Editorial
July/August, 2002
Volume 37, Number 4
In Matthew 5, Jesus opens His remarks in the Sermon on the Mount with a series of verses known as the Beatitudes. The second beatitude in the list states, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This mourning is not the same kind of grief that people experience when a loved one has died. The mourning in Matthew 5:4 is the attitude of sorrow that truly repentant persons feel toward their sins.
To mourn is to see sin as God sees sin, and to be heartbroken over it as God is grieved over it. It is a deep conviction about how terrible sin is. One way to tell if repentant sinners are sincere, is to try and sense just how much they are mourning over their sins. If there is an attempt to excuse or to take lightly the consequences of one’s sin, it usually indicates a lack of mourning.
It is important that the Church of the Brethren have an attitude of mourning toward homosexual sins. The Scriptures cited in the accompanying article give overwhelming evidence that all homosexual practice is sin. The influences that lead to homosexual practice may be complex. One’s upbringing and environment may have been deficient in providing wholesome development. There may be a touch of genetic weakness. But the bottom line remains the same. Homosexual practice is sin. The Annual Conference said so in the 1983 Paper on Human Sexuality. We need to continue to affirm that position again.
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul addresses a serious sexual problem in the church. It had to do with an illicit “in-law” relationship. The man had formed an illicit relationship with his own stepmother–a thing which was forbidden in the Law (Leviticus 18:8), and was a revolt even to the heathen. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for taking the matter lightly. He says they “have not mourned” (1 Corinthians 5:2).
The Brethren Revival Fellowship has little interest in encouraging an ongoing vigorous homosexual debate in the church. We have tried to be restrained and have not published very many articles on this subject over the last 25 years. But we are aware that some voices continue to promote a wide-open acceptance of homosexual practice, and we cannot always be silent. The featured article by Harold S. Martin seeks to capture the Bible’s instruction on the subject.
–James F. Myer
The Continuing Homosexual Issue
By Harold S. Martin
The major Protestant denominations, including the Brethren, are deeply divided on the issue of how to address homosexuality. There are tendencies for the church to follow the patterns of the culture around us, and America has become one vast “Temptation Island.” Nearly 90 percent of all movies shown in theaters and on television feature some kind of sexual content.
Pay-per-view pornography is commonly available in motel rooms; strip clubs have sprung up almost everywhere; college art departments are offering courses on pornography; outrageous sexual perversions are slithering out of the closet and are seeking to become socially acceptable. Homosexuality used to be a private vice, and for years homosexuality was considered a mental disorder; today, being against homosexuality is considered a mental disorder. Public schools are under increasing pressure to accept curriculum materials which promote homosexuality as a normal (even desirable) alternative lifestyle. The sexual abuse of children is still generally frowned upon, but new books like the one titled Pedophilia Reconsidered boldly declare that not all sex between adults and minors is a bad thing.
The Church of the Brethren officially addressed the issue of homosexuality at the 1983 Annual Conference in Baltimore, when the delegates passed a paper entitled, “Human Sexuality from a Christian Perspective.” The paper dealt with the broad scope of sexuality, but included a lengthy section on the topic of homosexuality. The paper distinguished between crude homosexual rape and loving covenantal relationships. And while celibacy or conversion to a heterosexual orientation were suggested, the Conference agreed that even loving covenantal relationships between homosexuals were not acceptable.
The majority of the grass roots members of the Church of the Brethren have been satisfied with the conclusions of the 1983 paper. But a vocal minority within the denomination has been saying that the conclusions of the 1983 decision are too narrow. Articles and letters and editorials have continued to appear in the Church of the Brethren Messenger. The BMC (Brethren Mennonite [Gay] Caucus) has been granted the privilege of having luncheons at Annual Conference during the last several years, and now the 2002 Annual Conference to be held at Louisville, Kentucky is being faced with a query from the Northern Ohio District called “Licensing/Ordination of Homosexual Persons to the Ministry in the Church of the Brethren.” How will the Brethren deal with homosexual demands?
1. PRIMING THE BROTHERHOOD
During the past 25 years various forces within the Church of the Brethrenhave been attempting to prime the denomination for the acceptance of homosexuality as a valid lifestyle.
In 1978, an article in the June Messenger said that the commandments against homosexual relationships in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 speak about homosexuality as an act that was unacceptable “in that community.” The writer concluded that the Bible stands against “antisocial, promiscuous acts of homosexuality,” but that for homosexuals who function within the framework of a self-giving, loving covenant, there is no condemnation.
In 1979, the Friday night speaker at the Seattle Annual Conference equated homosexuals with Gentiles, and declared that just as the early church had to learn to accept the Gentiles, so we today must learn to accept the homosexuals. The speaker, Virginia Mollenkott, a lesbian activist, expressed appreciation for what “the Holy Spirit is doing through homosexual Christians.” Her book, Sensuous Spirituality, speaks about her lesbianism and her belief in a female god.
In 1980, the August Messenger informed us that the General Board Committee studying the topic of human sexuality would report to Annual Conference in 1981. The 1981 Conference rejected the report and selected an enlarged committee which then reported to the assembled Conference at Baltimore in 1983.
In 1983, the committee reported by presenting a paper covering the whole range of sexuality, but with a relatively long section on homosexuality. The report encouraged intensified efforts by Brethren to try and understand how genetic makeup and childhood experiences may have influenced sexual orientation and behavior. The report also called for open and forthright conversations and dialogue with homosexuals. It acknowledged that all of us have desires and drives that need to be channeled properly in order to avoid sin and to build right relationships. Conference finally passed the paper at Baltimore in 1983 when an amendment was added which clearly said that even covenanted homosexual relationships are not acceptable.
At Annual Conference during the later 1980s and early 1990s attempts were made at dialogue with homosexuals. During some years BMC was granted a room where those who held various views about homosexuality could gather for discussion. At a few of the Annual Conferences, structured presentations were given from opposing points of view.
In 1991, the June Messenger reported that there is in the Church of the Brethren, a “Supportive Congregations Network,” a movement on the part of a number of Mennonite and Brethren churches that wish to further explore the issue of homosexuality in the church, and to support gay, lesbian, and bisexual members. Their goal is “public advocacy in support of homosexual and bisexual people.” Currently, there are eleven congregations in the Church of the Brethren which are listed as part of the Supportive Congregations Network (SCN), the movement which welcomes gay, lesbian, transgendered, and bisexual people.
In 1993, the issue was festering again–especially because the Annual Conference Moderator approved more openness to homosexuals. Standing Committee that year issued a paper called “Words of Guidance from the Standing Committee to the Delegates of the 1993 Annual Conference” (held at Indianapolis).
The opening words of the statement from Standing Committee in 1993 were these: “The 1993 Standing Committee affirms the 1983 Annual Conference Statement on Human Sexuality, which says that a homosexual lifestyle is unacceptable as a Christian option, and believes that the tone of the 1983 Statement should be preserved.” Standing Committee then called for, and was granted, a period of informational sharing during one of the business sessions. The block of time included a one hour forum during which attendees were allowed to share their concerns; each speaker was limited to two minutes at the microphone.
The issue of homosexuality continued to be very divisive, and during the latter half of the 1990s there was a moratorium on the issue. It was agreed that the Conference would not receive queries on the topic for a period of five years. In the meantime more latitude was granted to the Brethren Mennonite Gay Council. The homosexual caucus now prefers to be labeled the glbt–the council for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered concerns.
In 2001, the Manchester Church of the Brethren (South-Central Indiana District) voted “to permit same sex covenant services as part of the congregation’s stance of treating same sex couples the same way it treats others” (Newsline, March 8, 2002). The Manchester Church of the Brethren has been part of the SCN (see above) since 1996. It is disturbing to note that a congregation formally voted on a policy that clearly goes against the 1983 Annual Conference paper on human sexuality. Brethren Revival Fellowship believes that such action calls for some form of discipline.
2. DEALING WITH OBJECTIONS
There are those who say, “If you don’t agree that the homosexual lifestyle is good, then you don’t love us.” But when God declares certain acts to be sinful, is it loving for us to tell such persons that their active sexual conduct is not sinful? That indeed would be a shallow kind of love. We should love homosexual persons enough not to bless them in a style of living which the Bible teaches is a perversion which will eventually destroy them! Making a complete break from homosexual practice will undoubtedly bring pain and frustration and loneliness. But just because it hurts does not mean that it is unloving. Radical surgery is often painful. However, apart from true repentance, there is no promise of pardon and forgiveness. The church should say to practicing homosexuals what it says to all others who are violating God’s laws: “Those who have sinned do indeed inherit the kingdom of God, but only after they have turned to the Lord in genuine repentance, and have been justified by faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.”
Persons who have been practicing homosexuals, but are eager to do God’s will in the area of sexual morality, we believe, can make use of the resources of grace, and can receive God’s power to transform their desires and arrest their active expression. The old life of bondage to sin can be transformed into a new life of freedom in Christ. The stubbornness of homosexual orientation may be slow to lose its grip, but one can be lifted by the Holy Spirit’s power so as to become free from homosexual activity. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
Brethren Revival Fellowship believes that it is a loving act to call to repentance those who openly practice sinful ways of living.
Another objection given to those who oppose practicing homosexual lifestyles, is that there is a difference between homosexual rape, and loving covenanted homosexual relationships. Some homosexual activists condemn homosexual lust and rape, but say that a loving covenanted same sex relationship is okay. They declare that homosexual expression is acceptable, but should only occur within a loyal lifelong partnership.
The Scriptures make no distinction between gay lust and gay love. Homosexual “love” is never explicitly approved in the Bible. Indeed, whenever homosexuality is named, it is condemned. At no place in holy scripture are homosexual relationships commended. While biblical sexuality includes the concept of personal satisfaction, the primary aim for sexual relationships is to provide interpersonal completeness (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:8).
Homosexuality, whether defined in terms of lust or love, is not a valid model of sexuality, for it affirms incompleteness.
Perhaps the most often named objection given to those who oppose accepting homosexuality as being blessed of God, is this: They say that homosexuals “are born to be so.” The argument is that homosexuality is built into some persons’ constitutions, and that homosexuals are not responsible for their same sex tendencies any more than they are responsible for small ears, a large nose, blue eyes, or creeping old age.
There is disagreement about whether homosexuality is a result of genetic makeup, or whether it is a learned behavior. But many geneticists are slow to believe that homosexuals are “born to be so” because any gene clustering (in an embryo stage of a new life) that cannot lead to reproduction and the perpetuation of a species gene pool, is by definition “maladaptive.” Such a clustering is counterproductive to the fundamental purpose of genetic behavior. In these terms, homosexuality (if it is genetic in origin) cannot be reproductive of the race, and therefore represents a deviation from genetic norms. It violates the genetic purpose.
3. EXAMINING BIBLE TEACHINGS
The Bible classifies homosexual activity as a violation of the will of God. The creation account in Genesis 2:24 establishes heterosexual monogamy as the norm. The text says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” The only one flesh experience that God approves is monogamous, permanent, heterosexual marriage. In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus quoted the Genesis 2:24 passage when He said, “He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh”–and then He added, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
The question is: What has God joined together? The answer is: Male and female! Jesus endorsed the male/female union in marriage.
The biblical passages in Leviticus, Romans, and 1 Corinthians are clear prohibitions against homosexual activity.
In Leviticus 18:22, homosexual practice is called an “abomination.” And those who claim that the Leviticus passage does not apply to us since we live under grace and not under the law-must explain why we should not also be willing to accept incest, adultery, bestiality, and human sacrifice as well. All those acts are condemned in the very same passage from Leviticus.
In Romans 1:26-27, homosexual intercourse is referred to as a “vile passion” (or a “depraved passion”/NRSV). In the same setting, homosexuality is said to be not only a violation of the law of God, but it is also clearly said to be unnatural. This does not mean that it does not feel natural to the practicing homosexual. Any habit that is repeatedly practiced, whether wholesome or harmful, will come to feel natural to those who are practicing the habit. And any attempt to lay aside the habitual practice will seem totally unnatural! Ask any cigarette smoker!
It is true that the New Testament Gospels have no record that Jesus ever directly addressed homosexuality in His teachings-but to argue that homosexuality is acceptable to God because we have no direct words from Christ–is to say by the same logic, that we must approve the activities of child pornographers, cocaine traffickers, and wife beaters, because Jesus never addressed those matters either!
God created the sexual relationship. The pattern is clear in the Genesis creation account–one man cleaving to one woman, bearing children, raising them up to serve the Lord. Homosexuality by way of contrast, mocks God’s loving design for propagating the race. It is a radical rebellion against God and rudely rejects God’s authority.
There is no question in our minds, but that the Bible clearly and specifically condemns homosexual behavior. Wherever it is mentioned in Scripture, homosexual practice is uniformly condemned.
4. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
It is our purpose not to condemn the people who have embraced the homosexual lifestyle, but only the sinful practice. Those who commit homosexual acts are not to be feared, ridiculed, or hated. Their sins can be forgiven and their lives can be transformed. In New Testament times there were those who had been delivered from the sins of adultery, homosexuality, sodomy, covetousness, thievery, etc. — and were cleaned up and freed from those sins (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Committed Christians look with compassion towards homosexuals, and see their struggles, sympathize with their rejection, and are saddened by their personal agony. It is not easy for a gay or lesbian person to lose a job or to be rejected by their own families. We remember too that all of us have tendencies and drives which can be just as wicked as homosexual conduct. The one basic difference is that most homosexuals are saying, “My gayness is good. My sodomy is not sinful. God made me this way. God accepts my style of living as good. It is natural to me, and it’s time for you folks to accept me as I am, and to join me in saying that a homosexual style of living is acceptable.” Most other sinners are not saying that; we are not seeking to have anyone tell us that our sins are okay.
The avowed, practicing, and unrepentant homosexual is engaged in a great wickedness, just as the practicing unrepentant adulterer or robber or idolater is engaging in great wickedness. All who by the grace of God will repent of their evil behavior, and turn to Jesus Christ, seeking God’s grace for salvation and a new type of living, may be assured of God’s forgiveness and acceptance by the vast majority of Christians everywhere.
The Church of the Brethren has spoken out clearly on some of the prominent social issues. Matters such as war, nuclear energy, racism, and the arms buildup have been the subject of many Annual Conference resolutions — clearly stating that the Brethren call such enterprises sin. Should not the Church of the Brethren speak out just as clearly on the matter of homosexual practice? Brethren Revival Fellowship calls upon the Annual Conference to respond to the query coming as a business item in 2002, with just a few clear sentences, stating that we do not consider homosexual activity to be compatible with Christian teaching.
Furthermore, the church should condemn moves to legalize homosexual “marriages.” We should denounce efforts to compel the church to accept unrepentant homosexuals as members (let alone as ordained ministers). We must decry attempts to indoctrinate children by means of curricula that portray homosexual activity as normal. At the same time, we must remember that the Apostle Paul (in Romans 1:30-31) cautions Christians against becoming “arrogant” and “boastful” and “heartless” and “ruthless” (NIV). All of us must guard our attitudes, lest in the heat of our hatred for sin, we lose our compassion for the welfare of our fellow human beings.