Big Questions. No Answers

189. Good morning. Hope you had a good weekend. Mine was nice. Hopefully this week will keep the good vibes flowing. I feel like I might be getting sick. I hope not.

I was 5-3 on my football picks this weekend. I think that is my best week yet. I’m up to 60% for the season.

I wrote several weeks ago about the book study I’m leading at Edgemont UMC: Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White. We’re getting into our last couple of weeks. It’s been a really good study so far. I hope those participating agree.

Our topic last week was “Homosexuality at the Center,” well, that was the chapter title anyway. We had a good honest conversation on the issue. As the moderator of the Wednesday night discussions, I try to keep my opinion out of the conversation. I don’t always do a great job.

I don’t keep my opinion to myself because I’m trying to hide it. Rather, I feel that as facilitator it is very easy for me to push the conversation one way. That would make it difficult for anyone with an opposing view to have his or her opinion heard. That’s not what the class is about. My aim is for each side to get equal play, whether I agree or not. Then we can look for common ground and find where we need to build bridges between the sides. I try my best to be the impartial middle ground.

Here I get to share my opinion. I’ve done it many times. I’ve addressed this topic more than a few times. (Here’s one of them. And here’s another. You’ll have to skim down a bit.) In short, I don’t think being gay is a sin. (Go to those previous posts for more, that’s not what this entry is about.) That being said, here’s what I think is a sin: the way the Christian church has treated Gay community.

As a church, we have failed our mission as it relates to the Gay Community. We have failed to love our neighbors. I don’t think the old, “Hate the sin; love the sinner” cliché applies here. Being gay is not something you “do” it is something you are. To take that attitude you are, in essence, saying, “I love you, but I hate who you are.” Impossible.

For decades the church has shunned gays. Not only shunned them but condemned them. We’ve hated them, or at least condoned hate of them. We have denied them basic civil rights. We have denied them acceptance. We have denied them love. We have denied them the opportunity to become disciples of Christ. We’ve denied them access to God’s love. (We’ve tried. We can’t, despite our worst efforts, separate anyone from the love of Christ.) We have seriously damaged, and in many cases destroyed, any chance at reconciliation.

In Seeing Gray, author Adam Hamilton observes that the church’s attitude and actions have “wounded” the gay community. My question last Wednesday was, “How do we heal those wounds?”

The first step is to acknowledge that there are wounds and that those wounds need to be healed. After we concede the wounds where do we go? What is the next step?

I guess my other question is this: Is the gap too wide? Are the wounds too deep?

These are big questions, but they are important questions. I think we need to talk and think long and hard about the answers.