The Beloved Husband often reads the local papers online, and tossed me a link to this opinion piece last night: Marriage amendment promotes division, where a local minister argues against passing the Virginia Marriage Amendment tomorrow.
The Rev. Dr. Baker opens her letter with
I have a close family member who lives in a deeply committed relationship with a woman. I love them both, watch them live through the joys and difficulties of partnership, and wish for them the same civil rights my husband and I enjoy.
Well, that's lovely. I'm glad that she wants her relative to have a good relationship that brings her joy and fulfilment. However, as a Reverend of - I assume - the Gospel of Christ, she does not make the distinction between the person and the sin.
I remember a high school classmate, a delightful young man who identified himself as gay and three years later committed suicide. I remember a seminary classmate, a gifted preacher and leader, who also succumbed to suicide after exclusion resulting from her long-term committed relationship with another woman.
When society sends out signals - and this proposed amendment is nothing if not signal and symbol - that gays and lesbians are unequal and less-than-welcome in our midst, it adds layer upon layer of hardship and judgment on people who are simply trying to live with integrity.
I, of course, condemn treating anyone as less than a person created in the image of God. It is tragic and terrible that these people felt so horrible about their sin and the way they were treated that they committed suicide. Bur Dr. Baker ignores the fact that, whether society sends out condmening signals or not, GOD has condemned this behavior as sinful, and as a minister of Christ, she is obligated to follow her Lord, and not society.
Look at the example of Christ Himself: He was tender with sinners, He offered healing and restoration to them... but He did NOT condone their sin.
Now, of course, the fact that some people are homosexuals does not make them any worse sinners than you or me, or anyone else in this world. We are ALL sinners, and even one "tiny" sin separates us from God and His holiness. You could be a liar, a cheat, a thief; or you could be slothful, bitter, or angry; or you could ignore God, worship a false God, or worship only one aspect of God (all are idolatry)... It doesn't matter, and in God's eyes, all sin is equal, and it all separates us from Him. So, I am not claiming any special "awfulness" for the sin of homosexuality, I'm only addressing it here because it is an issue all of Virginia will be voting on tomorrow.
I think this is where Dr. Baker reveals her worldview:
I've spent the past 20 years searching the Judeo-Christian scripture. I make my living thinking about it, reflecting upon it, and trying to share the wisdom and guidance I find there.
The God I see lived out in its pages is complex, for sure, and not easy to tie up in a tidy package. But over and above the petty squabbles in which humans entangle ourselves, I find in that God an overwhelming nature of love and compassion, openness and inclusion, exemplified in Jesus' many acts of reaching out to the loner, the outcast, the leper, and the abused.
The Hebrew Bible (what Christians usually call the Old Testament) is far from uniform in presenting a standard for intimate union between men and women. It is full of examples too numerous to mention of strange liaisons, stories told and retold to make sense of migratory life in ancient times. The New Testament speaks to the issue of homosexuality on only a few occasions. Jesus never addressed it, although he does instruct his followers to sanctify family life, particularly through avoiding divorce.
Paul does address it, but biblical scholars agree that his comments are thoroughly embedded in a historical context very different from our own. Because of this, the scant scriptural references to homosexuality must be read with the same cultural and historical specificity we bring to Jesus' words on divorce and Paul's reflections on the status of women and the institution of slavery. Clearly, the central biblical message regarding sexuality is that, like every other good gift, it can be misused. To quote James B. Nelson, a noted Christian scholar on the subject, sexuality "is a power to be integrated fully into one's selfhood and to be used in the service of love."
You know what I see here (and, yes, I'm making an assumption)? I'm seeing a very low view of Scripture. I'm seeing a very low view of the holiness of God. I'm seeing a casual attitude to God's commandments. I'm seeing a concentration on one aspect of God - His love and grace - at the expense of another - His wrath against sin.
- Exodus 20: 5-6 "...For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
- Deuteronomy 7:9 "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.
- John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
God's general grace is indeed shown to all upon the earth. However, His particular, eternal and saving grace is shown ONLY to His children... and one of the ways His children "prove" themselves is by their obedience, and their heartfelt desire to obey their God and Father's commands.
Dr. Baker's comment, "Paul does address it, but biblical scholars agree that his comments are thoroughly embedded in a historical context very different from our own." is particularly disturbing, because it strongly implies to me that she regards the Bible as a "living" book, and that its meaning changes over time. If I were to research Dr. Baker's education, I'm supposing that I would find liberal colleges and seminaries in her background. I will tentatively agree that the application of God's precepts changes over time, however, I most emphatically deny that God's precepts change at all.
Now, I'm also fairly sure that Dr. Baker is a good pastor to her flock, that she cares for them and desires them to love and follow Jesus. However, if she's teaching them this sort of faulty doctrine, she is doing them no favors. When God, through Paul, says:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
... we must take that very seriously if we claim to believe in God and His Son, who died for us. If we cannot believe the Bible, which claims to be God's Word, how can we follow such an uncertain path? Conversely, if we know we can have confidence in God's assertion that His Word is Truth, then we have a path to follow and rules to inform our choices... and a Father in Heaven who will give us strength and help to obey Him and avoid sin.
So, if Dr. Baker wants to argue in favor of defeating this Marriage Amendment, I think she's made a terrible mistake in trying to use her version of Christianity as the base of her argument.
