Why I Am Going To A Southern Baptist Conference On Homosexuality

Sunday night I will board my flight here in Washington D.C. and head down to Nashville, Tennessee to attend the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberties Commissions National Conference. This years theme is The Gospel, Homosexuality, and the Future of Marriage, which I know will make many of my progressive readers cringe. A Southern Baptist conference on Homosexuality? Why would someone who has recently become a public spokesperson for a national organization working for Marriage Equality want to attend such an event? Some might think that I am going with the intention of finding a soundbite to use in my campaign to change evangelicals hearts and minds on the issue of gay marriage. But that’s not why I am going. Some might assume that I am going as an act of protest or to make a scene. But that’s not why I am going, either.

Instead, I am going to the ERLC National Conference in Nashville for one reason and one reason only- because I love and greatly respect so many of the speakers and attendees at the event. I believe that I have a lot that I can learn from them and even though we have some major disagreements on the topics that are going to be addressed, I believe that by attending this event, going to sessions, having face to face conversations with leaders and friends, I will be able to humanize the people that I far too often has demonized and criticized, and cultivate deeper relationships and mutual respect with these evangelical brothers and sisters. I believe that if I am going to have any success in working for the transformation of evangelical communities into places of love, justice, and the Gospel, it will begin with reaching out to those who I have learned so much from but have come to disagree with and seek to understand their perspective and heart as my co-laborers for the Gospel.

Over the past four years as I have become an outspoken evangelical advocate for LGBTQ inclusions and equality, I have experienced a lot of hurt from within the evangelical community. Whether it is public condemnation or private conversations, as I have tried to follow the Spirit’s guidance on LGBTQ (and many other) issues, many of my evangelical friends and mentors have felt that I have abandoned something essential to our faith. Nothing is more painful than being excluded from a community that you have invested your soul in because you are following the Spirit of God. I have had long periods of anger. Cynicism. Confusion. And likewise, in these periods of pain, I have often spent a great deal of time criticizing and condemning my evangelical family both publicly and privately.

But by God’s grace, I have come to a period in my life where I truly have come to value my evangelical faith and the broader evangelical community. Though my theological and political views may be a bit too diverse (or “progressive”) for some evangelicals, I feel a deep sense of kinship and compassion for my community. Even though I strongly disagree with the way the Southern Baptist Convention addresses issues of sexuality, marriage equality, and religious liberties, I believe that if change is going to occur, it is going to begin with mutual respect, dialogue, and love for one another. It is going to begin with the realization that the Evangelical tent is far bigger than any of us first expected and that there are some very different perspectives represented within the tent. It’s going to begin with following Jesus’ example and going to be with those who disagree, not as an operative or activist, but as a friend, a brother, a fellow disciple.

Next week, when I step in to the Opryland Resort for the ERLC’s National Conference, I am entering as one of many weird siblings, who don’t really fit in with everyone else, but are family none the less. I am entering in with hopes of making many new friends, sowing the seeds of conversation and relationship, and being a witness to unity of the Holy Spirit that overcomes our pain and our differences. Yes, I am entering as an Evangelical For Marriage Equality. I will openly speak about my disagreements with my Southern Baptist siblings. We may have a few lively conversations. But beyond it all, I am hoping to see beyond our culture wars and theological qualms with one another, and gaze into our common humanity. Our common faith in Jesus Christ. The indwelling Spirit of God that unites us all.  I believe that if I can do that, real transformation can begin to occur. Not only in the hearts of the Southern Baptists, but in my own heart as well.

To follow my time at ERLC next week, follow me on Twitter where I will be tweeting quotes and pictures throughout the event. (@BrandanJR) And if you’re interested, you can watch the conference for FREE via Live Streaming by clicking here.