On a Whim
One never can tell exactly how someone will react to the revelation that you're gay and Christian. I guess it depends upon whether or not this someone considers the terms to be mutually exclusive.
Here is one recent post from the guestbook at jenaustin.com:
"You people make me sick! Why is it that you think you can go change the world to suit your whims? It isn't all about you!"
Believe it or not, my first reaction to this post was to smile and clap and thank God. As long as sentiments like this exists, gay Christians have a greater purpose.
And she's exactly right. It isn't all about me, or any other gay Christian for that matter. It's about a truth that resides somewhere beyond us, and just happens to be expressed through us. I think most gay Christians realize that. I didn't choose to be homosexual any more than my parents chose to be heterosexual. Sexuality, after all, is not something you can pick out like a fun new shirt at Old Navy and choose to wear whenever the mood strikes you. Sexuality is something much more deeply engrained in us, and something that we must awaken to and learn how to freely express even in the face of judgment and condemnation. It's certainly not a whim.
The idea that homosexuality is somehow a whim is a strange one to me. Is heterosexuality a whim? When I imagine a whim, I imagine some big smokey cloud that playfully swirls around people and semi-randomly causes them to do things they would not normally do. For me, it would be whimsical to decide to run out and buy a sequined eveninig gown when I'm so practical and non-frilly by nature. Sexual attraction is not that wild and crazy either. It's a natural constant that cannot be reduced to the emotional equivalent of a wild hair.
There seems to be an underlying assumption here that heterosexuality is the healthy norm, and therefore homosexuality (and bisexuality, transgenderedness, and anything else non-hetero) must be a wicked departure from that norm. But heterosexuality is not the only acceptable expression of truth. Homosexuality is just gray matter that will not fit inside the minds of those who think in black and white.
Perhaps this is where the lust idea comes from. Romans 1:26-27 says, "God gave them over to shameful lusts. 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."
Others assume that we homosexuals have to first become inflamed with lust for one another before we act, and since lust is a bad thing then, naturally, we must be bad. Never mind the goodness that is inherent in committed homosexual relationships. Love, peace, joy, kindness, and other visible fruits of the Spirit are frequently overlooked. But it's important to keep in mind that at the time Paul wrote this passage in Romans, temple prostitution was prevelant and needed to be addressed, and that's the opportunity Paul is seizing here. Cults were usually the primary participants in temple prostitution, and members used both homosexual and heterosexual acts as a means of personal gain. It's not hard to see the wrongness in that. Same sex love is not addressed here. But this passage is often used to form a negative opinion about homosexuality despite that.
I don't consider myself to be terribly inflamed anyway. I'm far too subdued by nature to be considered either whimsical or inflamed. But if having dinner with my partner, stopping at Lowes for lightbulbs on the way home, and giving her a kiss goodnight before I pray and fall asleep is inflamed, than I guess perhaps I am. Oh the shame.
I'm happy that this poster thinks we have the power to change the world. But it won't be to suit our whims. It will be to more freely contribute to a society that holds love and truth in the highest esteem and pays little attention to the vessels through which they travel.
To the anonymous one who posted the message to which the blog refers, I'm really sorry we make you sick. I would rather not think that my presence on this earth causes you physical harm, especially when the idea is to uplift, inspire, and make life better. But then, as you said, it's not all about you.
Here is one recent post from the guestbook at jenaustin.com:
"You people make me sick! Why is it that you think you can go change the world to suit your whims? It isn't all about you!"
Believe it or not, my first reaction to this post was to smile and clap and thank God. As long as sentiments like this exists, gay Christians have a greater purpose.
And she's exactly right. It isn't all about me, or any other gay Christian for that matter. It's about a truth that resides somewhere beyond us, and just happens to be expressed through us. I think most gay Christians realize that. I didn't choose to be homosexual any more than my parents chose to be heterosexual. Sexuality, after all, is not something you can pick out like a fun new shirt at Old Navy and choose to wear whenever the mood strikes you. Sexuality is something much more deeply engrained in us, and something that we must awaken to and learn how to freely express even in the face of judgment and condemnation. It's certainly not a whim.
The idea that homosexuality is somehow a whim is a strange one to me. Is heterosexuality a whim? When I imagine a whim, I imagine some big smokey cloud that playfully swirls around people and semi-randomly causes them to do things they would not normally do. For me, it would be whimsical to decide to run out and buy a sequined eveninig gown when I'm so practical and non-frilly by nature. Sexual attraction is not that wild and crazy either. It's a natural constant that cannot be reduced to the emotional equivalent of a wild hair.
There seems to be an underlying assumption here that heterosexuality is the healthy norm, and therefore homosexuality (and bisexuality, transgenderedness, and anything else non-hetero) must be a wicked departure from that norm. But heterosexuality is not the only acceptable expression of truth. Homosexuality is just gray matter that will not fit inside the minds of those who think in black and white.
Perhaps this is where the lust idea comes from. Romans 1:26-27 says, "God gave them over to shameful lusts. 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."
Others assume that we homosexuals have to first become inflamed with lust for one another before we act, and since lust is a bad thing then, naturally, we must be bad. Never mind the goodness that is inherent in committed homosexual relationships. Love, peace, joy, kindness, and other visible fruits of the Spirit are frequently overlooked. But it's important to keep in mind that at the time Paul wrote this passage in Romans, temple prostitution was prevelant and needed to be addressed, and that's the opportunity Paul is seizing here. Cults were usually the primary participants in temple prostitution, and members used both homosexual and heterosexual acts as a means of personal gain. It's not hard to see the wrongness in that. Same sex love is not addressed here. But this passage is often used to form a negative opinion about homosexuality despite that.
I don't consider myself to be terribly inflamed anyway. I'm far too subdued by nature to be considered either whimsical or inflamed. But if having dinner with my partner, stopping at Lowes for lightbulbs on the way home, and giving her a kiss goodnight before I pray and fall asleep is inflamed, than I guess perhaps I am. Oh the shame.
I'm happy that this poster thinks we have the power to change the world. But it won't be to suit our whims. It will be to more freely contribute to a society that holds love and truth in the highest esteem and pays little attention to the vessels through which they travel.
To the anonymous one who posted the message to which the blog refers, I'm really sorry we make you sick. I would rather not think that my presence on this earth causes you physical harm, especially when the idea is to uplift, inspire, and make life better. But then, as you said, it's not all about you.
posted by Jen Austin at 3:41 PM
1 Comments:
great post... thank you so much. why is it so easy to condemn homosexual love under the guise of lust, when heterosexual lust is so evident and bountiful and overlooked?
and isn't Christianity supposed to be about acceptance? we, as gay Christians, don't choose to just accept and tolerate heterosexuals because doing so would keep us from self-marginalization; we embrace heterosexual Christians and non-Christians alike because of Jesus' teachings of unconditional love, grace, and mercy. the Church is supposed to be an INclusive community of worship, not an exclusive one based on preconceived notions that certains ways of life are a "lifestyle" which suggests that they are chosen and wrong and can be changed if one so desires it enough and prays for it. we all know that homosexuals, transgendered, bisexuals, etc can no more change their orientation than a heterosexual can. if heterosexuality and Christianity are not mutually exclusive then why is 'gay Christian' viewed as an oxymoron?
Christ's main message was of love and how to treat one another. so how can anything based on love and a life lived in love (and love through God) be anything but good and Holy in His eyes?
just a few things to think on...
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