By Theresa D. McClellan
So a recent response to a billboard outreach to the gay community by a Toledo church has prompted another church leader to erect nine billboards stating, "Gay Is Not a Gift"
The message is that "no one would choose this."
Often I hear lesbian,gay,bi-sexual,transgender (LGBT) and heterosexual people say; why would anyone choose to be hated and demeaned?
When actually the question should be, why would anyone choose to demean, diminish and dishonor any of God's creation; especially in the name of God?
For me, gay is definitely a gift. It is one of the many gifts God has blessed me with and that I have CHOSEN to embrace. It wasn't always so. Societal pressures, media messages, even messages from some pulpits, leave no doubt that fully embracing all that God has made you to be is not ok if you do not conform to expectations of masculine and feminine.
The fallout from this pastor's message will have some - who already wonder and question why they are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender, feeling unsure and unsafe.
But that is why there are allies, LGBTQ organizations and a continuously growing number of safe places of worship where people can explore how to be all that God has meant them to be.
As the Faith Advocacy Coordinator for the "Gay Christian? Yes!" Campaign under GIFT (GaysInFaithTogether.org) it humbles and pleases me to see the collaborative efforts here in Grand Rapids for the upcoming Oct. 11 National Coming-Out Day Service at St. John's United Church of Christ, 1934 Bridge St. NW.
With Scriptures that salve and a meaningful message from the Rev. Dr. Randal Jelks, this 7 p.m. Tuesday night service will hopefully heal wounds and open doors.
With powerful music from the West Michigan Gay Men's Chorus, poignant messages from those who have made the journey out of the closet and an original gospel song celebrating and affirming all of God's children, this worship service will prayerfully help answer the question, "Is Gay a Gift?
The answer is a resounding Yes! Gay is a gift. So is being heterosexual or however God made you. There are no mistakes.
After the Tuesday night service, visitors will be able to come downstairs for a dessert reception where we will fellowship with one another. There are more than two dozen churches on GIFT's ever-growing list of gay-friendly churches.
We are getting responses daily of their intent to be represented at the service with tables of information, sermons, adult-education programs, support.
My prayer is that those here in Grand Rapids who have been shamed and demeaned because of who they are, will realize they are not alone.
My prayer for Toledo, and the rest of the world, is that those who have been hurt because of how they are made will not drive by and see harsh words condemning them. They will look up in their community, whereever they are, and see hope.
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Theresa, a wonderful statement. Thank you. Of course, you're right that we should all be grateful for how we have been created. For every one of us, gay and straight, our sexuality and experience of love and joy and pleasure and connection with other people is an inextricable part of our vocation to be who we really are. AND I think there's so much more to say too. Being gay is a gift not just because it is a fulfillment of biological and personal destiny, but because it really does give a new vantage point on life and human purpose. Being outsiders to the normal life of most people we necessarily see things they don't see; we can understand the nature of religion and experience God in a different way. Gay people's lives are really blessed by our opportunities to do useful and serviceable work. Our lives are happier. We're potentially wonderfully emotionally fulfilled. The Masters & Johnson sexual experience studies years ago showed gay people had better sex. In my own 27 years of a stable and loving relationship, I've seen that gay people are very good at being loving and kind and understanding. I think being gay is a gift cause it means you've drawn the long, winning straw in this lifetime!
ReplyDeleteToby Johnson
(I'm author of a book titled Gay Perspective: Things our [homo]sexuality tells us about the nature of God and the Universe.)
Excellent post Toby. Where can we find your book? Will you be attending the Coming Out Day Service here?
ReplyDeleteWhether you take the position that being gay is a gift from God or not is to assume that you know the mind of God. For that, you need a source. I can't speak for anyone else hear, but as a Christian, my source is the Holy Bible. The Apostle Paul, who was converted by the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, wrote in the New Testament through the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the topic of homosexuality:
ReplyDelete"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." - Romans 1:26-27
The Apostle Paul also confirms that marriage is meant to be between a man & woman only (1 Corinthians 7:2-16; Ephesians 5:23-33). The most loving thing we can do for the homosexual, bisexual, transgender community to lead them to the loving arms of Christ, is to teach them the truth of what God believed through His Son & His Holy Word. We are not doing the gay community any favors by teaching them a lie. As our Savior said, "the Truth will set you free." Believe in Jesus!
Blessings to you "anonymous" and thank you for your Scripture readings. As a Christian, a lesbian, and follower of Christ who prays daily and communes with God and the Holy Spirit, I can tell you Yes! I believe I know the mind and am continually open to the will of God for my life. My belief is based on my Source, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who speak to me through the Holy Bible, through prayer, through my relationship with God and through my understanding that God is Still Speaking.
ReplyDeleteSo when I say to you that gay is a gift, just as being heterosexual or however we are made is a gift, I say this with the awareness that “for every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving” 1 Timothy 4:4
and I thank God daily for all that God has made .
As a follower of Christ, I am also aware that Christ had no words on homosexuality. And Paul’s references were based on rituals and practices that have nothing to do with the loving committed relationships that I know many LGBT couples have today.
I also believe that as Paul is explaining the heart of Christ, in the book of Romans, he finally broke it down to this in explaining the crux of the message of Christ in connection to the commandments, rules and fulfilling laws.
“For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not murder, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, all are summed up in this saying, namely You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law”
Romans 13: 8-10.
So you see Anonymous, my understanding of God is a God of love, who makes no mistakes in all God’s creations. We are all here for a reason. I hope this helps you. Feel free to write again and please identify yourself. I would love to know who is behind the anonymity.
Hi Theresa, you asked about my book. I was editor of White Crane Journal of Gay Men's Spirituality back in the 90s and have two books on the topic of Gay Spirituality: one titled "Gay Spirituality," the other "Gay Perspective." They're part of the White Crane Books Spirituality series and are available from all booksellers, amazon, etc and in digital editions for kindle etc.
ReplyDeleteThere's a huge library of books on gay spirituality and gay religion. The note from anonymous above about Scripture takes the words of that person's bible literally without any understanding of context or meaning. Part of our "Gay Perspective," I think, is the ability to understand the message of religion about loving one's neighbor without getting stuck in the words that were written 2000 years ago. We wouldn't give authority to 2000 year old statements about medicine, science, architecture, biology. We have to modernize religion so it makes sense. And more important so that it teaches love and inclusion.
Theresa's correct that Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality as we know it today. This simply wasn't a concept for the ancients. They lived in a world in which the human race was constantly threatened with extinction and underpopulation for a major problem. Today with rampant overpopulation threatening the human race's very existence and with psychological understanding, we have a different concept of homosexuality altogether. When St Paul is translated talking about homosexuals, it's bound to be a mistranslation.
ReplyDeleteBut what does Jesus say about what we'd now understand to be the lives of homosexually oriented people? In those strange verses in Matthew 19: 10-12, Jesus seems to attribute the reason men wouldn't want to marry to be because they were born that way, because they were castrated or because they chose to be so for the sake of living in the kingdom of heaven. These men were called eunuchs which included the whole range of unmanly men. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.
I think that last sentiment applies to those who oppose homosexuality: let them accept it that some people don't want to marry the opposite sex and raise a family.
Even more interesting though is the description in the Book of Revelations, Chap 14:1-4, of the 144,000 saved. They are described as men who sing a new song that no one else could learn, who have never been married and fathered children and have never been defiled by the touch of woman. They are innocent and they don't lie.
That sure sounds like modern gay men who have developed a new culture out of being openly gay and not being part of traditional heterosexual society.
But, anyway, what clearly is in Scripture and is in the teaching of Jesus is the Golden Rule. And the answer to any kind of gay oppression is always: would you want to be treated that way?