My Sunday Thought for 07032016: Gays and Christianity Revisited, Yet Again

"The questions is: if a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?"

-- Pope Francis

So, on the question of gay Christians, Pope Francis comments, "The questions is: if a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?" But, Most Holy Father, is not stating they have "that condition," in itself a judgment? Let's be fair, any statement we make can be interpreted as something other than what we intended, but as gracious as His Holiness tries to be, we all know he must, at the end of the day, toe the ecclesiastical line. But, does he? He is certainly a pope of a different "habit."

Once called the "Emergent Movement," these progressive Christians sought to challenge traditional Christian faith and practice. Many assume these folks were a flash in the pan and have quietly faded into the background of mainstream Christianity. We need only look to our current political administrations misinformed arrogance in their analysis of ISIS capabilities, to understand the incompetent mistake of assuming a "religious" group has faded into the background. The big problem I see with disavowing new thought is that it's based in large part on new findings and understandings of scripture. Just because something was misinterpreted during one of many translations between languages which do not directly translate, by a monk with questionable linguistic ability, being supervised by clergy living the good life off the sweat of the faithful (re: hidden agenda), why does it necessarily follow that we must continue to do that which we know is questionable, and possibly heretical? Take "The World Christian Movement" report, as example:

“We have all been aware of the ecumenical drive toward a one-world religion, or at least a global Christianity embracing all expressions of what may pass for faith in Jesus Christ. With this writing, however, I believe we have touched upon the specifics of that ecumenical drive which will fit into the New World Order. The individuals and organizations involved in it are well respected in the churches. And the connections go to the Vatican and even to the United Nations. And while espousing faith in Jesus Christ, the ultimate end of the Movement is to question whether that faith is really necessary after all in determining one’s salvation.”

-- Al Dager on “The World Christian Movement” report

According to the article I read, this report "documents that this movement is twisting scripture, perverting the Great Commission with a “cultural mandate” of political and social action to Christianize the world, and perhaps ultimately preaching a false gospel."  A false gospel?  This ranks right up there with telling me any gospel written by fallible men could ever be construed as the one true Word of God.  And how many books of the Bible do learned scholars now think were written by one apostle, that wasn't even an original apostle, nor was he alive when Christ walked the earth, yet conservative Christians cling to this written word like a life vest.  Is their faith in God so fragile?

God help them all if they ever lose the precious book, for they make it seem God and their faith would be nothing without it, and yet they continually apologize for contradictions, and other inadequacies of the scripture.  When one understands what it took, historically, to arrive at the "accepted" collection of works, scripture, we refer to as "The Bible," it is mind boggling that the book exists at all, much less that it is accepted by so many as the unerring Word of God.

"I think that the Church not only should apologize... to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologize to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by (being forced to) work. It must apologize for having blessed so many weapons."

-- Pope Francis

And, this brings us back to gays and Christianity, or more appropriately, LGTBQ+ and Christianity.  What, one might be asking, is LGTBQ+?  Well, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning are all initialisms we are familiar with.  The "+" allows for the inclusion of anyone left wanting, like the transsexual, two-spirited, intersexual, asexual, ally, pansexual, agender, gender queer, bigender, gender variant, and pangender (Aha!  I knew Peter would show up in here at some point).  We all use the term LGTBQ because it is shorter and more user friendly.

If you are trying to put your best foot forward and be respectful by using the correct terminology for one of these folks in a given situation, good luck with that. I applaud your effort, which is probably more recognition than you'll get from the majority on the list. Understand that I have nothing against this community of people, this segment of our society. I grew up amongst them and some were good friends. I have worked with them in the corporate environment, and in the military. There have been a few that are the salt of the earth and I have stood for them and risked my career to protect them and befriend them. However, there are also those that have a life membership in the League of the Perpetually Offended. Understanding this means that, no matter how hard you try or what you say, you will forever be an outsider because they have no intention of ever finding middle ground with you. If you finally do reach an understanding, or the aforementioned "middle ground," you might find constantly walking the razor's edge of the ever changing sense of propriety to be a bit tedious. Thank God not all in the community have a chip on their shoulder. This would be the same attitude many hardline Christians take with them, however, so I can only assume you deservedly get what you give. What would Jesus do? 

Into this intolerant mix, enters the gay Christian.

There was a time when what clergy said the congregation echoed.  This time is passing.  I don't think we can call the current Christians progressive in the Emergent Movement sense, but they are cognizant of changing times and kinder, gentler attitudes.  They see the benefit of finding common ground and moving forward instead of beating the same dead horse for years on end.  Our society is becoming more tolerant and acceptant of the gay community, more gay Christian groups are cropping up, and we are finding that the scripture we are all taught was infallible might have simply been clergy interpretation and personal agenda, not the Word of God (someone is going to hell).  The pope is mindful of Church teachings that gays "should not be discriminated against. They should be respected, accompanied pastorally."

"We Christians have to apologise for so many things, not just for this, but we must ask for forgiveness, not just apologise! Forgiveness! Lord, it is a word we forget so often!"

-- Pope Francis

Pope Francis is a man of God living, fully, in the present, mindful of the past, and concerned about the future of man and the Christian Church. His Holiness sees the changes in society and understands scriptural contradiction, interpretation, and the tolerance, understanding, and forgiveness which are Christ. Many hardline Christians find the pope's comments much too tolerant. I guess my recommendation to these naysayers would be to put their Bible away and start practicing the spirit of the Word and stop trying to interpret it. God wrote the Spirit of his love on our hearts and on our minds so we would never have to interpret scripture again. The most important of these commandments was to love each other as we would love ourselves, and to praise God with all our heart. These two commandments are the foundation for the rest, and it is no wonder. Yet we seem incapable of practicing the very simple which God has asked of us.

Francis is touted by the gay community as being "the most merciful pope towards them in recent history," and he has paid for his tolerance, love, and understanding by enduring the criticism of conservative Catholics "for making comments they say are ambiguous about sexual morality." It never ceases to amaze me what we don't learn of history and, therefore repeat. The pope is the living Word of God on earth and, yet, his own congregation questions, publicly and at great length, comments he makes. Heresy? By any definition I would have to say yes, but I would also have to say these are the same people that place their faith in a book which should never have been compiled, according to God's own second covenant, because it would not be needed.

These are the same people that violate their own book by worshipping in public, in a church which was never required in scripture, built by clergy that forgot to give up everything they own and follow Christ... per this same scripture. So to these naysayers of Pope Francis I say, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and since their own condemnation and judgment is, itself, a sin, they might think about shutting their ignorant pie hole and toeing the line as it is laid out before them. 

If there are members of the gay community, or any community, wishing to worship our Lord and find a path to salvation, then who in God's good name are we to judge whether they have the right to do so? Who gave us the right to be so arrogant? It certainly wasn't my God, nor was it my Christ. I can, then, only assume it was the God of those who, through their own feeling of self-importance, find some sick pleasure in judging and condemning the least of us. These are the same people who have passed judgment on the least of us down through the centuries and before Christ walked the earth. We have learned nothing.

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.