Can’t Be Both
As Christians have been pointing out for more than 2,000 years, the reason Jesus never mentioned homosexuality is that his views on sexuality were already so clear that it wasn’t necessary…serious-minded people didn’t argue that Jesus would endorse homosexual relationships, much less same-sex marriage.
“Some words, like strategic castles, are worth defending, and evangelical is among them,” Michael Gerson wrote. “While the term is notoriously difficult to define, it certainly encompasses a ‘born-again’ religious experience, a commitment to the authority of the Bible, and an emphasis on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.”
Gerson wrote those words in an article for The Atlantic in 2018. He ends his essay by saying, “This sets an urgent task for evangelicals: to rescue their faith from its worst leaders.”
Gerson, who previously served as a top aide and speechwriter for George W. Bush and is the author of Heroic Conservatism and coauthor of City of Man (a book edited by Collin Hansen and Tim Keller), has been an evangelical voice in the public square. It’s unfortunate, then, that he now uses arguments about sexuality that contradict Scripture and the church’s historic witness. As he notes, being an evangelical means being committed to the Bible’s authority—a position he seems to have now abandoned.
Has the LGBT+ Movement Harmed Anyone?
During Pride Month, Gerson used his forum in The Washington Post to write about “how the gay rights movement found such stunning success.” The article’s key thesis is that “in the conflict over gay rights, supporters have asserted a compelling view of human dignity, while opponents have struggled to explain how broadening rights harms others.” To support his claim, Gerson provides three examples.
For his first example, Gerson writes, “Some conservatives claimed that gay marriage would somehow weaken the institution of straight marriage. But the evidence that same-sex marriage increases rates of divorce, child poverty or children living in single-parent homes appears nonexistent.” His criteria reveals that he never truly understood the argument for how heterosexual marriages would be weakened by same-sex marriage.
Consider, for example, the issue of the redefinition of marriage. For almost all of human history, marriage has been considered the comprehensive union of man and woman that unites them for the purposes of procreation, family life, and domestic sharing. By simply redefining the term, it automatically devalued the institution.
If Gerson is looking for a more direct harm, he could look at the rise of nonmonogamous relationships. As I wrote nine years ago, being “monogamish” (i.e., when a couple is emotionally intimate only with each other yet engages in sexual infidelities or group sexual activity) has long been considered acceptable, even normative, within homosexual communities. As our nation embraces the acceptance of same-sex marriage, the idea that fidelity isn’t required within marriage has also been increasingly accepted.
A poll taken in 2021 found that the generation of adults most influenced by LGBT+ culture is adopting this view of fidelity. Four in 10 millennials (41 percent) said they’d be interested in having an open relationship. Among millennials who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or other, 52 percent would be interested in open relationships. Among married couples from every generation, 30 percent of husbands would be interested, while fewer wives (21 percent) feel similarly.
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Where was God When the Edmund Fitzgerald Sank?
When we consider the love of God, we must first understand who God is and who we are. God is holy, and in establishing His covenant with the people of Israel, He communicated His character and expectations. God stated, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). However, humanity falls short of this holiness. Scripture affirms, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10), and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God, being just and upright, has the authority to condemn the guilty and send them to hell. He will “render to each one according to his works” (Romans 2:6).
The Tragic Shipwreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
Over the last several hundred years there have been about six thousand shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, but one wreck stands out among the rest—the Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 10, 1975, this ship sank on the eastern part of Lake Superior during one of the largest storms ever recorded on North America’s largest lake. All twenty-nine crew members, including Captain Ernest McSorley, tragically lost their lives. With winds howling at one hundred mph and thirty-foot waves crashing against the ship, the sheer power of nature was on full display. The exact cause of the ship’s sinking remains unknown, but its eerie remains rest five hundred feet below the surface approximately twenty miles north of Whitefish Point.
Remembering the Tragedy Through Song
The Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck holds a special place in people’s memory, in part because of Canadian singer and songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot read about the tragedy in the newspaper and was deeply moved. He composed a song that vividly describes the events of that fateful night. His lyrics raise a profound question: “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” Lightfoot’s question resonates with the common inquiry that arises in times of tragedy: Where was God during the storm? How could a ship full of men, with so much life ahead of them, meet such a fate? Similar questions have been asked by others, like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who have raised doubts about the love of God in the face of suffering and eternal damnation.
Understanding God’s Character and Humanity’s Condition
To answer these weighty questions correctly, it is crucial to start with the right foundation. When we consider the love of God, we must first understand who God is and who we are. God is holy, and in establishing His covenant with the people of Israel, He communicated His character and expectations. God stated, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). However, humanity falls short of this holiness.
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The Verdict
I’ve reflected on my first words after being shot and not being able to talk for 2 months. These words seem very appropriate now, “Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus, sweet sweet Jesus.” While the road to recovery continues, today’s verdict gives us a sense of peace. We have found solace in God’s faithfulness and His mercies which are new every morning.
As many of our followers on Gentle Reformation will know, two years ago this month our son-in-law, Tommy, was shot in the line of duty in his third week on the job as an officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD). We have chronicled the journey the Lord has taken Tommy and Emory on with the following posts.
Abiding in the Almighty’s Shadow | Emory recounting the night of the shooting
Continuing to Abide in the Almighty’s Shadow | A six-month update that includes local Indy newscasts. This link is of Emory reading Psalm 91 on air.
Shattered | Emory’s article on the first anniversary after the shooting
WRTV Article | This article gives details of the trial this month with a video news report
3GT Interview | An episode where you hear Tommy & Emory explain their journey
Last week on February 13-15, the trial was held for the man who shot Tommy. The courtroom scene was intense, especially because this man chose to represent himself, took no responsibility for his actions, made terrible lies and accusations against those involved in this case, and was able to directly examine Tommy.
Yet, after a relatively brief time of deliberation, the jurors brought back guilty verdicts for all nine counts against him, including two counts of attempted murder against Tommy and the officer credited with saving Tommy’s life. We rejoice over this display of justice.
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When MAID goes to Church
Written by Ewan C. Goligher |
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Although faithful Christians know that “to depart and be with Christ is far better”, we patiently choose to remain until our work on earth is done and our Lord calls us home. Glory awaits those who wait patiently.I was recently taken aback to read that medical assistance-in-dying (MAID) was performed in a church in Manitoba. MAID, more properly referred to as physician-assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia, is the act of deliberately causing the patient’s death upon their considered request. Since it was legalized in 2016, the frequency of death by MAID has grown rapidly as Canadian society becomes more aware of and accustomed to the procedure. Eligibility for MAID continues to expand; adults with disabilities are eligible to have their lives ended, even if they are not dying, and we may soon see death being offered to those struggling with mental illness and to children.
Those who are persuaded that ending the patient is an effective and appropriate intervention for serious suffering will be hard pressed to find a form of suffering for which MAID is not an appropriate consideration.
To read of MAID being performed in a church, though, seems to elevate it to a whole new level of acceptance and celebration. Family and friends were present to give their love and goodbyes. They sang a hymn together and the grandchildren sang for their grandmother one last time. Death was faced and embraced. They called it a “crossing over” ceremony, a hopeful term portent with anticipation of continued existence beyond this life.
In some ways, this all sounds very Christian, and it raises important questions for Christians who are contemplating death. If church is the place where we worship our Maker, might it not also be a good place to choose to meet our Maker? Can faithful Christians “baptize” MAID to make it an act of religious worship in the house of God? At the very least, can we accept that MAID might be permissible for some Christians, a matter of indifference and personal choice?
We cannot. Beneath a veneer of compassion and respect, and despite the sincere intentions of those involved, MAID constitutes a profound violation of human dignity and value and an affront to the high status granted to us by our Creator. It’s easy to forget this when our culture seems to wholeheartedly embrace MAID as moral progress. So must we remind ourselves of the true nature and depth of human value.
For a start, we must remind ourselves of the distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic human value. Extrinsic value derives from what you can do, whereas intrinsic value derives simply from who you are. Extrinsic value depends on your usefulness, whereas intrinsic value is unconditional. Things that we can buy or sell have extrinsic value; things with intrinsic value are priceless. With this distinction in mind, we may consider some reasons why faithful Christians and faithful churches cannot opt for MAID.
First, Christianity affirms the intrinsic value of the human person but the practice of MAID denies it.
As creatures formed in the “image and likeness of God”, we are “crowned with glory and honour” and made “ruler over the works of [God’s] hands.” Our value is so profound that God is intimately and directly aware of us and our needs (“even the hairs of your head are all numbered”) and, shockingly, He gave his only Son in order to redeem us. If love is “value in action”, then behold what love and behold what value Gods find in us! And all this love comes to us unconditionally, irrespective of our abilities. Indeed, this love comes to us in spite of our lack of usefulness to God, our failure and inability to adequately worship and glorify him. The gospel reminds us that we have deep, incalculable, inherent, and intrinsic value.
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