Repeating the Church's Error During Slavery

In his book “Ownership,” Sean McGever recounts the historical actions and perspectives of John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield regarding slavery. A notable point of contention was whether slaves should be taught about Jesus. Many Christian slaveholders were reluctant to evangelize their slaves, fearing it would obligate them to grant freedom to their own slaves, leading to a loss of labor. Consequently, many withheld the gospel from their slaves, believing their salvation would come at a personal cost. This prioritization of self-interest over the spiritual well-being of slaves directly contradicts Jesus’ teaching to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and Paul's admonition to "Do nothing our of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to you own interstes but each of you to the interests of the others."

History often echoes itself, and I believe this pattern is evident in our churches today concerning the LGBTQ+ community. Some believe that maintaining personal and corporate holiness is paramount, even if it means sacrificing the opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community to know Jesus. The high value placed on holiness leads some to distance themselves from what they deem unholy or sinful. This stance results in the exclusion of the LGBTQ+ community from businesses and opposition to legislation that would grant them rights, further alienating them from the church.

What if, instead, we prioritized bringing Jesus to the LGBTQ+ community? This would require us to build relationships with them, replacing shame with empathy, and demonstrating love in a way that is recognizable and meaningful. While we must uphold holiness, it should not come at the expense of others. We are called to holiness AND to consider the well-being of the LGBTQ+ community, showing them the love of Jesus authentically and compassionately. 

Pride Month 2024 Letter to the Editor Capital Gazette

I have been a well behaved Evangelical all my life, and I think it is time we reconsider our position on LGBTQ people.

I always thought that people choose to turn against God and then as a consequence choose to live a homosexual life. However, I have read stories of Christian gay people that grew up in the church and got saved and loved Jesus that desperately tried to change their sexual orientation to no avail, and some have even committed suicide. Additionally, the largest gay change ministries have folded due to a lack of positive long term results.  These people are a problem for our theology that trite answers won’t solve. If God creates us for His glory in his image, did he make a mistake with the gays? Or did he make them that way to show his power to heal, but why hasn’t he done so consistently? Did he make them that way so they would grow through suffering? That doesn’t sound very loving.  There is just no easy solution for these people that my community has pretended don't exist.

I have known many rotten sinners in the church including myself. Yet they and I never faced the same condemnation from the church as LGBTQ people. It seems that if we exclude people from membership or service opportunities for being gay we should also exclude the arrogant, boastful, envious, and gossipers.

I have never known a Christian with no sin in their life, so we will all die as sinners. If somehow it was proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that being gay is sinful, gays would just be sinners like me. We might have different sins, but we would be the same, people that can't always get it right and need Jesus grace badly.