I grew up in the belt buckle of the Bible belt. When I would tell classmates that I was Lutheran, they would look at me for a moment and then ask “Is that Christian?” When I became a pastor, I stayed in the South – moving to some of the most conservative areas in Texas.
All that is to say, the Christianity that I have lived around has always been a Christianity of Exclusion. For the people whom I have served as pastor, this has also been the case.
The Bible is a weapon, used to exclude.
The Church doesn’t want LGBTQ people, unless they change.
Hate-filled language is casually used in church, and called “loving.”
I deeply love Jesus. I am enthralled and inspired by the Bible. God’s presence in my life has been my North Star.
But the God that I know – the Jesus that I encounter – the Bible that love – is not one that excludes and condemns people because of their sexuality.
There seems to exist at this moment two Christianities – and this issue is the dividing line. A Christianity of Exclusion and a Christianity of Affirmation. A Christianity of Judgment and a Christianity of Love.
Take a look around. You will see “conservative” Christians working with other groups who disagree on fundamental theological issues – the Trinity, the person of Jesus Christ – but agree in their condemnation of LGBTQ people. You will see Exclusionary Christians excusing every moral failing – adultery, lying, theft, greed, and more – in order to work with people in limiting the rights of our LGBTQ siblings.
As a pastor my ministry is one of welcome and inclusion, one of affirmation and celebration. Often I have seen the two Christianities pitted against each other in terms of the Bible – the Christianity of Exclusion is “Bible believing” and the Christianity of Affirmation is “cultural Christianity.”
Nothing could be farther from the church.
I affirm my LGBTQ siblings precisely because of what I read the Bible.
It is the words of the Bible and encountering the Risen Lord Jesus that drives me to celebrate the love and lives of my LGBTQ neighbors.
I did not get here by ignoring the Bible.
The Bible has brought me here.
