Gay clergy - what are we doing?!
Very telling juxtaposition on the Faith pages of the Times this Saturday. Top of the page, Rev Dr Geoffrey Rowell on the Bible: 'the scriptures are normative for testing new teaching both normative and ethical'. I do agree. But directly below, Rev Richard Haggis is busy defending gay clergy and suggesting we put the matter to a vote of local lay members of the C of E.
Are we mad?
Can we not read the Bible, in which God tells us, in no uncertain terms, and through different people, centuries apart, that he finds the practice of homosexuality detestable? Not the people, let's be clear, but what they practice.
Do we not understand who the Church is? The bride of Christ, pure and holy. We are made for Jesus. Our highest calling is to worship Him and glorify Him. What right do we have to say that things are OK when He says they are not?
We are called to love and honour God. Number 1. And then we are called to love the people He has created and loves more than life itself. But we are not called to become like those who don't yet know God - if we do, then really we have nothing to offer them that they could not find elsewhere.
Let's honour God and let His light shine...
3 comments:
Dear Difference,
'the righteous shall live by faith'. Those whom God has justified are brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever their sexual orientation; given that there is increasing evidence that homosexual orientation is at least in part due to genetic and pre-natal development, and the lengthy struggles many gay christians have had trying to reconcile their faith and their sexuality, perhaps a little more compassion and a little less bigotry is called for. May I refer you to www.courage.org.uk.
Genetic and pre-natal development may well be a factor in determining sexual preferences. However, we are told that genetic and pre-natal development are also involved in, for instance, violent tendencies. That is no more an excuse for murder or paedophilia than poor mental health should be for acts of terrorism, despite how the case of Exeter's Islamist was recently reported.
Bigotry is, of course, always wrong. But so is compassion without honesty. We all struggle with sin. As is written in Romans 7: 'I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.' Anyone who says otherwise has failed to understand the good news of God's undeserved grace.
people don't decide to be gay because they've run out of marmite.
you can be a violent person, but violence itself is a choice.
homosexual attraction is not a choice and just is
the bible wasn't written by god, and so says as much about god as harry potter.
just because you don't like gay people doesn't mean you can abuse them and hide behind religion.
ps the bible also tells us not to wear clothes made from 2 materials or more.
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