Holy Sophia the Holy Spirit has brought forth another revelation.
Today, more Christians are unconditionally embracing God’s LGBTQ children and rethinking the homophobia long misinterpreted in scripture. They are helping to smash the stereotype that Christians don’t support LGBTQ civil and human rights while showing how scripture isn’t anti-gay.
It is a revelation inspired, if not offered by Divine Wisdom, who is the Holy Spirit.
Increasingly, Christians who support LGBTQ rights are being less quiet. In greater numbers, they are stepping out of the shadows to disagree publicly with the Christian right while confronting ongoing religious homophobia.
This is not a fad, trend or political correctness. It merits repeating, it is a holy revelation.
All too often, many straight Christians supporting LGBTQ civil and human rights have done so quietly. They have discretely endorsed changes in their churches, cast a ballot in the privacy of the voting booth to overturn an anti-gay referendum, or answered anonymous surveys disagreeing with prohibitions on same-gender marriage.
Now they are becoming more vocal as Christians. It’s important not to perceive this growing movement as Christian liberals versus Christian conservatives. Political ideology has little to do with it.
There is something much more important going on, something transcendental, something inherently good.
Straight Christians becoming vocal are talking about living their faith to love more, judge less, and build a community where all have an invitation of equal value and respect at God’s family table.
It is faith in action.
Not All Like That (responding to anti-equality Christians) or NALT Christian Project is a new group “to give LGBT-affirming Christians a means of proclaiming to the world—and especially to young gay people—their belief and conviction that there is nothing anti-biblical or at all inherently sinful about being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.”
According to co-founder John Shore, “For much too long now, anti-LGBT Christians have used the Bible and the pulpit to bully, malign and shame LGBT people.”
He adds, “not enough LGBT-affirming Christians have stood up to boldly and clearly say how terribly wrong that is—to say that’s not what Christianity is, that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality, that ‘Christian’ leaders like Tony Perkins and Maggie Gallagher do not speak for us.”
This is important because it demonstrates straight Christians are speaking truth to power, despite mocking claims of “not being real Christians.” More important, it demonstrates to young LGBT people not to confuse Christianity with denominational vanity or the projected insecurities of people fearing God’s unfolding truth.
This raises a larger spiritual question NALT members should consider as they challenge the Christian right and religious homophobia in general.
What is revelation? What brings it about?
As noted earlier, Divine Wisdom, who is the Holy Spirit, has brought forth this revelation. She shows humankind a higher, greater truth drawing Creation closer to its Creator.
It is the mysticism of spiritual empowerment.
Left behind is no one.
In the past, Christians thought the world was flat, burned women for witchcraft, insisted the sun revolved around the earth, endorsed slavery and colonialism, and believed racial segregation and denying women the right to vote were all in keeping with God’s plan.
God didn’t change. Humankind changed. Throughout history, Holy Sophia the Holy Spirit took humankind by its hand to share revelations. She is again doing so today when it comes to LGBTQ civil and human rights.
Understanding Divine Wisdom as the Holy Spirit changes the Christian paradigm by furthering the spiritual union of humankind with its Creation.
Paul Jesep is a policy analyst, corporate chaplain, and author of “Lost Sense of Self & the Ethics Crisis: Learn to Live and Work Ethically” and “Crucifying Jesus and Secularizing America – the Republic of Faith without Wisdom.”