Can lgbtq people be christians
How Should Christians Respond to Gay Friends or Family Members?
Caleb Kaltenbach (M.A. ’07) is an alumnus of Biola’s Talbot School of Theology, lead pastor of a large church in Simi Valley, Calif., and a married father of two. He’s also an emerging voice in the discussion of how Christians should engage the LGBT community. That’s because Kaltenbach has an insider perspective, having been raised by a dad and mom who divorced and independently came out of the closet as a lgbtq+ man and a queer woman . Raised in the midst of LGBT parties and pride parades, Kaltenbach became a Christian and a pastor as a adolescent adult. Today, he manages the tension of holding to the traditional biblical teaching on sexuality while loving his gay parents.
Kaltenbach’s unique story is detailed in his new manual Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction and landed him on the front page of the New York Times in June. Biola Magazine reached out to him to talk about his novel and his perspective on how Christians can greater navigate the complexities of this issue with facts and grace.
In your guide you say that it’s time for Christians to own the issu This question is a powder keg—an extremely sensitive issue. If you have gay or bisexual tendencies, this is not just a theological debate, but speaks to the core of how you see yourself and how God views you. The homosexual conversation impacts not just those who determine themselves as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Double attraction, Transgender), but all of us. Regardless of whether you can relate with this struggle, you will have to sort through your own views on the topic. If you do not already, you will have a nice friend or family member who is gay. You will have to produce decisions about whether to go to a same-sex wedding, whether to own your daughter and her partner over for dinner, and whether to join a church with a gay pastor. Within the last decade, the Christian notion on homosexuality has gone through a drastic turnaround. There has been no new scientific or theological discovery; many people have changed their minds about what they believe. In today’s changing society, stating that homosexuality is anything but an acceptable lifestyle, approved by God, is seen as unloving, judgmental, hateful, and in some places, criminal. One of the most wonderful What Does The Bible Utter About Homosexuality? Introduction For the last two decades, Pew Research Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible say about attraction to someone of the equal sex?” Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the term homosexual wasn't even coined until the tardy 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality. Before we can hop into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a short but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible. What is the Bible? For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its contents through inspired Vines, Matthew, God and the Male lover Christian: The Biblical Case in Assist of Same Sex Relationships, Convergent Books, 2014 Wilson, Ken,A Letter to My Congregation, David Crum Media, 2014. The relationship of homosexuality to Christianity is one of the main topics of discussion in our culture today. In the drop of last year I wrote a review of books by Wesley Hill and Sam Allberry that take the historic Christian view, in Hill’s words: “that homosexuality was not God’s authentic creative intention for humanity ... and therefore that queer practice goes against God’s express will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ.” There are a number of other books that take the contrary view, namely that the Bible either allows for or supports same sex relationships. Over the last year or so I (and other pastors at Redeemer) have been regularly asked for responses to their arguments. The two most read volumes taking this position seem to be those by Matthew Vines and Ken Wilson. The review of these two books will be longer than usual because the topic is so contested today and, wh This may not be a huge surprise, but we receive A LOT of questions via email, social media, and in person on Tuesdays. What compassionate of questions? Well, anything from, Should I acquire back together with my boyfriend or girlfriend? to What should I carry out next with my life? to How should I lovingly engage those in the LGBTQ community? In this blog series “Ask The Porch,” we’re answering real-life questions that we’ve received from you. Disclaimer: our highest priority is always to first respond with biblical counsel from God’s Word. The hardest questions to answer are those in the “grey” areas. So we’ll do our best to share our biblically-informed opinion, but recognize that we may contain different convictions on the non-essentials (vs. the essentials). Now, let’s dive into the question for this week emailed in from an online listener: “Hey David, I am a Christian and own struggled with same sex attraction since childhood. I would not wish it on anyone. It’s very hard being alone and longing for someone to hold hands with. I want the chance to love and have someone love me back. I want to live a life for God but I also don’t yearn to live on this earth alone.
Can Christians Be Gay?
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
The Bible and equal sex relationships: A review article
Tim Keller, 2015
Can a Christian be gay?