Orlando-area Church Protests
This past week I heard about protestors disrupting ministry at Greater Orlando area churches who include LGBTQ people. One of the churches being protested was Broadway United Methodist Church pastored by Rev. Rushing Kimball. Pastor Rushing is a personal friend of mine and you can click here to read the news story from WFTV 9.
In the simplest terms, Christians are interrupting the worship of other Christians. This situation reveals how deeply polarized we have become even as faith communities with different values. I know all the people involved would say “Jesus is Lord” and each church is following Jesus in really different ways. For me it raises questions like, “who is more faithfully following God?” or “who wins the confrontation?” I would say that no one wins when worship is being interrupted, no one wins when a pastor is prevented from entering the church he pastors. No one wins when Christians duke it out in the comment section on social media or leave one star google reviews for another church. Our Christian witness comes at the expense of all this fighting. People far from God think to themselves, “I don’t want to be a part of that.”
Inclusion is a value modeled by Jesus in the gospel of Luke. Our mission statement begins with the phrase, “embracing all” and we practice a form of inclusion every Sunday when we take communion together around the open table. When we come to the communion table, we acknowledge we have different gifts, callings, and even sins but we are united in our need of God’s grace and our commitment to the mission of our church, “embracing all to become vessels of God’s overflowing grace.”
I have had people in our church ask me questions like, “what is your stance on LGBTQ people?” This question has a number of assumptions in it like, each person needs to have a stance in the first place. In my experience, the people who ask that kind of question are typically looking for the pastor to affirm the viewpoint they already hold. My stance is that everyone is included and welcomed into a safe environment that will support them as they grow on their faith journey. The work of inclusion is hard work, it is a simple concept but a difficult thing to truly practice.
Another common question I receive is, “what does the Bible say about LGBTQ people?” There are many Christians that will point to the passages in scripture like Sodom and Gomorrah, arguing that scripture is clear. Their argument is straight forward, the Bible condemns any form of homosexual practice. I would ask, “how do you know for sure the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not God’s punishment for the sin of rape?” Bible scholars offer conflicting interpretations for how faithful followers of Christ should interpret those passages.
Let me share one example of the complexity of Biblical interpretation. Romans 1:26-27 is often cited in these conversations. Historical context can offer insight, there was an accepted ancient practice called pederasty. Many scholars of the Apostle Paul believe he was condemning pederasty. Without going into it, I’ll say if someone practiced pederasty today, they would be jailed for having an inappropriate relationship with a minor. Scholars continue to debate exactly what Paul was condemning. Would the apostle Paul also condemn a same sex relationship between two monogamous adults?
My role as a pastor is not to tell you what to think but to equip and challenge the faithful people of our church to dig deeply so we can all live out God’s call through scripture. I know we have people in our church who have a traditional perspective and people who have a progressive perspective. I know there are people in our church who are LGBTQ and people in our church who believe being LGBTQ is a sin. This is part of the reality of being a diverse church that seeks to embrace widely.
I’d like to end our conversation on this point. We as the body of Christ are a covenant community. We certainly do not agree on every belief, and we’ll disagree on lots of preferences too, but we do agree on honoring one another. We agree that Jesus is Lord, rose from the dead on the third day, and that we are saved by the grace of God. We agree that we are called to be a community that surrounds people with love and forgiveness as we promise each child we baptize. We agree to treat everyone with dignity, respect, curiosity, and compassion. As always, if you’d like to talk further, please reach out to me at PastorMike@SpringChurch.org to set up an appointment. I am so grateful to be a part of a community of spiritually mature people who can engage in sensitive topics with compassion and a sincere desire to follow Christ.
