"Jesus is love, therefore we have to ordain gays and lesbians." This is another great statement from the ELCA assembly last week. The argument was being made that since Jesus is love (I John 4:8), therefore the loving thing would be to ordain gays and lesbians. If we don't, we are not showing the love of Christ.
The question is more what defines the love of Jesus. We know that Jesus loves ALL people (Lame, poor, sinners, prostitutes, gays, murderers, tax collectors, etc). Yet, does that mean that Jesus doesn't call for repentance? Does that mean that all should be pastors? Did Jesus tell the woman caught in adultery, "Go and get your freak on?" No, He said, "Go and sin no more." He gave qualifications to overseers (Titus 3, 1 Timothy 3) and the scriptures constantly tell us of repentance.
I would argue that one of the greatest ways to show love is by good order. Kind of like showing love to your kids by giving them an orderly life (schedules, clean house, order of events for bedtimes, etc). In the same way, God has instituted His love through an orderly way to have his church function and His children live a Godly life. Therefore, should gays and lesbians be loved as children of God? Yes. Should they be ordained because God loves them? No.
Lord have mercy
1 comment:
Some interesting points here. I get frustrated with this whole conversation, though, because people get caught up in whether homosexuality is right or wrong or who gets to the be the leader. I wish we as a church body could shift the conversation to how we could minister to the gay and lesbian community in a Christ-like way. I don't see either side really doing this.
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