WHY I HAVE A DOG IN THIS FIGHT… (and it's not what you'd think)

WHY I HAVE A DOG IN THIS FIGHT…

I know there are some people who wonder why I am SO passionate about LGBTQ justice and civil rights.  Is it because I’m gay?  Not really.  I’m happy and I’m comfortable.  I’m secure in who I am and – sort of – the poster boy for “It gets better.”  I have two great vocations: pastor and college professor.  I have lots of loving family and friends who care about me for who I am.

WHY THEN?

When I came out, serving a church as a pastor, the church divided.  The church went through turmoil and I got some middle of the night hate calls and hangups and some folks left the church, but the church, through normal adjudicatory channels, decided to retain me as their pastor, as an openly gay man.  I was the first openly gay pastor in our Region of our denomination.  God bless them.

But my question is: some of those people who left had been professing dedicated church goers.  And through the grapevine, friends of those who left who are still congregants, etc., I have heard that many of them are actively participating in other churches.  They have been welcomed with open arms into other congregations where they are safe from the influence of a gay person in a position of leadership within their local congregation.

Now my question is this: what kind of church welcomes the person fleeing from inclusion, fellowship and acceptance of an openly gay Christian brother or sister?

What is that church offering – in terms of Christian theology and understanding and living – that welcomes and encourages and nurtures the bigot in our midst?  What kind of scriptural or moral twist to Jesus’ message and example did those folks encounter who fled there?

For far too long, modern American Christianity has been shifting to a cafeteria mentality.

I’m for peace, as long as we can wage war…

I’m for sharing, as long as it’s not my money or efforts…

I’m for inclusion, as long as it’s not a race or ethnicity that I don’t like…

I like Christianity on my terms and not necessarily on Jesus’ terms...

So… what did the folks who fled the congregation in turmoil over acceptance of a gay pastor, find in the church to which they fled?  What appealed to them in that second church?

Was there tacit bigotry?  Was there an implicit assumption that cafeteria Christianity is valid, and it’s OK to remake the Gospel in whatever fashion pleases you, independent of Jesus’ message?  Was it a willingness to quietly ignore injustice and indecency, just to fill a seat in the sanctuary?  Was it silence and a lack of prophetic truth about inclusion, so that you can believe and adhere to whatever exclusion philosophy you choose?

What attracts a refugee from a place where acceptance and inclusion are practiced?

Not another place of acceptance and inclusion.  So what was offered at a church that would appeal to that exclusionary and bigoted mindset?

That’s a frightening question.

And that’s why so much of my ministry, pastoral efforts and social justice emphasis is on what I believe to be the bottom line of Jesus’ ministry: HOWEVER YOU TREAT THE MARGINALIZED, THE DISENFRANCHISED, THE SUBJUGATED AND THE DIFFERENT IS HOW YOU DISPLAY YOUR TRUE CHRISTIAN SELF.

I do have a dog in this fight, and it’s not my own sexual orientation or political preference.

It’s Jesus’ message of acceptance and decency toward all of Creation.