In Christ, there is a new creation.\u00a0 Through the eyes of that new creation, we can see the words of scripture very differently. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n \n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u201c<\/em><\/span>From now on, therefore, we regard no one \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u201cThere is no longer \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u201cWho will bring any \n\u00a0<\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \n \n\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nErik Thorson is pastor In Christ, there is a new creation.\u00a0 Through the eyes of that new creation, we can see the words of scripture very differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c18-reader-blogs"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nOne of the main fronts in the culture war is the acceptance
\nof gay and lesbian persons.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nWhat I find tragic in the way this plays out is the way that
\nthe false witness of conservative Christians conflates homosexuality with
\npromiscuity, or other forms of sexual immorality.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nI have spent years worshipping alongside churches full of
\nfaithful gay and lesbian married couples who, to tell the truth, are sexually
\nvery boring people.<\/span>\u00a0 The media seems to
\nignore these persons, and I think frankly that they want to be ignored.<\/span>\u00a0 They want simply to live their lives and
\nlove the partner they have chosen for the rest of their lives.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nThough on the surface, the struggle seems to be about the
\nacceptance or condemnation of a group of people whose inclination for
\nrelationship and love is different than the majority, there is actually a
\ndeeper conversation going on, a conversation that takes place not at the
\nfringes of the faith, in the realm of behaviors and morality, but at the
\ncenter, with the basic questions of who Jesus is, and how we read our
\nscriptures.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nThe fundamentalist, who sees scripture as conceived in the
\nmind of God as an instruction book for life, sees some prohibitions and
\ncondemnations of same-sex activity in the bible, and this closes the
\nquestion.<\/span>\u00a0 Those who affirm gay and
\nlesbian relationships and marriages and support them obviously are not paying
\nattention to the bible, in this view.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nBut another kind of Christian sees the bible as a record of
\nhumanity\u2019s encounter with God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and hears God\u2019s \u201cliving
\nword\u201d coming through the experiences and words of our ancestors in the faith,
\nin spite of the limitations of time, place, and culture.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nSt. Paul in the 2nd<\/sup> letter to the Corinthians,
\nthe 3rd<\/sup> chapter, noted the difference between believers in the old
\nrelationship to God carved in stone tablets, and believers in the new
\nrelationship, written on human hearts.<\/span>\u00a0
\nHe was talking about the change that had come with the resurrection of
\nJesus.<\/span>\u00a0 He noted that a \u201cveil\u201d was on
\nthe hearts of believers in the old law, keeping them from seeing clearly.<\/span>\u00a0 This veil also keeps them from seeing the
\nglory of God reflected in the faces of fellow believers.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nI have seen time and time again that it is the experience of
\nknowing and loving a gay or lesbian person, and seeing their faith, seeing the
\nglory of God reflected in their faces and their relationships, that changes the
\nminds of people.<\/span>\u00a0 Whether it is a family
\nmember or a close friend, the witness of their lives lifts a veil from your
\neyes, and you no longer see person with the label \u201cgay,\u201d but you see someone
\nwho has been baptized into Christ and given the gift of the Holy Spirit.<\/span>\u00a0 Other words from scripture are opened to
\nyou:
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nWhere before you were concerned that God created humanity
\nmale and female, and that this was the only model for human relationship-
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nfrom a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point
\nof view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is
\na new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
\nAll this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has
\ngiven us the ministry of reconciliation\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:16-18)<\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nWhere the distinctions between male and female seemed
\nGod-ordained and absolute-
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nJew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and
\nfemale; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.\u201d (Galatians 3.28)<\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nAnd when you wonder if it is the right of the Christian to
\nbe condemning gay and lesbian people- (This one was read at my brother-in-law\u2019s
\nwedding)
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\ncharge against God\u2019s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is
\nChrist Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God,
\nwho indeed intercedes for us.\u201d (Romans 8:33-34)<\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nAnd so the growing number of Christians who affirm and
\nsupport gay and lesbian relationships hold scripture very close to our
\nhearts.<\/span>\u00a0 It is the Christ we meet in
\nscripture who overcomes our confusion, anxiety, and prejudice and frees us to
\nreconcile with neighbors who are different from us.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nI have no illusions about changing minds with this column,
\nbecause this is the question that polarizes the church more than any
\nother.<\/span>\u00a0 Rather, it is the Holy Spirit
\ngiven in baptism and found in the lives of gay and lesbian believers who is our
\nonly real hope for overcoming the divide.<\/span>\u00a0
\nWhich has more weight, the six verses in the bible that explicitly
\ncondemn same-sex sexual activity, or the overwhelming witness of the loving,
\nreconciling God found throughout the Bible?<\/span>\u00a0
\nWhich creation do we live in, the old or the new?<\/span>\u00a0 If Christ has claimed a gay or lesbian
\nperson and lives in them, isn\u2019t getting married just obeying the sixth
\ncommandment?<\/span>\u00a0 In the end, the way we
\ntreat our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in Christ will demonstrate what
\nkind of Christians we are.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nof Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Billings Montana<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"