'You Can’t Be Gay and Christian'

It all started in a coffee shop in Dallas, Texas, in June 2018.

Fourteen men — most of them prominent leaders of evangelical organizations— gathered around a table in Herb’s House where, over coffee and cake, they bemoaned the infiltration of certain secular values into the church:

“There is talk of radical acceptance of sexual minorities and gender equality in the church,” Said one in hushed tones, and then, leaning forward: “Why, some in the church are even taking ownership of their complicity in white supremacy and colonialism and have given thought to apologizing.”

“It has to stop!” Cried another, “This is an onslaught of dangerous and false teaching that threatens the gospel, misrepresents Scripture, and leads people away from the grace of God in Jesus Christ!”

The men nodded gravely.

“You know what the church needs?” Said another. “The church needs us to set them straight!”

And so it was agreed. These self-appointed defenders of the ‘truth’ set about creating a statement to clarify the correct position that the church ought to take on certain Christian doctrines and ethical principles — according to them at least.

Specifically, they sought to rebuff the secular values that the modern church, in a wayward meander down the path of Biblical heresy, had borrowed from society in the areas of race and ethnicity, manhood, and womanhood, and human sexuality.

“Clarity on these issues,” They said, “Will fortify believers and enable churches to stand against these dangerous false teachings.”

Answers to the questions no one was asking

Subsequently, to great fanfare, they released The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel on a dedicated website, signed with great importance, by the fourteen men who had made it their mission to save Christianity from the evils of the social justice movement. 16,000 others have since added their signatures to the statement — the majority of them men.

Even though no one was really asking for clarification, this statement literally lays down the law about what is apparently acceptable and not acceptable for good evangelical Christians. If you want to take the time to read it, I promise you will find it polarizing in the extreme.

I don’t have time to unpack it all, but here are some of the most controversial lines in the statement:

In a section on “Sexuality and Marriage,” the statement says, “We reject ‘gay Christian’ as a legitimate biblical category.”

In a section dedicated to clarifying the “biblical” view of gender roles, they write, “In marriage, the husband is to lead, love, and safeguard his wife, and the wife is to respect and be submissive to her husband in all things lawful. In the church, qualified men alone are to lead as pastors/elders/bishops and preach to and teach the whole congregation.”

Is it any wonder that not too many women have signed the statement?

When discussing race, the signers say, “We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression.”

They also say about racism, oppression, and injustice: “We emphatically deny that lectures on social issues (or activism aimed at reshaping the wider culture) are as vital to the life and health of the church as the preaching of the gospel and the exposition of Scripture.”

In other words, “What does advocating for social change have to do with the church?? Nothing!”

Finally, in a section on culture, the signatories state, “We affirm that some cultures operate on assumptions that are inherently better than those of other cultures because of the biblical truths that inform those worldviews that have produced these distinct assumptions.”

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

An anti-social justice statement

You’re probably picking up my vibe. I’m not impressed. In fact, I am angry.

Why?

To begin with, the fact these men refer to their statement as a statement on social justice and the gospel is a misnomer of the highest order. This statement contains little by way of either social justice or the Gospel.

Aside from that, I could probably write a book about all of my objections to certain things written in this statement. However, here are a few for starters:

It demonizes homosexuality… again!

Let’s start with the statement that forms the headline of this article: “We reject ‘gay Christian’ as a legitimate biblical category.”

In other words, you can’t be gay and a Christian.

What is with the evangelical obsession with policing the private sex lives of those who are just as likely not to want anything to do with the church? And even if they did want something to do with this church, this statement makes it clear that according to the white, heterosexual gentlemen’s club that penned the statement, they are not welcome.

Thankfully, not every Christian thinks this way but, even so, it does nothing to change public perception of Christians as anti-gay. In fact, a study by the Barna Group conducted among 16–29 year-olds asked non-Christians about their perception of Christians. The study explored twenty specific images related to Christianity, including ten favorable and ten unfavorable perceptions. Among young non-Christians, 9 out of the top ten perceptions were negative. 87% of those surveyed said Christians were judgmental, 85% said Christians were hypocritical, and 78% said Christians were out of touch. And today, the most common perception of Christians among non-believers is that Christians are anti-gay, with 91% of non-Christians saying they believe that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards homosexuals and make homosexuality a bigger sin than anything else.

That’s assuming that you believe it is a sin.

For argument’s sake, though, let’s presume for a moment that same-sex relationships are a sin (though I’m not convinced the Bible does that). Why do these men go to the trouble of highlighting the apparent ‘sinfulness’ of homosexuality above all other sins? They say that “‘gay Christian’ is an illegitimate Biblical category,” but what about “dishonest Christian,” or “self-righteous Christian” or “unloving Christian?”

These other ‘sins’ don’t exclude someone from the family of God, apparently. But when it comes to human sexuality — which is not a conscious choice on the part of an individual — these men want to draw a line in the sand. This is nothing more than homophobia masquerading as spiritual zeal.

It seeks to preserve the patriarchy

‘The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel’ not only demonizes the LGBTIQ+ community but also seeks to reestablish patriarchy and the cultural dominance of white, protestant American men while demeaning the voice of women and other minorities who the dominant culture has historically marginalized.

They say: “In marriage, the husband is to lead, love, and safeguard his wife, and the wife is to respect and be submissive to her husband in all things lawful. In the church, qualified men alone are to lead as pastors/elders/bishops and preach to and teach the whole congregation.”

The idea that God would somehow ascribe the same intrinsic value to both genders but then establish and ordain a system where one gender has an apparent ontological need to be led decided for, directed by, and subject to the other is thoroughly laughable. Only men would be capable of creating such a system — a power and control ideology that amounts to nothing more than sexism.

It’s the kind of idea that a group of aging white men would come up with when they sit around a table, drinking coffee and complaining about their loss of power, prestige, and heretofore unquestioned authority to tell others what to believe.

Jesus would never have attended such a gathering — nor would he have even been invited.

How do I know?

Because Jesus’s own inner circle consisted of many women as well — a ground-breaking and counter-cultural advancement in its day. Moreover, the early church was full of faithful and influential female leaders — women like Phoebe, Chloe, Junia, Lydia, Eudia, Syntyche, Susanna, and Priscilla. Ever heard a sermon on any of these women?
Me neither, but that’s hardly surprising, is it?

Churchmen in positions of power conveniently overlook the fact that in the Bible, women direct armies, defeat prominent enemies, save communities from genocide, give birth to God, fund Jesus’ ministry, sit at his feet as disciples, and are the first witnesses and preachers of the resurrection. They are church founders and leaders, prophets and apostles. Women are co-laborers with God and men and image-bearers of God who are meant to participate in God’s work in the church and the world.

Image by Photoboyko on iStock (purchased with license)

It marginalizes Christians who want to talk about race and gender

Consider these two lines from the statement:

“We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression.”

“We emphatically deny that lectures on social issues (or activism aimed at reshaping the wider culture) are as vital to the life and health of the church as the preaching of the gospel and the exposition of Scripture.”

These statements basically demonize anybody who wishes to challenge the church on its track record concerning issues like gender and race. It represents a toxic agenda to discredit and undermine godly men and women crying out for biblical social justice, national and church repentance, and meaningful reconciliation.

It’s akin to saying, “You want to lecture us about our track record on issues of social justice?!! Well… we aren’t interested, and we don’t want to hear it.”

They seem to forget that Jesus’s mission was to break the chains of oppression and proclaim liberty to the downtrodden (Luke 4:18). This brings me to my next point.

It minimizes the teachings of Jesus

‘The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel’ reduces the gospel of Jesus Christianity down to a bunch of theological categories and propositions while ignoring or minimizing the teachings and character of Jesus himself.

Once again, orthodoxy — believing the right things — is elevated to God-like status to the neglect of orthopraxy — that is, doing the right things. What is Christianity really about? Believing or doing? Well, it’s about both, but not to the exclusion of the other. Therefore, social action must be part of a Christian’s faith, just as it was part of Jesus’s life.

But, this statement is only a statement of what “good Christians” are supposed to believe. And, of course, in fine evangelical style, the authors support all of their stated positions with the authority of scripture. In fact, they use over 110 different scripture references throughout to back up their conclusions.

Only five of them are from Jesus — less than 5%.

The truth is that the “Jesus Christ” that the statement has in mind consists mainly of a particular understanding of the Apostle Paul’s interpretation of the work of Christ, and does not include either the words and actions concerning Jesus as recorded in the Gospels or the words of Jesus himself.

It elevates the “Christian” nation

On a section on culture, the signatories state, “We affirm that some cultures operate on assumptions that are inherently better than those of other cultures because of the biblical truths that inform those worldviews that have produced these distinct assumptions.”

Let me translate that for you: nations and cultures that operate on Christian principles — as defined by us — are superior.

The leap from this statement to radical Christian nationalism is not a big one at all. Are other nations inferior because they follow a different way, or believe different things, or chose to align with a different way of living and being?

The Christian nationalist says, “Yes, and it’s our God-given job to show them that!” because when you suppose that your way is God’s way, then you must do what you can to impose that ‘way’ on the rest of the world.

But the idea that your way is the one true way is actually the spirit behind colonialism, racism, sexism, elitism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and any other kind of prejudice you’d care to name. It is only when you believe that all people are God’s people that you can truly embrace all people in the same way God does.

You don’t have to be a genius to see that the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel understands the cultural assumptions of white Americans to be better than those of other groups.

Image by laura.h on Shutterstock (purchased with license)

It neglects a million shades of grey

This statement is yet another example of the black and white thinking that permeates and pervades the evangelical church. You are either for us, or you’re against us!

“Will you sign our statement? No? How can you call yourself a Christian!”

The kind of thinking that reduces everything down to just two options where one is the right way and one is the wrong way is known as dualism. Dualism is essentially binary, either/or thinking. It knows, by comparison, opposition, and differentiation. It uses descriptive words like good/evil, black/white, in/out, not realizing there may be a hundred degrees between the two ends of each spectrum.

Dualistic thinking works well for the sake of simplification and conversation, but not for the sake of truth or the immense subtlety of actual personal experience. Or, to put it simply, this kind of thinking takes no account of the individual person, which is exactly the opposite approach to that of Jesus Christ.

We are the victims here, guys!

“The forces of evil are on the march against the church! We must stand and fight against it! We are the good guys here!”

That is the impression that one gets when one reads The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel. The signatories make it out like theirs is a noble sacrifice and consider anyone who disagrees with the statement — people like me — as nothing more than persecutors.

“Jesus was persecuted and rejected,” They imply, “So we are in good company.”

But who was Jesus persecuted and rejected by? It certainly wasn’t the common people. Rather, it was the religious leaders who rejected and persecuted Jesus and ultimately had him killed. And, why were they so determined to destroy Jesus?

Because Jesus stood so strongly against the way they burdened people with religious laws and doctrines that were peripheral.

Sound familiar?

The one thing the statement gets right

Credit where credit is due.

There are a few things that the statement gets right — although they are lost in the din of thinly veiled sexism, racism, and elitism. But, it’s there if you look close enough. For example:

We affirm that God created every person equally in his own image. As divine image-bearers, all people have inestimable value and dignity before God and deserve honor, respect, and protection. Everyone has been created by God and for God.

Spot on!

However, the fact of the matter is that much of the rest of the statement sets about propping up the boundary fences that define who is “in” and who is “out.” On the one hand, they say we all have equal value, and then, on the other, they try to justify their view that some genders, cultures are races have greater value and deserve greater honor.

It’s a sham!

At the end of the day, The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel is not about either social justice or the gospel. It is actually about power — and who has it.

The evangelical movement has long been controlled by white men who seem to have a particular fondness for producing statements to protect their ideological borders. And, as the church, we cooperated with them by looking to them to define for us what we should believe.

But things are changing.

Now, we are finally asking who gets to decide and define for us what is “biblical” — and why, and what is their agenda? It’s a terrifying prospect for those who were once on the top of the religious pile.

Suddenly they don’t have a monopoly on the ‘truth.’ Christ is revealing himself to all kinds of people, in all kinds of ways, through all kinds of means, using all kinds of voices.

“The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the family of Israel and with the family of Judah. In the future, I will make this agreement: I will put my teachings in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. People will not have to teach others to know the Lord, because all people, from the least important to the most important, will know me for themselves.”(Jeremiah 31)

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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