Because I live in the cross-hairs of evangelical and mainline Protestantism, I saw everything from pictures of friends proudly posing with their partners to desperate pleas to pray against the degradation of our Christian nation. In an unrecognizable move on my part, I said nothing. In fact, I wasn't sure what to say. I couldn't put my finger on the pulse.
I had dinner with a friend on Friday night, an openly gay United Church of Christ pastor and, I'll be honest, I expected more jubilation from him, something along the lines of a playground winner's taunt. My expectation was unfair and his compassionate response brought a pulse under my fingertips again.
For a couple years, I've been both disheartened and frustrated by the conversation the church hasn't been having.
The evangelical church hasn't been having a conversation about what it means to be whole persons created in the image of God.
-About how sexuality factors into our personhood and isn't something you can amputate without damaging the whole person.
-About sexuality as more than particular acts and "thou shalt not"s.
Meanwhile, the mainline church hasn't been having a conversation about the responsibilities and sacrifices attendant to a distinctly Christian life.
-About the fact that discipleship is not a private matter that ends where the bedroom door shuts.
-About how the Sermon on the Mount point us toward sacrifice -- not rights -- as the counter-intuitive beginning of human flourishing.
In a prophetic word, Neal Plantinga writes in Not the Way It's Supposed to Be:
"The same tradition that held pride to be a sin and humility a virtue has often been dominated by whites who have preached humility to blacks, by men who have preached submissiveness to women, by rigid and unimaginative persons who have regarded every creative impulse, every struggle for personal dignity as a shameful show of arrogance. In the eyes of such persons, anyone who wanted mere self-respect was cheeky." (Evangelicals 'fess up.)AND
"In one of the tragic ironies of sin, the humbled sometimes reply by usurping the very pride they hated. They reach for proper self-respect but end up overreaching...in sin as on ice, people coming out of a skid tend to oversteer." (Mainliners pay attention.)Because, you see, this is the conversation I hope we can gain by losing DOMA.
I want us to talk about sexuality
-As a part of what allows us to carry the image of God and a part of what's been broken by sin.
-Without resorting to binary categories (homosexuality = bad; heterosexuality = good)
-As the whole spectrum of delight we receive from being embodied creatures, not simply what we do with our genitals and who we do it with.
-Therefore in terms of stewardship not eradication.
- By recognizing intimacy, not sexual activity, as the non-negotiable in human flourishing
And I want us to talk about discipleship
-As a part of a community committed to Christ and accountable to one another.
-With a recognition that Jesus' most famous sermon had more to say about responsibilities than rights.
-As though Jesus actually has something to say about our bedrooms (and our bank accounts, while we're at it.)
-Therefore in terms of integrity not selfishness.
-By recognizing obedience, not personal gain, as the non-negotiable in human flourishing
Because here's what I believe we stand to gain by losing DOMA:
Partnership in the Gospel as we work together to craft winsome, compelling lives of delightful embodiment and sacrificial discipleship.
Amen!
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