Responding to an open letter
from a fellow Chrisian columnist,
a US pastor explains his reasons
for writing in defence of openly
gay NBA player Jason Collins, and
emphasising a need for a
dialogue on homosexuality
within the church.
Pastor Dave Thompson, a
columnist for the Christian Post,
recently wrote a column
supporting Collins for his
decision to come out as gay,
saying many church
leaders “have denied the grace
of Christ for gay couples,” and
commending his bravery.
Jason Collins recently spoke
about his sexuality, confirming
he is gay in an article in Sports
Illustrated magazine. He
said: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA
center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”
Another Christian Post
columnistr, Pastor Ken
Hutcherson directly addressed
Thompson, criticising his column,
and compared homosexuality to
“gambling, porn, alcohol and
drug abuse,” as well as saying it
“destroys the family… and
eventually the soul”. He also
claimed that homosexuality has
“destroyed every civilisation it
has touched”.
Writing for PinkNews, Thompson
responds to Hutcherson’s letter,
noting his reasons for
commending Collins for coming
out, and challenges biblical issues
raised.
The full letter is available to read
below.
Dear Dr Hutcherson,
I am so grateful for your open
letter and your words written in
love and with concern for our
Scriptures. Thank you for your
willingness to dialogue about
this very important issue. This
has been my intent from the
beginning (even with my book),
not to convince people of my
reflections, but to encourage
dialogue concerning the
thousands of gay brothers and
sisters in our churches. I will
attempt as best I can to address
the numerous points you have
made.
First, I feel I should note that I
couldn’t claim to respond for
millions of Christians, as you do.
If fact I cannot claim to represent
anyone but myself. All that I can
respond for are my convictions
of the Scriptures. Still, I do bring
the stories of many voiceless
conservative faith pastors who
have shared with me their hurts
concerning the rejection of gay
people from their congregations,
who fear the cost of standing up
to address this issue. I do bring
the tears of the parents who
have wept with me over the loss
of their gay children that they
rejected for reasons of faith. I do
bring the words of Jesus who
says, “And whosoever shall
offend one of these little ones
that believe in me, it is better for
him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and he
were cast into the sea” (Mark
9:42). So I wrestle alongside of
you as a fellow pastor, with fear
and trepidation, measuring the
danger of denying anyone
adoption into the family and
Kingdom of God.
You’ve asked me to show you a
place in Scripture where
homosexuality is justified. I will
not. Neither would I attempt to
justify divorce and remarriage,
nor working on the Sabbath, nor
any other human complexity.
Instead, as someone who is
conservative in their biblical
interpretation of Genesis, I
perceive that God initially
intended sexuality as an
expression between a man and a
woman to be shared in marriage
with one-another. That said, the
challenge is that we are not in
the Garden, we have all-together
found ourselves in a changed
world, with consequences that
leave us to find the best and
most ideal solutions amidst the
complication of unchangeable
human realities.
For gay people, circumstances do
not provide them with the ability
to live into the Genesis notion of
straight sexuality. Still, they are
equally in need of relationship
and intimacy. Forcing any person,
gay or straight, into celibacy,
when God has not gifted them
for it, forces them to sin by
forcing them to violate God’s first
moral observation in Genesis,
that “it is not good for man to be
alone” (Gen 2:18). Even Paul
recognized this when he says “it
is better to marry than to burn
with passion” (1Cor 7:9). This is
the biblical challenge with which
we must wrestle.
This is perhaps where I fear our
churches have appeared as
hypocritical to the world. In our
churches, we welcome many
people into the Kingdom of God
even though their own
circumstances do not allow them
to live into the Genesis ideal of
God. For example, in our
churches nearly half of our
members (if not more) are
divorced and remarried. Many of
them did not divorce over marital
infidelity and so they are now by
Jesus’ words living in adultery
with their new spouse (Matt 19).
We would never dream of asking
them to divorce their current
spouse and live a celibate life,
even though it would be the
ideal, because we recognize their
need for relationship. And yet,
we do not extend the same
grace to gay persons who also
find their circumstances
unchangeable, while still needing
relationship.
I am so grateful that you have
brought up the question of
‘choice’ for gay people. This is a
key point of conversation in my
book, Over Coffee, and is often a
misunderstood aspect. I think
you would agree that no straight
person ever made a conscious
choice that they would be
attracted to the opposite sex.
They just were. For gay people it
is the same. Moreover, why
would someone ever choose an
orientation that would in many
ways guarantee them rejection,
hurt, and ostracization. I am
grateful that we are beginning to
find our churches as a place
where our gay brothers and
sisters can find the welcoming
arms of God, love, and a
community of refuge.
I would agree with you that
same-sex attraction ‘destroys the
family,’ but for different reasons
than you state. I would not
group it with the changeable
elements like ‘gambling, porn,
alcohol, drug abuse,’ etc. Gay
people can’t change their
orientation. Even our evangelical
gay ministry, Exodus
International publicly recognizes
this. In our churches, the
destruction of the family has
come from our hesitance to
understand the unchangeable
nature of same-sex attraction,
and from the unfortunate
rejection of and lack of support
for our brothers and sisters who
face this human complexity.
Thank you also for bringing up
the example of Sodom and
Gomorra. This passage of
Scripture is often misapplied to
the context of gay people. As I’m
sure you noted in your reading
of the passage, the men of
Sodom and Gomorra desired to
rape the guests of Lot. Rape is a
horrific and ungodly violation of
the intimacy God intended for
sexuality, which is far from the
desires of our gay brothers and
sisters. As you are no doubt
aware, in contrast to this, our
gay brothers and sisters seek
companionship, intimacy, and
the most godly fulfillment of their
created need for relationship as
is possible for them.
As for homosexuality ‘destroying
every civilization it touches,’ I am
not sure to which civilization you
were referring. I am no historian,
but I think it may be a bit hasty
to suggest that homosexuality,
let alone any one issue, has been
the sole cause of any civilization’s
destruction. In point of fact, a
handful of super-power societies
had recognized same-sex
relationships even before their
rise to power, among them the
Roman empire. This is neither
here nor there, when it comes to
our biblical conversation, but I
thought that I should reflect on
this point.
Last, as for Jason Collins, I am
happy to hear that you would
welcome him into your
congregation, helping him
understand the true love of Jesus
Christ, as you have done with all
of the other persons in your
church who face unchangeable
human circumstances. Every one
of us has our own unique
human circumstances, requiring
us to work out our salvation with
fear and trembling (Phil 2). And
each of us will have to measure
for themselves what repentance
means.
www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/05/24/us-pastor-why-i-support-jason-collins-decision-to-come-out-as-gay/

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