What does the Bible say about....?

 In discussions about homosexuality people often turn to the Bible for an answer. The big problem with this approach is that it turns the Bible into something which it is not, a sort of religious  encyclopedia. Typical of this approach is the question: "What does the Bible say about....." It seems to suppose that the Bible says something about everything in life. One often even hear preachers comparing the Bible with a manual or a handbook.

 Dangerous:

Attractive as this may sound, it is a dangerous approach. Taken to its logical conclusions it leads to bigger questions. If one could for instance ask the question: "What does the Bible say about the nature of the earth?" you would have to conclude that the earth is flat and rests on pillars. The only reason many Christians don't do that is because we had 500 years of hard scientific proof that convinced us that this is not the case. It took a while to get used to it, but I know of no one that would insist that similar descriptions from the Bible describe the reality of the earth anymore. It would have been nice if the Bible told us that sickness could be caused by germs or a virus, that the earth revolves around the sun, that coca-cola is bad for your teeth etc. That is however not the case. The Bible is simply not an encyclopedia, and to treat it as such is actually a form of disrespect even though it is disguised in a tux and a black tie. This approach tends to read the Bible a a collection of verses written to modern individuals instead as books written to specific people with specific questions in the past. Treating the Bible like this often result either in heresy, hurt or unbelief. 

“the fountainhead of all false biblical interpretation and of all heresy is invariably the isolation and the absolutising of one single passage.” (Oscar Cullmann, The State in the New Testament, 47).

It is therefore better to drop the 'about' part of the question when approaching the Bible and simply ask: What does the Bible say? This is not easy, because our heads burst with questions and our conflicts crave a judge's hammer that will easily settle arguments, preferably in our favor of course.. Let me illustrate the difference:

'Biblical giving':

A few years ago, I heard a preacher give a powerful sermon on giving. He preached about the widow who gave her last two copper coins (Mark.12:41-44) in such a compelling way that at the end of his sermon people were flooding to the front of the church to empty their wallets. Ironically most of the money probably paid for the preachers plain-ticket to the Bahamas. I have also noticed that it is usually not the widows who preach from this passage.  The sermon that resulted from this passage was the result of asking the question:"What does the Bible say about giving in church?"

What is the result when one approaches the same passage not with the question:"What does the Bible say about giving?" but rather with the question "What does the Bible say?" or in this case, what is the author of the gospel trying to say with this passage. The passage gets a whole new meaning. Let us look at the broader context of this passage.

The incident with the widow occurs at the end of a series of conflicts between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem (Mark. 11:27-12:40) and right before the words of Jesus about the destruction of the temple (Mark. 13). Actually the tension between Jesus and the temple already comes to the surface after His entry into Jerusalem (Mark. 11:1-26). Just preceding the incident where this old widow comes to give her copper coins, the author relates that Jesus said:

"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." (Mar 12:38-40)

This widow giving her last coins illustrated the failure of the temple and it's leaders to do what was just. A closer reading of Mark 11:1-26 reveals how the story of the cursed fig tree is intertwined with the cleansing of the temple and the eventual destruction of it. The story of the exploited widow giving her last coins is a most concrete example of the bad fruit of the temple system in the time of Jesus. All of this is simply not seen when someone read the passage of the widow in isolation as an answer the question: "What does the Bible say about giving?".

When read as part of the carefully composed gospel of Mark, asking what the author is trying to say, the passage of the widow giving her coins is not in the first place about giving, but an tale about God taking the side of those who are exploited by religious leaders. What happened however is that this preacher in his expensive suit already knew what he wanted to say about giving. All he needed was a text to give it a legitimate basis. He found his text and he got his money, sadly ignoring the bigger warning the whole passage had in store for him and others like him.

A similar thing happens when people in the debate about "What the Bible says about homosexuality?" usually read Romans 1:24-32 and fail to see how the passage is part of a whole letter, with an agenda they themselves often ignore: equality before God and the unity of the church. Perhaps when I have time, I will write more about that.  For now it is sufficient to say. Don't ask what Paul says about homosexuality in Romans. Simply ask:"What was Paul trying to say?" Taking seriously what Paul is trying to say in the whole letter should keep us busy for a while.

Why Christians don't know any gays

A discussion on Facebook and my recent experience in a media debate about reparative therapy made me think about why most Christians hardly know any gays.

For many years thought I was the only gay Christian. I simply did not know any other people struggling with the feelings I was struggling with. You see the problem in the church is that we do not know many gays. We often only know them from a distance. In that case our perception is often colored by our preconceived ideas, about what we heard. To be very honest even though I knew for quite a while that I was 'different' I had the same ideas about other gays as most of my fellow Christians. Gays were the kind of people who had no limits, were just following their feelings and lusts, had unlimited sex-partners and would have sex at the drop of a hat. And gays could not be Christians and Christians could not be gay. Then I got to know some.

I still remember the first time I went to the birthday-party of a friend who lived with his partner for a couple of years by that time. He used to be actively involved in a Pentecostal church close to where I lived by the way. I went to his party, curious about what I would encounter. I was also a bit scarred that I was doing the wrong thing. What if I would be tempted to do something I shouldn't. But he was a friend who listened to me in my struggles. And I had to, I wanted to. I wanted to know if there was perhaps anyone else in the world that would understand what I was going through, the pain I was feeling. Not just telling me so, but someone who would really understand. Well, there wasn't. You know why? None of the people I met was struggling with themselves being gay, in fact all the people I met at the party were actually pretty normal. They talked about their work, talked about the politics of the past election, about a new job, about the weather. When they heard what I was doing, one of them told me about his experience with a Christian colleague. When she heard that he was gay, she said something about getting healed. He said: Healed from what? I am not sick. I had a hard time trying to explain to him why some Christians think like that. But apart from this incident, when I went home I had to think: "Actually I haven't been to such a 'normal' party outside of the Christian circles I spent all my time in".

When a few years later I got to know the stories of some Christian gays, I heard very different things. Some of them were convinced that they were not supposed to have a relationship and tried to stay celibate. Others were thinking that they could have a relationship but were often still wrestling with God, and those verses from time to time. Some gave up hope thinking: "Since I am already going to hell, I can just as well take the scenic route". I remember the emotional words of a man at a meeting about the subject. He came from a strict Reformed background and said, while shaking with emotion: "I tried for 35 years, I can't anymore. If God really thinks this is so important, it is His turn now. I cannot anymore..." I heard many heartbreaking stories of people who told about their struggles to accept themselves and get accepted in the church. Many just gave it up. And in giving up their church, or in being given up by their church, lost the only support group they had. But these stories are never heard in church.

Meeting other gays, I also heard other stories never told in church. I met people who found a love of their life. People who have been together for 11, 17, 23 years. People who make coffee in the morning, go to church together. In fact one of them, a wonderful guy with a true pastoral heart just moved to another church after pastoring his church for a number of years. I heard from someone in that church that the people are quite sorry that he and his husband left, because he was such a good pastor. I know another couple who have been together for 23 years. Still in love, still monogamous. Last year I ate dinner with a friend and four lesbian couples in a nice restaurant. I was reluctant at first, confronted by all my stereotype idea's about lesbians. What a night we had. What warm and wonderful people, what love. But I realize that many Christians would rather have me tell that I noticed that they were all somehow struggling with something.

The sad thing, is that most of my fellow Christians do not think about such people when they think about gays. They think about threats to their families and their way of life, just like I used to think about black people as dangerous and uncivilized when I was growing up in South-Africa under apartheid. Once I got to really know some black people, I was surprised to meet loving and intelligent people, people who enriched my life through their unique gifts and characteristics. In fact, eventually I forgot that they were black.

The sad thing is that when it comes to LGBT's we have created a church apartheid. We accept those gays who 'get healed' and married to someone from the opposite sex. If they are doing well, we ask them to give their testimonies. And we rejoice and say amen. Or if they struggle, we comfort them with a place in heaven where it will all be ok, just like the slaves in the American South were comforted with the 'sweet by and by'. We tell them they are welcome to visit anytime. And we really mean it, mean it well. But is that really what you want to do all the time? Barging in on another family? Hopping from the one, then to the other, never being just really at home.

As for those who do not manage one of these two categories, we have no place for him. If he or she does not get kicked out, they get gossiped or judged out. And when they leave we shake our heads about another person who 'chose to follow his own feelings instead of Christ'. Perhaps we are sad. But we quickly forget. That is why the only gays we know are ones who tell about the change in their lives or the ones who struggle, but at least they are doing it for Jesus, and we comfort ourselves with the idea that He will reward them. As for the rest...well we of course we love them, but we hate their sin. And since we hate their sin so much, we never get very close to any of them. For fear of contamination or just because we do not really care. Not knowing too many gays, helps us to keep saying the harsh things that makes them stay secret or leave.

And most gays do not know any loving Christians. Perhaps that is why so many of them are so anti-Christian...or are they?