News from the Gay, Lesbian, and Affirming Disciples Alliance

Contents: June 2007

What Does GLAD Believe?

People with questions about the GLAD Alliance often send email via our website, which the GLAD Council responds to as best they can. Recently, a woman who was doing some research on sexual orientation and the church for a ministry class sent several questions:

1. What are the core beliefs about sin within the GLAD community? Why is homosexuality not considered sin and can you give me some examples of behaviors that would be sinful?

2. Is monogamy recommended and are multiple partners considered sin?

3. Are there any qualifications for leadership within the GLAD community and for what purpose?

4. What are the core scriptures that GLAD emphasizes and are there responses to the Bible passages that seem to admonish the lifestyle?

In good Disciples fashion, GLAD does not have statements of faith and belief, but Moderator Patricia Case shared her thoughts on these questions with this student.  “In true Disciples fashion, GLAD does not claim to have a corner on the truth. But we DO believe that we have something to contribute to the conversation,” she began. The rest of her response:

We ARE Disciples, so your questions are more fully explained by a review of basic Disciples theology.

Disciples come around a common table, where we bring our understanding, our pain, our sorrow, our joy, our sinfulness, our desire for unity and our joy for the diversity with which God has gifted us. We engage the scriptures, our experience, Christian tradition — and we leave room for the Holy Spirit to guide us as we try to live faithful, effective, innovative lives in response to God's amazing grace.

GLAD emerged at a time when a lot of people in the church seemed to be pretty certain that "homosexuality" was a sin. (We tend to do that, we Christians, find the OTHER person who is sinful.) We have often generated more heat than light as we have tried to discover any kind of revelation about why God might have made some of us the way we are — or even IF God made some people this way.

Disciples would say that, at its core, SIN is separation from God and God's intentions for our lives. We understand sin to be pretty much universal (all have sinned and fallen short). So, when we label others "sinners," we exercise a good deal of humility (remove the log from your own eye before picking at that speck in another's eye). That doesn't mean we are wishy-washy about noticing sinful behavior — ours and that of others. In fact, "sinful" behaviors that capture our attention often are those that most obviously seem to drive the wedge deeper between Creation and the Creator. Hatefulness, violence, mean-spiritedness, indifference to the pain and suffering of others, un-neighborliness, and so on.

To address this vis-α-vis the GLBT community, Disciples face a most challenging question: "What is the Gospel message to the church with regard to Gay and Lesbian Christians?" Right now Disciples all over North America are engaged in a discernment process on this question. Why? Because behaviors within our community are CLEARLY driving a wedge deeper between Creation and the Creator. The conversation has been mean-spirited and unhelpful, driven by FEAR of difference rather than LOVE of the One Creator God.

While Disciples are divided on the issue, defining sexual orientation (which many recognize is a gift of their Creator) as sin — in and of itself — would not make theological sense to many of us. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by the God who made all that is -- who apparently has a pretty sharp eye to diversity, having created it.

While we still struggle as Disciples with whether God smiles or frowns on same-gender relationships, we might agree on a few things.

1. Fear is the opposite of Love. When we act on our fear and strike out at each other, we are not living up to our fullest potential. Sadly, Christians sometimes fall back into fear, and do horribly hurtful things to other children of God. Sometimes we appoint ourselves the judge of another's life and attempt to exclude them from community, pretending to be acting on behalf of God — but failing to demonstrate God's mercy, compassion and love. Or we do not hold one another accountable to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we walk away from each other, rather than remaining in community.

2. As for marriage, when we make a covenant with someone for life, we have to WORK HARD to keep that covenant. Monogamy is not the norm in this culture, in heterosexual or homosexual partnerships — more marriages (opposite gender) end in divorce than actually survive. However, these broken covenants do not model God's faithfulness — they are not the standard for lasting, human relationship between committed partners. We make far too many promises we do not keep, and thus create a world of hurt and pain. Sometimes the Christian community forgets that we have to support each other in relationship for it to last. We leave couples — whether same-gender or opposite gender — in isolation. So, when things get tough, they split up, rather than having the support they need to make it through difficult times. The fact that same-gender relationships endure at all, is a measure of their deep commitment, despite a culture that constantly tries to get them to break their promises to each other.

3. The fundamental message of the Good News of Jesus Christ is that God's kind of love, God's kind of justice, conquers all — even death. So we live in humility and hope that no power on earth or in heaven, no principality or power, not even our own sin can ever separate us from the love of God. This should be the basis on which we build community, loving relationship, accountability to one another and to God, careful conversation as we strive to discern together what God intends for us. Sadly, we settle for a lot less that the Gospel standard for our relationships, far too much of the time.

May the peace of our loving Christ be with you,

Patti Case
Moderator
GLAD Alliance Council