By Elaine
Gay and Christian? YES!
Introduction
I used to envy my wife. It didn’t take her long at all to reconcile her faith with her sexuality. She simply asked herself the question. “Why would a loving God condemn me for loving another person?” Her answer? “He wouldn’t!” and that was that! Pam never had a problem again reconciling her faith with her sexual orientation again!
That wasn’t my journey. It took years before I was finally able to reconcile the two. It seemed that after I had one major question resolved another would rise up to take its place. There didn’t seem to be a single issue I didn’t run into along the way. It hardly seemed fair! Why was my journey so difficult while most others had an easier time of it?
My answer came years later when I was pastoring a small Church in Hayward California. It seemed like there wasn’t a gay congregant in our church who didn’t deal with this issue at one time or another. Luckily my difficult past had equipped me well to minister in this area. We ran a class on this subject at least once a year and in between classes I worked individually with countless numbers of folks from our church and others. Even with the class I found this subject was taking an inordinate amount of time and found it difficult to move on to other subjects I wanted to teach about.
My time dilemma was further exasperated by my job (i.e. the one that paid the bills!) that required me to travel constantly. Topping things off we had just celebrated the arrival of our first child so it was quite a busy time indeed!
With my time stretched so thin I couldn’t help people quite as much as I’d like concerning this issue. It became apparent by my third year of pastoring that my notes needed to be written and presented in such a way that folks could study them for themselves when I wasn’t available. Not only did this seem like a practical solution to my dilemma but it also ‘lined up’ with what God had laid on my heart years earlier. That being that I was supposed to write down my journey of self-discovery concerning being Gay and Christian.
God’s instructions to me concerning this matter seemed quite clear. Not only was I to write down what I’d learned. But the chapters were to be presented in exactly the same order that I had dealt with the issues. This meant the book was as much one woman’s spiritual journey as it was a scriptural study into the matter.
The other thing God laid on my heart was that the book should be as easy to read and ‘to the point’ as possible. This meant, much to my chagrin that a lot of material had to be left out. For instance the chapter on the “clobber passages” could easily be a book onto itself. But I felt impressed that God would task others with writing such a detailed analysis. I’d been given a different mission to accomplish.
One thing I want to make clear before we start. I am neither a professional writer nor do I claim to be a Bible scholar. My education is primarily from the secular world. I have two B.S. degrees – neither of them in Theology (Accounting and Information Systems) and a Masters in Public Administration. My only ‘formal’ theological training came from a series of correspondence courses I took from Rhema Bible college years ago. Everything else I’ve learned through my own study, reading and listening to others. Not to mention a heavy dose of the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance along the way!
In spite of this I take heart that few of the early disciples were educated men themselves. While there were exceptions here and there most had little formulized religious training. In spite of this, God felt comfortable enough with their ‘credentials’ to impart His message of love and reconciliation through them and out to the rest of the world. God seems to take great pleasure in this. That being to ask the less skilled among us to tackle jobs that seem beyond our talent and training. Perhaps it’s His of way of proving time and time again that in the end nothing else matters but His loving touch.
What follows is not the book itself but an abbreviated version that focuses on the key points. For a more detailed read into the subject I encourage you to pick up a copy of “Calling the Rainbow Nation Home” when it becomes available. I hope the following blesses you and makes your journey of reconciliation a little easier.
Elaine :)