Transcript: Lesson 25 - The Family of God & LGBT+ People

Friends, welcome. We are thinking about God's story and how God's story is called to shape  and form our sexuality, our singleness, our marriage, and to understand how once we get the  big picture of who God is, and what God is doing in creation, and how he is at work in  redeeming us, what that means for our marriages, for our sexuality, for our singleness. And so far, we have thought about worldviews and understanding how worldviews work.  Understanding how they function as stories in our everyday lives. How how worldviews are  oftentimes caught, more than taught. We have thought about marriage and sexuality, we  have thought about singleness, and how those things all fit into the story of who God is, and  who he's calling us to be, as His people well in these next few units, we're going to think more specifically about what it means to be the family of God, and LGBT+ people. This is a topic  that that depending on where you're coming from, depending on your background, this may  be a topic that you have rarely talked about, it's maybe off limits or not discussed in your  context. Whereas for others, I would assume that we have LGBT+ people who are students  who are watching this and thinking, how does this apply to me and maybe bringing with you,  some hurt some pain, from your experience in a church context. And so I want to be sensitive  to that. And I want to, I want to think about how together we can approach scripture and  understand what Scripture teaches and and really what it has to say to all of us. And so my  goal in these sessions is not to focus in on LGBT+ people as, as you know, these are folks who really need to hear what I'm saying, but rather to focus on all of us as the church to say, how  can we understand better who God is? And how can we embody that as His people? And so  we'll be thinking about that it will be thinking about some of the biblical and theological  questions that do arise around LGBT+ concerns, as well as the pastoral concerns and thinking about what it means to to care well, to Journey well, with LGBT+ people. Preston Sprinkle in  his book, "People to be Loved", emphasizes that oftentimes, Christians, especially more  conservative Christians, have approached LGBT+ concerns with a sole focus on truth, we  want to focus on the truth, we want to focus on what Scripture says, in a way that oftentimes  overlooks what Scripture teaches about grace and what Scripture teaches about how all of us  are called to recognize the grace of Jesus that comes to each one of us. And in that book, he  highlights a few numbers from a survey done actually, by Andrew Marin, and another book  called "Us Versus Us." And part of what this highlights is that when we think about the church  and LGBT+ people, we're not talking about two different groups, that Andrew Marin, in this  survey, one of the largest surveys ever undertaken of LGBT+ people on the topic of faith,  religion, spirituality. What Marin found was this 83% of the LGBT+ people that he interviewed  in this large survey, were actually raised in the church. This is why he titled his book "Us  Versus Us" to be clear here that what we're talking about is not Christians and people inside  the church against people outside the church. But that when we talk about Christians and  LGBT+ people, that's actually two largely overlapping groups of people, not two opposing or  contrasting groups of people. But about 51% of those raised in the church of that group left  after age 18. In this survey, Marin asks, you know, why, why did you leave the church? What  are your reasons for not feeling at home there not being comfortable there anymore.  Interestingly, only 3% left, because of the church's doctrine, only 3% left because they said,  You know, I just I can't handle the Church's teaching. I don't believe the Church's teaching on  marriage or on sexuality anymore. That was only 3%. Many more said they left because not  because of the Church's teaching, but because how people in the church treated them treated them as as second class citizens treated them as as people to be shunned because of their  sexuality or their sexual orientation. Interesting Marin found that 76% of people who left are  open to returning to church. And so what that that shows is that there's actually an  overwhelming number of LGBT+ people who, who grew up in the church who have been  alienated from the church, not not because of church doctrine, but for other reasons. But that  there is an openness to coming back to the church. Now, you might hear this and think that  well, okay, that's, that's, they're open to coming back to the church, but probably if the  church changes, right, the church changes their doctrine if the church changes their view of  marriage. But what Marin found is that only 8% of those people said, Yeah, I'd be open to  returning to church, only 8% said, The church needs to change. It's theology. And so part of  what that that shows us is that there is this, this openness and this desire to be connected to 

the church, to be connected to God, that there is this spiritual hunger there, that oftentimes,  people find themselves apart from the church, because of how the church has postured itself,  toward LGBT+ people. If the posture is, you know that we are better than those of us who are  who are straight those of us who who struggle with straight sexual sin. If our posture is that  we are better than LGBT+ people, then it's very hard for there to be a real connection. And so when we think about these numbers, and when we think about the call, to put God's love, and grace, on display, I think part of what this points us back to is the need for the church to  function as the family of God. I want to read again, from Mark chapter 10, this is a couple of  verses that I read in a previous video. But I just think these verses are so important for us to  get who we're supposed to be as the church who were called to be as the family of God. So  Mark 10:29, Jesus replied, "Truly, I tell you, no one who has left his home or brothers or  sisters, or mother or father or children or fields, for me, and the Gospel, will fail to receive 100 times as much in this present age, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields,  along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be  last. And the last first." Part of what Jesus is pointing us to here is that in his ministry, in his  gospel, he is creating a new family. That part of what the kingdom of God does is it is it says, I am forging these new bonds, these new familial bonds between people, so that you now  function as family. And so it's important for us when we think about what does it mean, to put  God's love and grace on display for a watching world? What does it mean to be the people of  God, a key part of that means we have to understand how we function as the family of God.  And that includes how we interact, how we care for how we walk with our LGBT+ brothers and sisters, how we even need to take this posture, not just, you know, I'm going to walk with you. And I'm going to show you the way as though I, as a straight person, have it all figured out.  But rather, how can I actually learn from LGBT+ people, and what they know about the gospel from their experience from their walk with Jesus, and let them teach and guide me, as I  learned what it means to walk with Him. Now, some of you might be hearing this and thinking that you're trying to fit me into the box and what I'm saying here, the box of, you know, is he  a theological, conservative or theological progressive? Or how does this all work? What is he  saying? So we'll work this out, we're going to spend some time in the next few units  processing, how to understand what Scripture says, about our sexuality, about our gender,  and also trying to be clear about how Scripture speaks to all of us. One of the things that I'm  passionate about is making sure that we understand that we all stand in need of the gospel.  See, my worry is that oftentimes the way that Christians have approached LGBT+ people is  sort of like, you really need the gospel. And I, you know, I'm, yeah, as a straight person, as a  cisgender person, a person who, you know, identify who would say, Yeah, I'm a I'm a man, my sense of gender identity fits with my biology as a man. You know, there's this danger that I  would say as a straight cisgender person. You're I sort I don't need the gospel quite as much  as my transgender friends, as my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in Jesus. And so I want  to be really sure here that when I think about the gospel, part of what Romans 1 and 2 does it  even though people oftentimes use Romans one to single out, same sex relationships,  Romans 1 and 2, Paul is working really hard to say, you all Jew or Gentile, you all person who's in same sex relationship or not, you all stand in need of the gospel equally, that there is  nobody who can say, well, I don't need Jesus, quite as much as them. I don't need Jesus, quite as much as that person because of their sin, because of their struggle, all fall short. So  Romans 3:23, "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God", we all equally stand in need of the gospel. And so I want to make sure that as you're watching this, that that we all realize  that we're in the same boat, we are in the same place of need of Jesus. And this is so crucial  to get because if we don't understand this, we're going to take a posture of pride, we're going  to take a posture of using truth to sort of beat people over the head with instead of coming  alongside people, including ourselves, humbly, gently, right, this is one thing you see  throughout the writings of the Apostle Paul. See, Paul knew that even though he had all these  external markers of goodness of being right in the eyes of God, Paul knew that all of that was  worthless, because at the end of the day, he was a sinner in need of Jesus. And because he  understood the depths of his own sin, he was able to come alongside and plant churches and  walk alongside people, with humility, with gentleness with patience, because he recognized 

constantly his own need for Jesus. And so we all stand in need of the gospel. But we all are  called to grow in Christ. See, this is the thing about who Jesus is he he bends down to meet  sinners, where they're at, that you and me, the see Jesus is is determined not to leave us  where we're at. See, a lot of times, I think people do maybe, to some extent, understand the  forgiving grace of God that God's grace forgives our sin. But what I also want you to  understand is the empowering grace that comes through Christ that comes through the Holy  Spirit of Jesus poured out on us. And empowering grace enables us to do what we can't do on  our own. And so we have to recognize that grace forgives and Grace empowers. And it's really important that we get both of these. Dietrich Bonhoeffer a German theologian, warned  against what he called cheap grace, which is a focus on God's forgiving grace, that neglects  God's empowering grace. He says, cheap grace is when I just say, Yeah, Jesus forgives me, my sins are forgiven. And now I can just live however I want, I can just kind of do what I want.  That's cheap grace, because it misses the fact that Jesus wants to, through His Holy Spirit,  use you and me to communicate the good news of who he is to others. And that requires a life that is surrendered to Jesus, a life that calls all of us gay or straight, transgender cisgender, to to surrender ourselves to him to surrender our sexuality to him. So that ultimately, we can put the story of his love and grace on display for the world around us. Now, I do want to mention  briefly, one complicating factor, I think, in this discussion, and that is, especially in the  American context, what sociologists have called culture wars, the culture wars over things like sexuality, culture, wars over things like the definition of marriage and, and how that's going to be understood and how that's going to be legalized in different ways. And because of the  culture wars, a lot of conservative Christians and LGBT+ people have have seen themselves  as enemies, and in fact, this has affected the broader culture. About 5 to 10 years ago, there  was a study that was done of how especially younger people viewed Christianity. And one of  the number one terms that people use to define Christianity was anti gay, anti gay, and this is in part because so many Christians had fought political and legal battles against legalizing  same sex marriage, now, I'm not going to try to get into all the different ramifications of the  political and legal matters here. I'm guessing that probably if we were to sit down and have a  conversation, a lot of us would have many different perspectives on that. But I want us to  acknowledge that this is this is a complicating factor because it makes it in some ways, hard  for my gay friends hard for my gay neighbors, who I know and who I who I care about. It  makes it hard for them to listen to me as a Christian because they think about Christians as  people who are fundamentally against them, who are who are working against them in the  broader culture. And I would just ask this question. What is more important? Is it more  important that my gay friends and neighbors know who Jesus is? And know about the gospel?  Or is it more important that the laws of the land, the political structures of the land, reflect  what I think God's will is? Now I know, maybe you say, Well, it's a both and and as we think  about this, it's complicated. And I fully acknowledge that it's complicated. But what what I  would argue, though, is that the number one concern for Christians should be that we put the  gospel on display in our lives, that we can speak the truth of the gospel. And people hear that truth. And if, if what I think or what I do, or what I say politically, for forms a barrier to people  hearing the gospel, then then maybe I should be willing to lose some political battles, so that  people can actually hear and understand the Good News of the Gospel, rather than thinking  that Jesus and the gospel is something that is fundamentally against them. Now, I know you  might be watching this again, some of you might agree, some of you might disagree. But I  think part of what I want to communicate here is that we do put the kingdom of God first that  we do put communicating the gospel first. And then any other concerns, political, legal,  cultural, have to come second. And so that means I do have to ask some hard questions  about the posture I take and how I interact with LGBT+ people in my church in my  congregation in the broader culture. Well, as we continue to think about this, in the next  video, we're going to try to unpack some terms, some language to be clear that we're all on  the same page. Oftentimes, especially if you're not in the midst of this discussion, it can be it  can be difficult to keep up with the conversation. And so we want to define some terms and  think about what it means to minister well to folks. So until next time, blessings