Considering Climate

No, this is not about climate change.

This is about a different kind of climate change. This is about the current climate in churches regarding homosexuality. Peter Hubbard is not only concerned about how individual Christians interact with homosexuals, but how congregations interact with, talk about and treat homosexuals. As a result, there as a chapter in Love Into Light: The Gospel, the Homosexual and the Church called Climate.

He begins by building a good analogy. In Revelation Jesus is revealed as the Lion who is a Lamb. He is a King as well as a Priest who sacrifices Himself. There is both strength and tenderness, righteousness and compassion. The Church is intended to reflect His glory and His character. Churches are tempted to focus on only one side of Christ and present a false face to the world, and homosexuals about who Christ is and what He thinks about them.

“When we talk as if homosexuals do not belong in the church, we misrepresent the gospel in at least three ways: “We are not sinners, you are,” “Sin comes in acceptable forms and unacceptable forms,” and “You will belong here only after you get your act together.” Each of these assumptions denies the power and process of the grace of Christ for real and lasting change.”

As an example of a “church” (and I use this term quite loosely) that is fixated on Christ as Lion, Hubbard gives Westboro Baptist Church. They stress the righteousness and justice of God, rightly calling sin sin. But they have no gospel (which is why I use the term church loosely). They think they have the ministry of condemnation, when we’ve actually been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5).

This kind of church, or Christian, focuses on the sinfulness side of things. There is an “us vs. them” mentality as though all homosexuals were militant activists seeking to destroy the Church. He recalls a time when a guest began to talk about homosexuals using stereotypes as though he’d get some laughs. He didn’t. This kind of church likes using the labels to ostracize people, keep them out because we don’t like “them.”

As an example of a “church” fixated on Christ as Lamb, he gives Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco. This kind of church welcomes the homosexual but does not recognize the sinfulness of homosexuality and call people to repentance. Because they have lost a proper understanding of sin, they too lose sight of the gospel by offering unconditional acceptance. “Repent and believe” are no longer gospel responses in keeping with Scripture.

Most churches aren’t at the extremes (at least most of the time). They just prefer to remain silent. In the larger cultural climate I can understand. Former football player and college football analyst Craig James was recently hired by a division of Fox Sports. A week later he was fired as the Fox Sports national took exception to comments he made regarding homosexuality and gay marriage while running for the U.S. Senate over a year earlier. He was speaking to a political issue, publicly (so this should not have been a surprise to anyone). He was affirming homosexuality as a sin, but one with which they were answerable to God (not the State or individuals). His views were judged intolerant by those wanting to be tolerant and he was fired for something that had nothing to do with his job. We see churches in other countries beginning to be attacked for holding the views the Church has held for over 2,000 (actually closer to 4,000 since we are sons of Abraham) years.

I’ve been similarly judged for intolerance when challenging someone’s analogy regarding those who ate at Chick-fil-a as like those who sided with Hitler. Sadly, the free exchange of opinions in rational discourse (not yell and name calling) is being extinguished if you hold the wrong “opinion”. The climate of the church should be different from the climate of the surrounding culture in how we treat people who disagree.

That silence is just not acceptable. Most often, the Scriptures address sin within the community of faith. Sometimes they address sins “out there” in the unbelieving community. My task as a pastor is to focus on the sin “in here” and not “out there.” The fact is, there are some “in here” that struggle with SSA. That is what many pastors just simply don’t get. I’ve only had one congregant in over 15 years of ministry confess SSA to me. Surely they were not to only one to struggle with this. There are people in our pews that struggle with this and we either fail to address it, mock it or minimize it. What we are failing to do is bring the gospel to bear on it.

“Fake love minimizes the difference between evil and good.”

How pastors speak about homosexuality will help reinforce or help change the church climate regarding homosexuality. Pastors should want to create a biblical climate where the sinfulness of homosexuality and the pardoning and purifying grace of Jesus Christ are all upheld. We need to emphasize the greatness of grace over the greatness of sin. We want to speak compassionately toward those who struggle with this sin as we would any other sin. We want to create a church culture in which repenting sinners are treated with compassion, tenderness and grace even as we firmly assert to the sinfulness of all their sins, not just that one.

This means we neither ignore this sin or harp on this sin. This is why I don’t do topical preaching- I preach through books or sections of the Scriptures. When it arises either explicitly or implicitly (discussions of sexual immorality) in the text we should address it and other sins found there. We should then discuss those sins in light of the cross of Christ and the doctrines of justification and sanctification.

Our churches will become healthier, and more biblical. We will be participating in the ministry of reconciliation instead of either condemnation or unconditional acceptance. Most of our churches need this climate change.