I have a confession to make.
Several years ago, as an evangelical Christian, I would have condemned all same gender sexual contact as sinful, as very much against what I then perceived to be the will of God. I would never have gone as far as the dreadful Westboro Baptist Church in picketing funerals and other services; I never saw same gender sexual contact as worse than any other sin: but I did see it as sinful and used that dreadful phrase, "love the sinner, hate the sin." I don't think I ever consciously used it directly to a gay person, but I may inadvertently have done so.
In my defence I thought I was right, that the Bible said such things were sinful, an abomination in the eyes of the Lord and all the other starements that homophobic Christians come out with.
All I can say to my gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters in Christ is that I am truly, truly sorry for any hurt or offence I may have caused over the years and to proclaim very publically that I no longer hold those views and intend to be active in my support of all my brothers and sisters in Christ who who LGBTI. I have been a registered supporter of Outcome for some months and today joined the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. I only join an organisation if I intend to take an active part in it.
At this point I will point out that, as an Ordained Methodist Presbyter, I fully intend to continue to abide by the Methodist Church's current policies and Standing Orders regarding same gender sexual activity and same sex marriage but I also intend to try to be a voice for change.
What about what the Bible says? To be honest, it says very little and what it does say must be understood in the historical and social context in which a particular verse was written, a time and place very different from today with much more limited understanding of science and virtually no concept of human sexuality. Many of the verses and passages often quoted to condemn homosexual practice in the Old Testament are surrounded by verses and passages we no longer apply to our Christian lives because we revognise the are no longer appropriate in our twenty first century society, with our greater scientific and cultural knowledge. Even the New Testament passages often quoted are talking about something very different from the loving, life long commitment of a same sex couple. I could do some detailed exegesis (and indeed have done as part of my spiritual journey), but that would make this piece overly long.
If you are reading this with increasing despair and anger then ask yourself why you feel this way. Is your opposition to same sex relationships really based on your understanding of Scripture, or is your homophobic attitude driving the way you understand certain Scriptures? It's a question really worth thinking about. Even if you come to the conclusion that you do believe same gender sexual activity to be sinful, it is no worse than any other sin and certainly not a reason to exclude people from your church fellowship. We are all sinners, saved by the grace of God.
As for my, it is my conviction that our God loves us all, that God who embodies all genders and is beyond the very concept of gender loves the incredible diversity and variety of human beings God has created and that God is not in any way opposed to people who are straight, gay, bisexual, asexual, trangendered, intersex or any of the other expressions of sexuality and gender out there: so long as any sexual activity takes place in a committed relationship that is intended to be life long.
LGBTI rights, both within and without the church are simply a matter of justice and love and I worship God who embodies those principles in abundance.
