Reason #1: It's a Justice Issue
Why go public with your support of LGBTQ people? Because it's a justice issue, that's why.
This is reason one of ten in my efforts to convince silently affirming pastors, leaders, and influences to come out of the theological closet and be clear in their inclusive theology.
Reason #1 - It’s a Justice Issue
Odds are that you weren’t a pastor back in the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s when churches throughout America were wrestling with the matter of desegregation.
But let’s toss you in a hypothetical time machine and take you back to when black people were not allowed to attend white churches and vice versa.
And now imagine you’ve been hired to pastor a Whites Only church in Alabama, but unbeknownst to your congregation you come from the future. A future where people are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character (I know, I know, that is still a ways off in the future, isn’t it?).
How do you compose yourself?
How do you show up to this church as their leader, their shepherd, their guide?
When you pull up to the church on Sunday morning and see your congregation actively deter non-white people from walking through your doors, what’s your move?
I’m guessing you’d like to believe that you’d say something, right? You’d recognize the inherent, problematic, and unjust grotesqueness of dividing our society according to the quantity of melanin distributed within a human being’s skin organ.
“This is a justice issue,” you’d tell your governing body. “As believers in Christ and as followers of Jesus, we must embody the reality that within the Kingdom of God there is no place for discrimination.”
I believe that you would not hesitate to speak out regarding your internal beliefs about the injustices of racial discrimination. And well you should!
Which raises the question, then: What is stopping you now from doing this about the marginalization of LGBTQ people?
Now before you dismiss this line of reasoning with “race and sexual orientation are not the same thing,” let me cut you off by saying: Race and sexual orientation are not the same thing.
I know that.
No one is earnestly suggesting they are.
What I (and others) mean when we use comparisons and analogies like this is that we believe it is not right ( which is to say it is unjust) to discriminate according to a person’s unchosen, inherent characteristics.
Full stop.
Of course at this point many non-affirming Christians would object and say, “Being gay is not an inherent, unchosen characteristic like that of skin color; it is a sinful choice rooted in a sinful condition.”
But I’m not writing this letter to them. I’m talking to you, the LGBTQ Affirming pastors, leaders, and other such influencers who have already been convinced of the non-sinfulness of queerness.
Therefore, you already know that to discriminate against someone because they are gay or lesbian or transgender is not okay.
And make no mistake about it, non-affirming churches absolutely do discriminate against queer people. They will not hire them for certain jobs, they will not grant them leadership positions, they will not marry them, and so on.
I know you know all this. I’m not expecting you to be like, Wait, what?! Churches discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation?! I won’t patronize you in that way.
But what I will say is, if you already know this is happening, then why does is it not bother you more?
You’ve probably read this quote before, but I’m reminded of the words of Upton Sinclair who said,
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."
Whether you’re conscious of it or not, you are de-incentivized to see the urgency of going public with your beliefs as long as your salary (or platform, or influence) is connected to such a move.
I’m asking you to momentarily set aside your own personal situation and consider the larger issue at play here.
Why go public with your affirming beliefs?
Because it’s a justice issue.
What do you think?
Does this reason have merit? Do you agree with it? Why/why not?
What would you add to this?
Feel free to share publicly (via comments) or privately (via sending me a message).
Help Spread the Word
If you’re like me, and you believe more people need to come out of the theological closet and be clear and public in their affirmation of LGBTQ people, then help spread the word by sharing this article either directly by emailing your people, and/or posting on social media about it.
Let’s get this in front of the eyes that need to see it!
We’ve been struggling with this very issue, but not out of fear. Instead (1) This is 50-year-old news for us in the Episcopal Church. To proclaim publicly that we’re affirming feels as backward as hanging out a sign that says “You can be black and come here” or “Females allowed in church.” OF COURSE you can be LGBTQIA+, but saying that makes us sound like we’ve just come to this decision, like it’s some big revelation for us. (2) We can’t figure out what language we’d use: inclusion, tolerance, affirming all sound patronizing. (3) “All are welcome” is weak, and in our ears sounds a little bit desperate, begging people to come rather than truly inviting them for the sake of glad hospitality. (4) Do we just slap a pride flag on all our media? Feels like tokenism.
I’d LOVE some advice on what to say and how to say it!
Oooh... You make me want to start a church, so not only can I be open, LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ affirming, but also be a prominent figure doing so and helping others do so... I just might, but I don't know the first thing about starting a church, and I chose Social Work not seminary, still you have just gained a subscriber!