Stop Using The Bible To Declare That Homosexuality Is A Sin
In June we’re doing a series on the podcast called “Pride 2020” where I’ll be dialoguing with 5 of my LGBTQ friends about everything from what the Bible says and doesn’t say about homosexuality to their own coming out experiences. It’s going to be wild stuff so stay tuned.
In the meantime, though, I have a few things I’ve been thinking about regarding the topic of LGBTQ inclusion and the Bible.
(NOTE: I’m barely scratching the surface of the conversation here, these are just a few ideas I’ve been mulling over as I’ve been reading and preparing for the Pride 2020 interviews.)
Church people who stand against LGBTQ inclusion typically use 1 of 5 (sometimes 6) different passages of Scripture as their defense. We call these verses the “Clobber Passages” of the Bible because they are used to “clobber” LGBTQ people and their allies.
And this, mind you, is alarming to me.
Right?
Because in the Bible we have 23,145 verses with only 5 (or possibly 6) that make any mention of something that might be able to be translated as “homosexuality”.
Read that again:
There are 23,145 verses in the Bible.
AND ONLY FIVE OF THEM MAKE REFERENCE TO SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO BE TRANSLATED AS HOMOSEXUALITY.
And I find this alarming because even though only a tiny fraction of the Bible makes a possible mention of homosexuality, a large number of church people are prepared to outcast 100% of the LGBTQ community using those 5 verses as their only defense.
Some churches go as far as to 100% exclude them from fellowship.
Others will allow them to come to church, but withhold the sacraments from them.
Others will refuse to allow them to volunteer.
Many won’t allow them to be ordained as ministers.
On top of that, the context of these verses is extremely important. Not only the context of EACH individual verse and the book or letter they are found in, but the context of the entire Bible in which we find those verses.
What I mean by that is we need to remember that the Bible was written in an extremely patriarchal culture where …
Men ruled.
Men were in charge.
Men were the more powerful sex.
Men were superior.
… In other words, anything that suggested that a man was not in charge or was not in control or was in a position where he appeared to be weak or controlled by another was seen as an abomination.
Sorry to get graphic here, but I need to make a point.
In his essay “Invading the Roman Body” Jonathan Walters points out that in 1st century Roman understanding, the very identity of being a man was tied to the reality that the male body could not be sexually penetrated and so the reason why homosexual sex was spoken about so negatively was because a man would make himself weak by allowing himself to be penetrated by another man and would willingly allow himself to be emasculated, thus mocking and belittling the patriarchal culture that was so important in the Greek and Roman world where much of the Bible was written.
The thinking went like this …
“A man being penetrated isn’t in control.”
“A men being penetrated is allowing himself to be controlled by someone else.”
“A man being penetrated isn’t a man.”
On top of all of that, a man’s semen was seen as the life force that enlarged the tribe, pushed the human race forward, and strengthened a family and so a sex act that was wasted so that the semen didn’t attempt to impregnate a woman to create new life … it was seen as disgraceful, shameful, and a detriment to society.
Whether we like it or not, the Bible was written against the backdrop of this kind of understanding and sometimes I think we mistakenly assume that because the Bible was written against a patriarchal background that the Bible is teaching us to abide by patriarchal principles.
It’s not.
Right?
Slavery was the norm in Bible times and there really isn’t a place in the Bible where a writer speaks out against slavery.
Same with women - women being submissive to men was a patriarchal idea and there are multiple places in the Bible where women are told to be silent and to (more or less) stay pregnant, silent, and keep the home in order.
Today we look at these very Biblical ideas (about slavery and women) and realize that they are written against the backdrop of a patriarchal system and need to be reinterpreted and reconsidered in a time where patriarchy is on its way out (especially in the United States). Right?
Most sane people would say that slavery is an abhorrent act.
Most sane people would also say that silencing the voice of women is equally as abhorrent.
Why?
Because we realize that the Bible isn’t teaching us to live as patriarchal people, but is showing us how people thought about God and faith and spirituality in the midst of patriarchal times.
And so even if someone wants to argue that all 5 or 6 of the clobber passages declare that homosexuality is a sin and that the Biblical writers would have condemned any and all people who fall within the label of LGBTQ … I still don’t think such an argument holds up when looked at through the lens of the culture in which the Bible was written in.
Homosexuality was declared sinful in various places in the Bible because it was seen as something that emasculated a man, any form of which was seen as sinful in times that were laced with patriarchal ideals and values. These verses were written against a patriarchal backdrop and just as the Bible isn’t out to teach us that patriarchy is the best way, it’s also not out to teach us to shame, outcast, and exclude our LGBTQ friends.
The Bible can’t be used to declare homosexuality as sinful and taking 5 verses out of the 23,000+ to make such a claim is (in my opinion) irreverent and forces the Bible to make claims and judgements its not set up to make.
I don’t close my fists around many ideas these days as I hold most of my beliefs pretty loosely, but this one (along with the radical love and forgiveness of God) is one that I will lock in a death grip.
LGBTQ friends, you have an ally in me.
OH, and here are some helpful resources:
The Gospel of Inclusion by Brandan Robertson
Torn by Justin Lee
God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines
Unclobber by Colby Martin
Unashamed by Amber Cantorna
Much love,