Andrew Marin has earned the right to be heard about gays and the Church. Why? His book, Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation With the Gay Community
, tells the story. That subtitle is what is needed next, and I think it's the Third Way.Some are wearied by this discussion.
Some are worked into passionate pronouncements.
Few are willing to sort out the issues, both biblical and relational, and then move into genuine Christian engagement. Andrew Marin does the latter.
Relationships can be life-altering in this discussion: What have relationships with those who "come out" done to your perception of the issues?
There are three views: Some are for, some are against, and some are with. That is, some think once they have said "Homosexual sexual relations are acceptable for those committed to the Christian faith" or "Homosexual sexual relations are unacceptable for those committed to the Christian faith" they are done. They've rendered judgment. Very few in the latter camp carry on to be pastorally with those with whom they disagree. Andrew does the latter.
As I said above, relationships often shift this conversation to the next level. Unfortunately, many who are against (and done) do not know any gays or lesbians.
Andrew's story begins with relationships and his desire to sort out the issues by being faithful to his evangelical Christian faith. "Sitting across from me," he writes on p. 15, "is a forty-six-year-old Orthodox Jewish man with AIDS on a unique life-ending quest: to figure out who Yeshua is and discover what God's original plan was for his life before it got derailed with this horrible disease." Andrew meets with this man every Tuesday night to "seek our Father's face as we journey to discover why this man's fate is life and not an early death."
Andrew's story is typical: he's evangelical, white, heterosexual (married), Bible-believing and he wanted "absolutely nothing to do with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community" (16). And he puts it typically: "Homosexuality just grossed me out." And for his first 19 years he was "the biggest Bible-banging homophobic person" he knew.
Then he had some friends come out to him. Three best friends, three consecutive months. His response was to tell them it was sin. They told him their stories.
Andrew's response, and it is one I am grateful for, was to immerse himself in the GLBT community and his goal was to become the "most involved, gayest straight dude on the face of the earth" (19). Then it happened for him: he realized, as a result of listening constantly that there was something going on the GLBT community about God, faith and religion.
He started with Bible studies. With gays and lesbians and bi-sexuals and transgenders. It started with six straight baseball players and became over 100 GLBT folks. The straight people left. Except Andrew.
Andrew tells the story of with.
Andrew's story begins with relationships and his desire to sort out the issues by being faithful to his evangelical Christian faith. "Sitting across from me," he writes on p. 15, "is a forty-six-year-old Orthodox Jewish man with AIDS on a unique life-ending quest: to figure out who Yeshua is and discover what God's original plan was for his life before it got derailed with this horrible disease." Andrew meets with this man every Tuesday night to "seek our Father's face as we journey to discover why this man's fate is life and not an early death."
Andrew's story is typical: he's evangelical, white, heterosexual (married), Bible-believing and he wanted "absolutely nothing to do with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community" (16). And he puts it typically: "Homosexuality just grossed me out." And for his first 19 years he was "the biggest Bible-banging homophobic person" he knew.
Then he had some friends come out to him. Three best friends, three consecutive months. His response was to tell them it was sin. They told him their stories.
Andrew's response, and it is one I am grateful for, was to immerse himself in the GLBT community and his goal was to become the "most involved, gayest straight dude on the face of the earth" (19). Then it happened for him: he realized, as a result of listening constantly that there was something going on the GLBT community about God, faith and religion.
He started with Bible studies. With gays and lesbians and bi-sexuals and transgenders. It started with six straight baseball players and became over 100 GLBT folks. The straight people left. Except Andrew.
Andrew tells the story of with.
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"Christians need to learn how to just be present nonjudgmentally in the life of a struggler, whether it is a gay person or someone in bondage to any other sin. We are all prodigals, loved by a patient God who gives us the freedom to run away before realizing we are not so free doing it our way."
Thanks Debbie. I pray that this will happen in me and so many others. All (or at least most of us) have besetting sins. Why do we have to paint as so horrible those who struggle with same sex attraction? It has become the leporsy of our current evangelical culture. Jesus touched lepers. He had compassion on them and loved them.
Has any one else struggled with temptation to engage in sinful
heterosexual behavior. I certainly have/am. Why is that different than same sex attraction? I know, I know, what will be said, That's "natural" the other is "un-natural"? But it is sexual sin. Does God differentiate degrees of sexual sin and temptation? They are human problems and tendencies. He who is without sexual sin cast the first stone.
Another quick thought. I wonder how many who are so vehemently opposed and vocal abut their hatred of homosexuals, view heterosexual prnography regularly? I guess that's another topic, but I do know that it is a huge issue in the church, and creates a massive double standard and many double lives for both sexual orientations.
Oops, should have checked my spelling in the last paragraph before posting. My apologies to all you proof readers and English teachers!
John, add to that list of hypocrisies Christians bellyaching over gay marriage when we have made a shambles of marriage even within the church. We let no-fault divorce come on in and make itself at home. That's not only a broken covenant; it also fails to meet the standard of a simple contract. So marriage becomes meaningless. Until we clean our own house, we have no business trying to clean others'.
I would also like to commend Andrew for all he is doing, however (and no offense intended to what has been said in both the post and in the comments) to proclaim this as a "Third Way" like it's some new way of responding to the GLBT community is to ignore many people who have already paved a "third way" and have been doing so for many years. These people will probably remain anonymous and unknown and will never have a chance to share their story in the pages of a book. While I do applaud Andrew and all he is doing I also applaud the many other men & women who have been in dialogue & relationship with members of the GLBT community for many years, doing the stuff of the Kingdom without any recognition.
What Christians need to do is realize that homosexuality is not a sin. It is a sexual orientation. It is no more sinful per se than heterosexuality. Both homosexuals and hetersexuals commit sexual sins, neither one more heinous than the other. You people so eager to condemn others as sinners need to grow up.
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