Christians and Homophobia

Normally this blog is not a venue for discussing current events, but one news story came to my attention which I believe needs to be addressed in a Christian context.

Last week, a lesbian couple in Kingston, Ontario received threatening letters demanding that they leave town. The author went so far as to threaten shooting the couple with BB guns (one news report can be found here: http://kingstonherald.com/news/threatening-letters-kingston-2010311764). The reason I want to discuss this disturbing case here is because the author professed to be a Christian and even ended the letter “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our saviour.”

Thankfully, the public has almost unanimously come out in support of this couple and has publicly condemned the threats. I would like to add my voice of support for these women and condemn the threats. It really should go without saying that this kind of action has no place in Canada, but as long as incidents still arise, apparently it still needs to be said: this kind of treatment of any individual for any reason has NO place in Canada.

More importantly for the purpose of this blog, the kind of darkness that these threats represent should have NO place among Christians. I’m sure most readers know that this is an unusual manifestation of “Christianity,” especially in Canada. These sick individuals in no way represent the Jesus Christ that I know, or the Christianity that I profess.

I believe Christians especially need to be talking about this kind of thing. We need to make sure this kind of darkness never has a sanctuary among our ranks. We can’t just ignore it or brush it aside. As the Bible says, we must “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” (Ephesians 5:11-13) It can’t just be the secular media talking about this, but we as Christians need to be willing to talk about it openly as well. We have to bring these works of darkness into the light to expose and defeat them.

It is most troubling to Christians when people do terrible things in Jesus’ name. Jesus said that many people would falsely claim to act in his name: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)

I usually do not feel comfortable assessing whether someone is a true Christian or not (we leave that judgement to God), but the Bible provides an interesting clue which I think is applicable here: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.” (1 John 2:9) If there is anyone who claims to be following Jesus who still has this kind of hate in their hearts, we need to treat them with care and try to show them the true love and grace of God. Only then can they experience genuine conversion through Jesus Christ.

Any discussion on Christianity and homosexuality would be incomplete without being upfront about the Christian position on the matter. We have to be clear that male-female monogamy is the pattern instituted by God, and that homosexuality is a departure from God’s will – but so are a number of other things: serving other gods, dishonesty, and divorce, for example. We don’t see divorcees receiving the kind of horrendous treatment “in the name of Jesus” that we have with the LGBT community. The “Christians” who target LGBT people this way have bought into a number of dangerous fallacies, including the following: 1) the politicization of the church, towing some ultra-conservative political agenda rather than bringing souls to Jesus (remember, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world), 2) the idea that there is a “sin-scale” where some sins are worse than others (remember, Christians, if you have broken one part of the law, you have broken it all. See James 2:10. That makes us all guilty of every sin, and it means that each of us needs God’s forgiveness as much as anybody else).

Closing thoughts

To Christians: check your heart. If you have this kind of hatred toward the LGBT community or anybody else, go to God for forgiveness. If you have been saved by the grace of God, remember to share that same unconditional love with everyone you know regardless of their affiliation.

To the LGBT community: I am sorry that we as Christians have failed you for so long. We were called to love, and instead we have condemned, judged, and made afraid. I hope that the actions of some so-called “Christians” will not taint your perception of the one we profess to follow. If you read Jesus’ words in the gospels you will see his heart and will for humanity – something that we should have been reflecting. We have a ways to go. I hope you will see more and more Christians shedding our medieval baggage and returning to the pure example that Jesus set for us in the first place. And I hope you can forgive us. God bless you!