Having grown up in The Church I've heard a lot of talk about homosexuality. Many people talk about how wrong and unnatural it is to be gay. Bible verses are quoted (and misquoted) to support "gay bashing". In all honesty I'm not sure what the bible actually says about homosexuality but it certainly doesn't seem very clear at all. The passage of scripture most often used to condemn homosexuality isn't about homosexuality at all (in my opinion); it's a passage about hospitality.
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lord's", he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No." they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baked bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom -both young and old- surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
This was Genesis 19: 1-8, the passage most often used to refute homosexuality. In order for me to believe this was about homosexuality I'd have to believe the point to be "it is better to rape a woman than to rape a man". I certainly can't support that interpretation of this passage. So, it has to mean something else entirely. In order to understand what I think the meaning is we have to understand a little something about the culture of the day.
In those days, from my understanding, hospitality was highly valued. I almost want to say hospitality was valued above all else. For Lot to welcome strangers into his home meant he was taking responsibility for them. He became responsible for finding them food, providing shelter, and keeping them safe until they left his home. He obviously took this responsibility very seriously, so seriously that he offered up his daughters so as to protect his guests. I don't condone what Lot did in offering his daughters as an exchange; and I think anyone who does is maybe missing the point of the story. It's not that it was right or acceptable for him to throw his kids to the wolves, he was following a cultural practices based on values of the day.
With this having been established I will say there are other places in the bible which suggest it might be wrong to be gay. They are not very clear, however, so I am not at all comfortable using them as a way to ostracize gay people from my circle of friends. I also don't believe being gay is a choice. I don't choose who I'm attracted to so I have no reason to believe anyone else is able to do that either.
In Mark 2: 16 Jesus is rebuked by the pharisees for "eating with tax collectors and sinners". Many times Christ sets the example of interacting with and befriending the "undesirable" people with whom he meets. He chooses to build his fellowship not with the "religious right" but with ordinary people: people who are trying to figure things out, those who don't have all their 'ducks in a row'. We ought to be following his example and building friendships with many different kinds of people. If it is "wrong to be gay" we should be building a community welcoming to gay people because Christ ate with sinners. If it isn't wrong to be gay we need to be building a community welcoming to gay people because they aren't doing anything wrong. Either way we need to be welcoming to everyone!
So, what's justice got to do with it? Everything! Many people contemplate suicide daily because they feel alone in the world, or think others don't understand them. We as Christians can not continue to push people out of our lives and call it Christ like. Anyone who feels alone needs to have friends in their lives.
I believe Christians focus on homosexuality because it is an easy target. For those of us who have never been attracted to someone of the same gender its easy to choose that as the "unforgivable sin", many of us have nothing to lose by being vehemently against homosexuality. Gossip, slander, and jealousy tend to be issues all of us struggle with from time to time. In order to make sure others are forgiving of us we have to be forgiving of them but when it comes to issues which affect only a number of people the backlash can be unbearable. It's difficult to be understanding of something one cannot relate to. One of the many dangers here is that if we are wrong and homosexuality isn't a sin we are denying countless people a chance at true love. I intend to explore this topic in greater detail in future blogs so I'd love your thoughts as I continue to form my own.
5 comments:
Citing Genesis 19 was interesting, because it clearly is ALL about the state of the people that lived in Sodom and how displeased God was with them because of it. That thought actually begins to develop in Chapter 18 verse 19, where the Lord says: "For I have chosen him (Abraham), so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” That statement begins the focus on what is "right and just". The Lord goes on to talk about the grievous sins that he has heard that they were committing. Note that the term "wicked" is used. From this point on, until Sodom is destroyed, the ONLY specific sin that is mentioned, is... homosexuality.
The Lord wanted to go down and see how bad things were, so that he could judge for himself. What is the ONLY thing that the angels were confronted with when they went into Sodom? A crowd, of all ages, that wanted to force them to preform homosexual acts. They were going to storm the house and force their way in, so (C19 V11) the angles intervened and struck the attackers blind (resisted with force). The very NEXT verse (C19 V12) the angles start talking about clearing out Lot's relatives, because they were going to destroy the city. Note that they didn't say ANYTHING about a lying, cheating, stealing, murderous adulterous, and generally sinful people. They only experienced the threat of being sexually assaulted, and their next action plan was to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. That sounds very powerful, very specific, very deliberate. So while a small segment of what happened may have had something to do with hospitality at the time, it was a minor role in the entire event. That only comes into play when one is trying to figure out why Lot offered his daughters. It doesn't matter. Lot was a human, imperfect, and made a bad decision. There are many events documented in the Bible about people that made bad decisions. However the ANGLES focused on the sin of the people, not on Lot's poor choices. The sin of the people was the blatant, open practice of homosexuality. The cities were leveled. It would be a huge stretch to try to arrive at some other conclusion, in my opinion. It does not matter how we "feel" about it, what matters is what God says.
The next part deals with a different topic. But before I get to that, I will make one quick comment to address the thought that perhaps there aren't any (other?) references in the Bible that indicate there is anything "wrong" with living a gay lifestyle. There are many other passages in the Bible that make it clear that anything other than sex between a man and woman is not natural. Here is one Old Testament reference: "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable" (Leviticus 18:22) What about the New Testament? "...... Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed *indecent acts* with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their *perversion*" (Romans 1:26-27) Note the references to indecent acts and perversion specifically.
But the real point of the last part of your post is about how we should view and treat gays. Unfortunately many Christians aren't very good at treating ANYBODY the way we should, so it is no surprise if we mess this up too. WE are not to judge, anybody for their sins; that is God's job. OUR job is to love everybody to the best of our ability. The part that you mention about Christ hanging out with sinners is right on. He did. However he never condoned their sinful behavior, nor does he condone anybody's sin, but he extends grace to all. Jesus stepped in to actually defend some sinners from their accusers, however he also told them to go on their way, (repent) and STOP sinning. Note the woman adulteress, is told exactly that in John 8:11.
Of course we should not slander or gossip about anyone. We should not engage in "gay bashing". But we must adhere to God's principles, if he is our God. If we think that we can come up with better ones than he outlined in the Bible for us, then he is not "our" God. We must strive to live well, be kind, serve well and love well, looking to the Word for direction, inspiration and truth.
To me, practicing homosexuality is a sin. So is a long list of other practices that we are guilty of. We are ALL sinners and fall short of the glory of God. I would like some of the things that I fail in, not to be considered sin also, but that isn't the way it works. I fail, I sin, I fall short of the mark, God is offended, but if I/we belong to Him, we are forgiven. Our job? Love God, love one another, love all people, but do not embrace or condone sinful behavior. It is similar to you loving your kids, but you do not celebrate their rebelliousness.
Dewey, thanks so much for the read! Actually, though Genesis 18 does mention the words "wicked" and "grievous" it doesn't mention what the sins were. In Chapter 19 verse 4 when the people of the city surround Lots house we tend to assume it was all the men of the city (most translations use that phrasing) but the words "anshei ha'ir anshei S'dom" can mean all people, all Sodom. and since the verse goes on to say "both young and old, all the people, from every quarter" we have to realize it is entirely possible it was more than the men outside Lots house. I've always leaned toward the "men" way of thinking because Lot eventually offers up his daughters, but this is an assumption not a fact.
Next, of course, we move on to the mob wanting to "know" the strangers. We assume "know" means "have sex with" that's even the translation I used for my post. Unfortunately, this is another unknowable term. There are a handful of times the bible uses "knew" as a synonym for "have sex". The word used here is "yada", this same word is used in other places as well. A few times "yada" has been used with a clear correlation to sex... "Adam knew his wife and she conceived", however its been used many other times without a sexual connotation... "God knew David" (same word - yada). Clearly in the latter context it isn't a synonym for sex.
When Lot offered his daughters, if the issue is homosexuality, Lot would have known these men were gay and the daughters wouldn't be a suitable replacement. Since his daughters were betrothed to two men - a betrothal being much more binding in their culture than an engagement is in ours - Lot had authority over his sons-in-law as well. Offering the men would have surely been a more logical way to protect his guests.
Had the issue been about sex at all the obvious sin was rape, not homosexuality.
Ezekiel recorded the sins of Sodom "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (Ezekiel 16: 49 & 50).
I appreciate your comments and your obvious passion for God. I think it is important to realize the bible is a lot more complex than we often want to think it is. Possible interpretations are endless. We can't get so attached to our interpretation we ignore the possibility we've gotten some of it wrong. None of us has all the answers.
To assume that the scenario included some hostile, sexually aggressive women that surrounded Lot's home wanting to have sex with his visitors, doesn't seem logical. Then him offering his daughters up to those women as a solution, makes even less sense. The King James version specifically mentions "men of the city". Some recent translations have been broadened to say "people". So I respectfully disagree with your conclusion that this is about rape and not homosexuality.
I get very uneasy when, after centuries, we are still trying to reinterpret the Bible. It may be an opportunity to "clarify" but is also an opportunity to dilute. The best evidence (or what is true and what was intended), again, in my opinion, is what is taught in the Bible in general, because it can not contradict itself.
If we want to look at this from a cultural angle, I would "guess" (because nobody knows what was in his mind) Lot offered his daughters to the crowd/men because it was in line with the "natural use of the woman", and (possibly) in his mind, that was a better option than having his male guests sexually molested. However, whatever his logic or motive, it was misplaced. If that was some kind of intended "teaching", then the story would have gone much different. I noted that after Lot made that offer, there was no affirmation from the Angels like "You are wise in your choice, for better it is to..... " or whatever. Instead, his offer was effectively ignored by the angels and they took the situation over. If it were intended to be some kind of enlightenment or "teaching" for us, there would have been some other reference to his suggestion.
I agree that the Bible is complex, and it is true that none of us has a perfect understanding of it. And I even agree that "possible" interpretations are many, but there is only one truth. I think if we let the Holy Spirit guide us (as scripture suggests) we will arrive at the truth. But those that approach the Bible with an agenda to prove a certain point (rather than to find out what GOD has to say about it), may be successful at building a case that seems pleasant to our ears, but is not from God.
Thank you for letting me express my viewpoints and for sharing yours. These exchanges provide an opportunity to reflect on God's word and to do more investigation and confirmation of what we really believe.
Dewey, again thanks for the read and for expressing your opinion. I'm going to have to ask that this conversation come to a close though, as I feel we will be talking in circles if we continue. In honesty I find it a little offensive that you think your interpretation is that you are listening to God and mine is different. The reason their are so many different church denominations and faith groups is because so many people are trying to listen to God and hearing very different things. Please feel free to read some of my other blog posts, would love to have you reading for discussion, not just debate, you may not disagree with all of my thoughts.
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