Why am I doing this? I am not gay. No one in my family is gay. That is why I was able to stay on the sidelines for so long. It didn’t touch me personally.
I am a Christian who cares deeply about Christ’s church. The church is being torn apart by controversy over whether people who are homosexual can have full rights of membership. It is not just my own Presbyterian Church, but all of the denominations in this nation that are divided.
Our country is also being rent by this controversy. Attitudes toward people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender are among the factors that have divided us into red and blue states, rural versus urban areas, midlands versus the coasts. How we choose to respond to this issue is a test of who we will become as a nation...
This is a defining issue of our time. For some it is an issue of maintaining traditions and customs that have given order to our society. For others, it is an issue of justice -- all citizens should be entitled to equal rights under the law. For me, it is a moral and spiritual issue. How can the church live up to the highest ideals of Jesus Christ? How can we most faithfully act according to the central principles of the Bible? How can we most honestly and equitably share the love of God with all people?
I first dealt with this issue in the local congregation where my wife, Sharon, and I worship. Since that time I have explored it using my training as a scholar. I have not specialized as a biblical scholar, but I have wrestled with the biblical texts that are most commonly cited regarding people who are homosexual. I have not specialized as a church historian, but I have delved deeply into the history of how we have coped with other bitterly divisive issues in the church. I am a theologian and a historian of doctrine (the beliefs of the church) especially in its creeds and confessions. I have looked at these foundational documents of the church afresh, seeking guidance from the church’s central traditions.
I am a minister, a teacher, and I had the honor to be elected the Moderator of the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 2001. The Moderator is sort of an honorary head of the church for one year. I had the privilege, as Moderator, of traveling all over the United States, and in several foreign countries. I met people in congregations with 15 members and congregations of 4500 members.
I have been exposed to every kind of opinion on the issue of whether gay and lesbian people should have equal rights in the church and in society. I have encountered people red-faced with anger who have shouted at me. I have met people who wept because they felt rejected. I have met people who just didn’t want to be involved in controversy. I have known people who could not quite understand what the fuss was all about. I have come to know a great many people who are homosexual that I am now grateful to call my friends.
I want the church to be healed of this great wound in the body of Christ. My favorite seminary professor often said: “If Christ is divided, who bleeds?” My attitude toward this problem has changed. For a long time I thought that we just had to wait, that time would heal the controversy. I no longer believe that. The Presbyterian Church took that attitude toward slavery until the nation and the church were finally torn in two.
I have gone through a change in my mind and heart. I have gone from being a silent spectator to actively working for change. I believe people who are homosexual should be given full rights of membership in the church and citizenship in the nation. I believe that it is the only way to heal the wounds of the church and the nation.
We in the church are not living according to the ideals of our Savior and Sovereign, Jesus Christ, when we discriminate unjustly against any group of people in our midst. To act unjustly weakens our witness to Christ in the world. I believe that we will be one holy and whole church only when all our members are treated equally. Then, together we will be able to evangelize, worship, and serve with the integrity of those who live according to Christ’s teachings. To help us reach that goal is my reason for writing this book. I invite all who share the goal of healing the church to join me as I describe my journey of discovery and my change of mind and heart.
In this book each chapter represents a step in my own journey. In chapter one, “Studying Homosexuality for the First Time,” I describe how my journey began, on a task force in my local congregation to study the status of people who are lesbian or gay. Then I wanted to know how the church had dealt with other, similarly volatile, issues. In chapter 2, “A Pattern of Misusing the Bible to Justify Oppression,” I review how our leading theologians, for two hundred years, preached and taught that the Bible justified the enslavement of people of African descent and the subordination of women to men. In chapter 3, “A Breakthrough in Understanding the Word of God,” I present the dramatic change in biblical interpretation that began in the 1930s, and rejoice in the way that it supported movements toward equality for African-Americans and liberation of women from limiting stereotypes. Chapter 4, “Interpreting the Bible in Times of Controversy,” tells the story of how, in the 1980s, the Presbyterian denominations, North and South, developed guidelines for biblical interpretation. Here we walk through seven guidelines, see their support in our Reformed Confessions, and consider their application to the lives of people who are gay and lesbian. In chapter 5, “What the Bible Says and Doesn’t Say about Homosexuality,” we study, in detail, the usual biblical texts that are cited to condemn homosexual behavior and the theories, imposed on these texts, that twist their meaning. Chapter 6, “Real People and Real Marriage,” will enable us to move beyond stereotypes by introducing us to the powerful witness of faithful gay and lesbian Christian couples. In Chapter 7, “Healing the Church,” we look back on what we have learned and discuss the appropriate action that will move us forward. In that chapter I make recommendations for what the Presbyterian Church can do to right the wrongs of our present situation and to heal the divisions in the church. I hope that people in other denominations facing these same issues will be encouraged to reflect on the parallels in their setting and plan what they will do to bring healing to their communities.
Let us begin.
Jack Rogers
Pentecost, 2005
Jack Rogers speaks as pastor, professor, leader and scholar of Church History and scripture. How lucky we are to have such skills and knowledge behind this book reflecting the meaning of Christ's love for us today, charging us to work for the full inclusion of LGBT men, women and their families. How do we get this book into the hands of our politicians at local, state and national levels?
Posted by: Janet L. Bohren | March 24, 2006 at 01:56 PM