how to cure homosexuality? [#ICSEX]

What I’m about to share is something that turns my stomach. I’m not writing today to debate what’s right or wrong about homosexuality. There are theologians who are way smarter than me that do a good enough job with keeping that discussion going.

I don’t want to talk about whether or not someone is ‘born that way’. There have been lots of studies that try to prove and disprove that point.

Right or wrong, avoidable or not, I want to talk about how the church addresses the issue of homosexuality.

I’ve recently read an article in a magazine that I usually don’t read. I got a subscription to Details by flippantly picking several magazines while spending some expiring airline miles. I decided that it wasn’t a magazine that I was very interested in after glancing at my first issue, so they normally find their way into the trash can directly from the mailbox.

But the June 2010 issue caught my eye with these words on the cover… Inside the World of Gay Exorcism. Inside, I found a disturbing article about how some churches deal with (what they consider to be) the root problem of homosexuality… demonic possession.

Is demonic possession the cause of homosexuality? I definitely believe that it’s possible, but not always the case. The New Testament also talks a great deal about our own ‘lustful desires’. I’ve known men before that I’ve felt could have some strong spiritual influence influencing their behavior, but I also know many that behave certain ways due to natural desires of the flesh.

And I don’t believe that you can exorcise natural, fleshly desires.

What bothers me most about the approach that many churches take towards this issue is that it brings on so much shame and condemnation. Often people are publicly shamed, judged, and made to feel like less of a person because they struggle with desires that make them different than most others.

How does that accomplish the mission of the church?

Aren’t we supposed to be messengers of God’s Grace? His Love? Forgiveness?

One thing that struck me as I read this article about ‘gay exorcism’ speaks to how those who struggle with these urges feel about how the church handles homosexuality…

I ask Kevin if he is now 100 percent sure that being gay is not a sin.

“Not 100 percent,” he says. “It’ll always be in the back of my mind. I guess it’s the way I was raised. You don’t know how many times I heard preached that homosexuality is a sin—you’re going to burn in hell for it. It’s funny how nobody at church wanted to sit down and explain why this was happening. They just want to get rid of it, basically.”

I wonder if nobody wanted to sit down and explain it because they simply never took the time to try to understand it. Many Christians may think that it’s easier to pray it away than it is to relate to someone and talk about their life and what drives them.

I don’t pretend to understand what same-sex attraction is like, or what someone who lives with it must deal with knowing that they live with something that could alienate them from so many people.

But I do know that as Christians we are called to love… not judge. Does living in homosexuality mean that God loves that individual any less? No, and neither should we.

I’m thankful that God loved me even when I didn’t deserve it. And I’ve got to believe that He loves everyone the same way.

I also know that gay and lesbian adults more actively seek out community than most straight people. That would indicate that there’s a strong desire to connect with (and likely be accepted by) people. Isn’t that what churches are for? Then why do we insist on pushing away the very people that need us the most?

As I write this, I almost want to apologize to gay and lesbian people everywhere on behalf of the church.

If you are gay/lesbian, I’m sorry if we’ve ever put any shame on you. That’s not God’s heart. You have immeasurable value to Him. You are the apple of His eye. God loves you, and so do I.

And c’mon church… how can we become the instruments of God’s Love that we’ve been called to be in this area?

This post is for The Idea Camp blogging series during #ICSEX Orientation Week.

a hermeneutic on gender and ministry [#ICSEX]

Few things bother me as much as misinterpreted and misapplied scripture. And (I believe) one of the worst examples of this is around the issue of women’s role in ministry in the church.

There are many that disagree with women being active in ministry, and others that would go so far as to say that they should be silent participants in church. Not only do I feel that this is based on a misinterpretation of the intent of the Scriptures, but it also creates a situation that forces society to question the validity and relevance of the Word in our world today.

First let’s look at the passages used to support this idea:

The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

– 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.

– 1 Timothy 2:11-12

Seems pretty clear, right? I mean, Paul doesn’t even stutter when he lays outs this direction.

But responsible Bible interpretation isn’t as easy as just looking at these passages at face value and saying that God is trying to tell us that women should never talk in church. After all, when Paul wrote this he was writing specifically to a first century audience dealing with very specific first century issues.

This means that there are cultural and sociological differences that we need to consider for us to fully understand what’s happening here. We must also take these passages in their literary context by understanding how they fit into the entire writings to which they belong. So here are a couple of questions that we need to consider before we can apply these ideas to the church today.

Who is Paul writing to and about?

The simple answer is that he’s giving instruction to a first century church and church leader. Because these passages are about women, we should understand what first century women were like. More often than not, women in the first century would have been very uneducated. They may be very skilled in the ways of keeping the home and raising the children, but most would not have been very educated at all, but especially in the Scriptures. Many may not even know how to read, but due to the lack of availability of literature they probably wouldn’t have needed to read in the first place.

Therefore, it would have been very common for women to have questions when listening to a great intellectual like Paul. It would have been the modern equivalent of a fifth-grader trying to listen to an Albert Einstein lecture. So they would have had questions about what Paul was teaching… LOTS of questions. And who would they turn to? The passage in 1 Corinthians answers that one pretty clearly.

Why would Paul be addressing this issue?

Considering that these curious women would’ve had lots of questions, and would’ve been asking things like, “Hey honey, what does he mean by we are ‘saved by grace’?” The women’s inability to understand complex intellectual and religious concepts would’ve created quite a disturbing chatter for someone who was trying to teach (probably in pretty tight quarters). These uneducated women were interfering with Paul’s teaching! I can imagine Paul thinking, “How rude! I wish these women would just be quite for a minute! They can ask their husbands what I meant later!” Oh… he did say that…

So what’s Paul’s intent?

Especially considering the surrounding text for the passage in 1 Corinthians, I believe that Paul is trying to talk about respecting the service than he is trying to prove male dominance in the church. Even the passage in 1 Timothy can be interpreted as being more about order, structure, and respect, than it is about keeping women quiet.

How does this translate for today?

Well, first of all, women are much more educated today than they were back then. And this level of knowledge/wisdom means that chattering, confused women are not interrupting the church services today like they would have back then. And if we look closely at Paul’s intent and the state of the church today, then Paul’s word might actually apply to many men as well.

And with other writings (like the Book of Acts) clearly pointing out that women often had a prominent role in ministry, it makes it hard for me to believe that Paul (and God) intended for women in today’s church to remain silent and miss out opportunities to minister to others.

What factors do you consider?

What else do you consider when interpreting passages like these? How do you reconcile these passages with others that clearly show women as active parts of ministry? What role do you feel women play (or don’t play) in church today? Why?

This post is for The Idea Camp blogging series during #ICSEX Gender Week.

[churchdrop.com] open the floodgates: a guide for texting in church

Note: This is an excerpt of a featured post (written by yours truly!) at churchdrop.com (8BIT Network).

The sanctuary filled with a nervous laughter. I think some of it was out of pure disbelief at what I’d just told them. Others figured that I was totally serious but were trying to figure out what this would mean for them.

I was preaching at my church’s youth group and decided to try something a little different than what they were used to. Before I got into my actual message I put my number up on the whiteboard at the front of the sanctuary and told them to text me any questions that they had at any time through my message.

It’s important to me to be able to address all of the learning styles when I share, and that means that I need to let people converse in some way. But that’s difficult to do in the traditional preaching model. Besides, who has the guts to stand up in front of everyone else and say something like:

Umm, excuse me, but I really don’t understand…

Read the entire article at the churchdrop.com website.

rapid growth of christianity [bible college papers]

 

Note: This essay is part of a series that I am doing for a class on church history. This part of the series is a summary of some of the reasons the early and medieval church experienced rapid growth.

Christianity seemed to defy the odds of a start-up religion… Not only did it survive in the early years, but it thrived! There are different reasons for this rapid growth of the church at different times through history.

The Early (Post-Apostolic) Church experienced a great deal of persecution. Typically persecution would snuff out any other false religion that lacked the substance it needed to keep loyal followers. But keeping followers was only one thing. It was something entirely different to turn that persecution into new converts. What made the Christians different was their response to the persecution that they received. Not only did they keep true to Christian teaching to do things like forgive and love even their enemies, but they also considered it an honor to be tortured and even martyred for their faith.

This atypical response to persecution seemed to draw a great deal of admiration for these martyrs and the religion that they took a stand for. This admiration translated into many new converts. This dedication to the faith and response by onlookers must have been quite widespread. Dr. George Park Fisher recognizes this in the writings of the early church fathers:

“The fathers in the second century describe in glowing terms, and not without rhetorical exaggeration, the rapid conquests of the Gospel. The number of converts in the reign of Hadrian must have been very large. Otherwise we cannot account for the enthusiastic language of Justin Martyr respecting the multitude of professing Christians. Tertullian writes in a similar strain. Irenaeus refers to Barbarians who have believed without having a knowledge of letters, through oral teaching merely.”

This rapid expansion continued from the early church period into the medieval period. Eventually the church became an accepted religion by the government which allowed the formerly persecuted Christian to come out of hiding. Emperor Theodosius then proclaimed Christianity the official state religion in 380. When these things happened, it created a favorable environment where people were able to share their faith with others without the fear of persecution. During this time Christians were able to evangelize to surrounding areas, and continued to experience great growth. In reference to this rapid extension of Christianity at the close of the early period, Dr. John F. Hurst states:

“Missionaries and church officers were sent out from Rome with authority to plant missions, build up literature, and indoctrinate the people in the truths of Christianity. In many instances these attempts failed, the missionaries were killed, and the old heathenism of the provinces triumphed over the young Christianity. But the tide of religious truth was too strong for final resistance.”

So whether favorable or unfavorable conditions existed, the early Christian church was able to thrive and experience great growth. There were many attacks against its credibility both externally (persecution) and internally (heresy), but the Truth and the defenders of the Truth prevailed time and time again throughout history. Today’s church has much to learn from those who have gone before us and laid a foundation that we can build on as we continue to spread the Gospel message, and I pray that Christians today strive to live a life worthy of the Call. As I think about not only the great leaders, but also the multitudes of Christians who risked it all for the sake of the Gospel, I cannot help but to think of the words of the writer of Hebrews when he states, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, ESV).

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