Sticking out my neck and heart

I’ve stuck my neck out again.  An editorial on welcoming gays and lesbians into the church appears in Sunday's Courier-Journal.  As the primary author, my name appears first, along with four other local pastors who weighed in on the content and put their names and ministries on the line with me.

Of course, I hope I have the support of the church.  I’m not asking for agreement; rather, I ask for understanding as I live into my call as your pastor, part of which is to be a religious leader in our city.

Sometimes a leader has to speak publicly the truth as he/she sees it, regardless of the consequences.  After sitting on this editorial for several weeks I believe now is such a time.  The front-page discussion of gays and lesbians in the military; the appeal of California’s Proposition 8 to the U.S. Supreme Court; other local religious leaders championing positions that, in my opinion, make gays and lesbians second class citizens; hearing people employ a faulty hermeneutic on the Bible I love; and perhaps most of all, my relationship with church members who are gay and whose devotion to God and to Jesus’ self-giving way of love touch me deeply-- all these converge in chorus to sing “now is the time to bear witness to your understanding of the gospel as it relates to gays and lesbians.”

So I’ve done it.  I’ve “outed” myself as a welcomer of gays and lesbians, perhaps not a well-kept secret.  And in a sense I’ve “outed” Highland, though I went to lengths to say that these were the personal positions of the clergy who signed, and not necessarily those of everyone in our churches.  

I also went to lengths to say clearly that those who disagree with the position espoused are not hateful, mean-spirited people.  Some of my colleagues lobbied to remove these lines.  They know some meanies, as do I.  One of them even has the last name of Phelps (no relation, thanks be to God)!   It is important to me, however, that the common ground shared with those with whom we disagree is named and celebrated.  God is not glorified when the church fights and calls names.  

At the same time, neither is God glorified if we remain silent in the face of injustice for fear of troubling the waters.  Sometimes you have to speak up.

Some might wonder if staking a position on welcoming gays and lesbians should be a front-burner issue in light of all the many needs for God’s love in the world today.  For example, compared to the primal needs of Haitians is this something we should be talking about now?

Maybe not.  And yet, for me they are connected.  The lives of Haitians matter because all of God’s children matter.  That includes God’s gay and lesbian children.  They matter too.  And to use a saying oft-quoted to suggest we don’t need to worry so much about others-- “Charity begins at home”-- I would say “Justice also begins at home,” “Valuing people begins at home.”  Everybody matters.  Maybe if we begin to apply this to our nearby neighbors we can do the same to those farther away.

Gay and lesbian Christians know first-hand the importance of living into the truth that everybody matters.  Maybe that’s why the folks I know personally who are deeply invested in the rescue of Haitians include a good many who happen to be gay and lesbian.