Inevitably I am always asked what I think about homosexuality. I hate this question because it is not really about the answer: It is about me. The person asking the question is trying, whether consciously or not, to place me into one of two categories. If I were to say that I am against homosexuality, I would be judged a crazy conservative Jesus freak. If I were to say that I am not against homosexuality, then I would be deemed a little weird for being a Christian but one that you are able to have an intelligent conversation with. With the question of homosexuality, I am judged either way.
But as much as I hate the question, it is an important one. Homosexuality has come to be a cause of great division within the Christian world, notably in the Anglican Church. But to most people’s dismay, I cannot give them a definitive answer. I have such complicated feelings and the issue itself is so complex that I cannot give a simple agree or disagree answer. But what I can say with certainty is that the church as a whole has dealt terribly with the issue. Instead of acting with compassion towards homosexuals, we have often times cast them out. Many people in the church have treated homosexuals with judgment, malice and hate. South Africa’s former bishop Desmund Tutu gives a clear response to these actions:
“I could not for any part of me be able to keep quiet, because people were being penalized, ostracized, treated as if they were less than human, because of something they could not change- their sexual orientation. For me, I can’t imagine the Lord that I worship, this Jesus Christ, actually concurring with the persecution of a minority that is already being persecuted. The Jesus who I worship is a Jesus who was forever on the side of those [who] were being clobbered.”
Through out much of the Newer Testament, Jesus’ language is filled with the desire to reach out to the outcasts of society. Jesus talks of rejoicing in finding the lost coin, the one sheep that is not in the pen, and the return of the Prodigal Son. Jesus was mocked by the religious leaders of his day because he dined with tax collectors and prostitutes, some of the most hated people in Jewish society. His life and words are a testament to searching out the forgotten and powerless. The Hebrew Testament even tells us that God “defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger”. As Christians, we must strive to do the same. We must always be for the immigrant, the slave, the homeless, the orphan, and the widow. We must be for the drug addict, the prostitute, the refugee, and the persecuted. We must be for the transgender and the homosexual. The Christian community is always open to those rejected and hated by worldly societies. If we are not open to everyone, including homosexuals, than we are not truly following Christ’s message of love and radical inclusion.
To a much much much MUCH lesser extent, I feel that I am being judged whenever someone asks me what type of music I listen to. Seriously though, I do have that same problem with abortion. I honestly don’t have an answer for that one, so much to take in from both sides. In such situations, where the person clearly just wants to judge you and not hear your reasoning for what should be a deep and complex question (they will say you are stalling or waffling), I just usually give a non sequitur and change the subject/walk away.
I know exactly what you mean. People in general are bad about that. We put so much emphasis on our own thoughts, beliefs, and definitions that we don’t even listen sometimes when we ask others opinions. it is something that the human race can improve upon. The best leaders, the best people, are good listeners. It takes a lot more energy to thoughtfully listen than to just speak your mind.