Matthew lives in Wichita, Kansas.Homophobes should consider a little self-reflection, suggests a new study finding those individuals who are most hostile toward gays and hold strong anti-gay views may themselves have same-sex desires, albeit undercover ones. Matthew Vines is the author of God and the Gay Christian and is the founder of The Reformation Project, a Bible-based non-profit organization that seeks to reform church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity. This November, the Reformation Project will host a training conference for up to 900 LGBT-affirming Christians in Washington, D.C.-and the movement for change in conservative churches is just getting started. Mainstream denominations like Presbyterians and Episcopalians now ordain openly gay clergy, and there are seeds of change in evangelical churches as well. Faithful Christians are already embracing LGBT brothers and sisters. Sexuality is a core part of what it means to be a relational person, and to condemn LGBT people’s sexuality outright damages their ability to be in relationship with all people - and with God.ġ0. From the beginning of Genesis, human beings are described as having a need for relationship, just as God himself is relational. Marriage is even compared to the relationship between Christ and the church, and while the language used is opposite-sex, the core principles apply just as well to same-sex couples.ĩ.
Marriage often involves procreation, but according to the New Testament, it’s based on something deeper: a lifelong commitment to a partner.
And while he described same-sex behavior as “unnatural,” he also said men having long hair goes against nature, and most Christians read that as a reference to cultural conventions.Ĩ. He didn’t have long-term, loving same-sex relationships in view. Like other ancient writers, Paul described same-sex behavior as the result of excessive sexual desire on the part of people who could be content with opposite-sex relationships. Leviticus also condemns eating pork, rabbit, or shellfish, cutting hair at the sides of one’s head, and having sex during a woman’s menstrual period - none of which Christians continue to observe.ħ.
#Why am i gay meme code#
Leviticus condemns male same-sex intercourse, but the entire Old Testament law code has never applied to Christians in light of Christ’s death. The prohibitions in Leviticus don’t apply to Christians. The Bible explicitly condemns Sodom for its arrogance, inhospitality and apathy toward the poor - not for same-sex behavior.Ħ. It’s commonly assumed that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah out of his wrath against same-sex relations, but the only form of same-sex behavior described in the story is an attempted gang rape - nothing like a loving, committed relationship. Sodom and Gomorrah involved an attempted gang rape, not a loving relationship. Those harmful consequences should make Christians open to reconsidering the church’s traditional teaching.ĥ.
The church’s rejection of same-sex relationships has caused tremendous, needless suffering to the LGBT community-bad fruit. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that good trees bear good fruit, while bad trees bear bad fruit. Condemning same-sex relationships is harmful to the LGBT community. Requiring that all gay people remain celibate is at odds with the Bible’s teachings on celibacy, which are grounded Scripture’s core affirmation that God’s physical creation is good.Ĥ. The Bible honors celibacy as a good way of living - Jesus was celibate, after all - but it also makes clear that celibacy must be a voluntary choice.