Quick thoughts on the homosexual issue at home

UPDATE (17/8/2007): I've distilled some of these thoughts into a slightly more refined version at The Agora.

Update #2: Tan Soo Inn's commentary 'A Time for Clarity and Wisdom' is excellent!

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I’ve noticed that in recent days that my blog has had hits from people googling things along the lines of "Malaysia false teaching" and "Malaysian church controversy". My guess is that they’re looking for more information and insight on Rev. Ou Yang Wen Feng, the first Malaysian pastor to declare his homosexual orientation openly, and who is reportedly seeking to plant a gay-friendly church in Malaysia.

This is an issue close to my heart as I do have friends who are gay, or who struggle with it. Last year, when I was in a leadership position in the Christian Union, this was easily the toughest issue I ever had to wrestle with. One of my friends, whom I shall call H, from an atheistic background, had become a Christian and was plunging herself enthusiastically into Christian activities. At the same time, H saw no conflict between being a professing Christian and an active homosexual lifestyle. H was open, however, to being persuaded otherwise. H and I had several conversations as I sought to persuade H of the biblical case. In all honesty, I was completely out of my depth and we never even got anywhere close to a ‘resolution’. Still, it did teach me a good deal, about pastoral care, about the extremely difficult balance inherent in tough, disciplining love and tender, gracious love, and the necessity of good exegesis. (Not to mention being afraid that if the student media had gotten wind of this, I might be crucified!) And I still remember vividly the tears of a mutual friend as she cried over H and her wish that H would see that this was not how God intended it to be. Would I have the same compassion!

I don’t really know much about this situation beyond what’s reported in the Star, and I think I’ve already shown I’m no expert. But assuming that the church’s traditional teaching on homosexuality is correct, here are a couple of things to reflect on:

1. We can agree with Rev. Ou Yang that we want a church “where everybody felt safe and welcomed”, and a church that reaches out to everybody, including heterosexuals, homosexuals and transsexuals.
   
   
2. In the words of David Field, “those who accept the Bible’s veto on homosexual behaviour must go out of their way to express genuine love for homosexual people.” Christians can be countercultural not only in their stance towards homosexual people, but in their radical love for them, especially since in Malaysia, there is still less tolerance amongst the general populance towards homosexual people. We should repent where we’ve failed on this count.
   
   
3. Christians should protest against any true injustice and discrimination against the homosexual.
   
   
4. A popular Christian cliché is “love the sinner and hate the sin” (I have used it myself). It is a worthy attempt at a soundbite to try to encapsulate a dual fidelity to God’s prohibition of homosexuality and the command to love people. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to separate the sin from sinner, opens ourselves up to the charge of double standards (“why do Christians talk about this in relation to homosexuality and not other ‘sins’?”) and potentially could lead to sub-biblical assumptions as it oversimplifies God’s character as both holy and loving. I say ditch this saying.
   
   
5. The church, however, must be clear on its teaching on homosexuality. Clear enough that ideally, no one needs to ask what we think about homosexuality if they know that we’re Christians. This is needed too to be of help to our brothers and sisters who are struggling/ambivalent but truly want to know what path they should embark on.
   
   
6. This brings us to a directly related issue, and that is one of hermeneutics. In other words, we need to wrestle with how to read and apply the Bible. After all, “if we can enjoy seafood, what’s wrong with gay sex”? This is especially important as we seek to persuade our Christian homosexual friends that we have a proper confidence that the traditional interpretation is the right one.
   
   
7. We need to be sensitive to those who struggle with homosexuality. It is never as simple as simply “snapping out of it”, and for some, it will be a lifelong battle. There are often many contributing factors to homosexuality, for which a homosexual person might not be responsible for.
   
   
8. We should separate individual homosexual people from the wider “gay agenda”. I hesitate to use the phrase, since it can have quite emotive connotations, but in the West at least, there does appear to be somewhat of a concerted attempt to give a disproportionate voice to homosexuals and force through explicitly pro-gay policies. Nevertheless, while Christians should rightly contend in the public square against this, they should at the same time be careful not to dehumanise homosexual people.
   
   
9. Christians ultimately should not feel anxious over this. We can rest assured in God’s good sovereignty and trust that the gospel changes lives.
   
   
10. This is, quite simply, a very difficult issue. Honestly, I'm still out of my depth. We need God's help.
    

Further reading on the subject (* means I have read it):
*What's So Amazing about Grace?, Philip Yancey. The chapter Grace-Healed Eyes (if I remember the title correctly), is the first thing you should read. Yancey's story about his friendship with Mel White, who is now with MCC, the same denomination as Rev. Ou Yang, is moving and instructive.
*How to Read the Bible for all its worth, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, or any other book on interpreting the Bible.
*Straight and Narrow?: Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexual Debate, Thomas Schmidt. This books gives you the exegetical meat, clearly laying out the debate between traditionalists and revisionists, without ever losing sight of the person.
The Bible and Homosexual Practice, Robert Gagnon. This is an exhaustive scholarly work that leaves no stone unturned.
*What some of you were, ed. Chris Keane. A collection of stories of Christians (and their families) who struggle everyday with homosexuality.
Loving Homosexuals as Jesus would, Chad Thompson. A well-regarded book.
Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth, Jeffrey Satinover.
Holiness & Sexuality, ed. David Peterson.

Homosexual Relationships and the Bible, David Field. This will help in looking at some of the Bible passages on homosexuality.
Responding to Pro-Gay Theology, Joe Dallas. This is a very comprehensive article dealing with a variety of questions from an ex-gay.
Homosexuality: A Personal Reflection, Jamie Arpin-Ricci. An important personal story.


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