Blog Post 10

If the Old Testament isn’t a reliable basis for condemning the marriages of gay couples today, surely the New Testament is, isn’t it?  Let’s take a look.

Matthew 19:4-6

This passage does not refer to gay people, but many people use it to condemn the marriage of gay couples.  How?

In this passage Jesus affirms marriage between a man and a woman:

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Yes, in this passage Jesus affirms marriage of opposite-sex couples, but is he thereby condemning marriage for same-sex couples?  To answer that question we need to look at the wider context. 

What is the situation that Jesus is responding to?  It’s not a question about whether it’s legitimate for a gay couple to get married. Rather, it’s a question about whether it’s legitimate for a married couple to divorce.  Jesus responds by teaching that God intended for marriage to be permanent.  So it’s not an appropriate use of the passage to insist that it answers a question that Jesus is not responding to.

Furthermore, in spite of the very clear teaching by Jesus against divorce, the Christian community does permit divorce and remarriage.  It makes an allowance for failed marriages in light of human brokenness, and it asks about the most life-giving response to failed marriages.  Most Christians now respond by lamenting the breakdown of a marriage and even speak of it in terms of sin, but they still ask what is best within the larger picture of Christian morality. They conclude that sometimes divorce is better than keeping a marriage together—and sometimes remarriage after divorce is better than singleness after divorce.

Given this flexibility in our interpretation of Jesus’ words in Matthew 19, couldn’t we be similarly flexible in our treatment of gay people?  Even if some Christians were to see the gay orientation as an example of human brokenness, couldn’t we conclude that for at least some gay people marriage is more life-giving than a life of singleness?

Matthew 19:12

There is no record in the Bible of Jesus saying anything about gay people.  However, Jesus did speak about people who had a sexual difference—a sexual difference similar to that of gay people.  In Matthew 19:12 we read,

“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

Isn’t it significant that Jesus teaches acceptance for a group of people who do not and cannot fit the pattern of male-female marriage and procreation?  Is Jesus perhaps teaching that we should do the same?

Twenty Years Later

A Presentation Sponsored by All One Body

On November 8, 2018

Expanded Version

Thank you very much for being here.  I invite you to follow my blog as I post entries twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) in the following weeks and months.  I promise that it will be a fascinating journey!

What’s this blog about?

In May of 1998 Classis Grand Rapids East of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) “released” me from the ordained ministry.  Why?  No church was willing to call me to my LGBT+ ministry because I had stated my affirmation of faithful, loving gay unions.  This approach was contrary to that of the denomination.

Early this year I mentioned this 20-year anniversary to friends on the board of All One Body, and they graciously agreed to organize an event for me to share some reflections.  We held this event on November 8, and this blog is an expanded version of the remarks I presented that night.

Here’s a brief overview of what I said on November 8 and the blog entries I will post over the course of the next weeks and months.

• Part 1:  Before Twenty Years Ago
• Part 2:  Twenty Years Ago
• Part 3:  Twenty Years Later
• Part 4:  Future Steps

Please note that I will be presenting stories and insights from the past, but I will be doing so with an eye to the future.  I genuinely want my remarks to provide inspiration and ideas for all of us as we work to be more faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

So here we go . . .

Part 1:  Before Twenty Years Ago

I grew up in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, Michigan—in Wyoming near the border of Grandville—in a healthy, happy, faith-filled home.  Our family was Christian Reformed and had deep roots in the CRC.  In fact, my Lucas ancestors immigrated to West Michigan in the mid-1800’s and became founding members of the first Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Graafschap CRC.  My mom immigrated to Michigan in 1948 with her parents and brothers, and they had been devoted members of the CRC’s counterpart in the Netherlands.

When my parents got married, there was no question about what church they would attend.  Of course, it would be the closest CRC.  I was my parents’ first surviving child, and within 6 years my two sisters and brother were born.  My mom and dad were kind, generous, and self-sacrificing.  They took us to church twice every Sunday and also sent us to Sunday School, catechism, and Christian day schools.  I was a really good kid, excelled in my studies, and graduated second from the top of my class at Calvin Christian High.

The story will continue next Monday as I recount my faith in early adulthood and growing recognition that I’m gay.

Notes:

• All One Body works toward the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members in their church homes.
• Classis Grand Rapids East is a regional body of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.  It is comprised of congregations within an eastern portion Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• LGBT+ is one of a growing number of shorthand ways of referring to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, pansexual, gender non-binary, or other gender minority.