I don't know how many of you have heard about what's happened at APU (Azusa Pacific University) this week, but it's a challenging thing. Briefly, a female professor of Theology has recently decided that she is transgender, and sees herself as a man. To my knowledge, the university will keep her (him?) on staff for the rest of the year and then, potentially, let her go. To my knowledge, she will no longer be teaching. For obvious reasons, this has sort of shook the APU community. In fact, a number of students in the LGBTQ community at APU have "come out" as it were. They publicly posted - as in printed out and put on the opinion wall, thing on campus - their names, photos, how they sexually/gender identify themselves, and had a small note about the fear they have experienced at APU. Some have posted opposing views (some in love, some less lovingly) and others have posted their support.
I stood at looked at it today with some other students, listened to their comments of support and surprise, commented a bit, and, honestly, it was a very weird experience. I am a Bible-believing, fairly conservative Christian who's been raised in the church and so to see so many Christians condoning this is...a weird experience.
This whole...scandal, for lack of a better word, is an interesting and challenging one for me personally. The older I get, the more I realize that life is messy and that more and more frequently we find ourselves in the middle of this mess.
For the past few days I've been wrestling with this issue. On one hand, the Bible is clearly for a one man, one woman relationship and He created us man and woman. Period. It's pretty black and white. But on the other hand, God is a God of so much love and mercy and that gets messy as we try and live that out because God calls us to be like Him. He is a God who is simultaneously holy, righteous, perfect, just and still loving, merciful, gracious and inclusive, and He calls us to be like Him. Timothy Keller, in one of his sermons, he talked about "radical Christianity" and how the people who are like that - people like the Westboro Baptist Church (on the crazy, dare I say overly psychotic (and horrible) side of what they call "justice) and (I think) Rob Bell (on the opposite (and false) side of universalism) - are not radical enough. By that, he means that "radical Christianity" shouldn't be one or the other but equal amounts of both. Or we should try to be. It's...a wee bit confusing. But I like it. And I agree. And I think it's beautiful, actually.
But how do we LIVE that? How do I live that in this situation?? I mean, the Bible says clear things about sexuality and gender, but Jesus hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors (who, if that doesn't sound like a huge deal, were basically Jews who collected taxes and robbed other Jews--no one really like them)! Granted, we don't know what He said to them, but...He preached love. He loved them. Yeah, He also preached about judgement and sins and how we are to be separate from this world, but...I dunno. He did both...can't we try to emulate that? In the world, but not of it?
All those brave (and I do say brave because they have felt persecuted and hated, and so to publicly say what they did is brave even if I don't agree with them) students who came out are...not living the way God has called them to live, despite what they and others think. This whole LGBTQ thing is a temptation that people have to deal with. Man, I get it. I sympathize! I have my own set of deep dark temptations that I've had to deal with and move past and, ultimately, give to God to deal with because I cannot. And believe me I had bloody tried. But I get it! I do, God, I do. But is it my place to tell these people, some of them brothers and sisters in Christ, that they are wrong? And to judge and condemn them?
You know, I don't think so. I really don't.
As I've been thinking and writing and talking about it, there are a couple of things I've sort of come to. And I think they're Biblical. And if they are not, PLEASE TELL ME. Honestly. I want to believe the truth, not a lie. Here's what I've come to though (and I think this goes WAY past the LGBTQ community and into ALL sins):
1. Who I am to judge another man's servant?
One of my friends, her "name" is "Molly," and I were talking one day and she told me about this book she was reading. In one of the chapters, the author talked about how in a God-honoring friendship, both parties trust that God is working with the other party to help them live the way God would have them. In a friendship, you trust that the other person and God are working on the crap in their life and you are there to support, love, and walk with them. I thought that was genius. Paul says in Romans 14:4, "Who are you to judge another man's servant?" In this passage, Paul is talking about how God's relationship with others is between them. That's not to say that we do this Christian walk alone (by no means!!), but that we are in no position to judge people. Especially since we ourselves have sins.
2. Did they ask me?
Sort of an obvious one. Did someone ASK for my opinion about their life? No. Then I don't have the right to say anything unless...
3. Am I their best friend? Is it my place? Did the Holy Spirit create an opportunity for me to talk to them?
If I am a close friend who loves them dearly, and if, ONLY IF, the Holy Spirit creates an opportunity for me to speak truth into their life IN LOVE because they are going down a path that is no good, THEN I firmly believe that I should say something. Especially if it's something serious. Granted, if a friend who I'm not BFFs with is a kleptomaniac, I might want to say something sooner rather than later. But there HAS to be that love relationship. We have to be friends, if not close friends, if not best friends depending on the issue, who trust and love each other, and who are looking out for each other. And the Holy Spirit has to make a way for that conversation. I can't force it. If this sounds like and excuse to never talk, it's not. We just have to know how our relationships work and LOOK, actively look, for times to LOVE, not be the cops and point out all our friends' flaws, but honestly love them and do our duty as a brother or sister in Christ. Does that make sense? It's about the nature of the relationship, the opportunity, and love.
4. Speak the truth IN LOVE.
Here's the thing--we still, as Christians, can't sit here and not preach the truth. We can't never talk about homosexuality, gender issues, divorce, lying, sex, cheating, stealing, gossip, being rude, hating, laziness, drugs, drunkenness, addictions, whatever because someone will be offended and disagree with us and potentially think us bigots for believing in the Word of God. Pastors NEED to speak about these things. Teachers NEED to address them. Small group leaders, youth group leaders, parents, mentors, leaders in the church NEED to talk about this honestly and teach the Bible. We just need to do it in LOVE and say it with love. Don't shy away from the truth, but don't Bible thump. Sometimes, I think, that means you might not want to say anything at that moment.
5. Love others. Love those who are "difficult" for you to love.
Okay, I put difficult in parenthesis because until JUST NOW (so bear with me) I thought that was about people who annoy you. Brothers, sisters, parents, friends, that guy in class who answers all the questions like a know-it-all, that kid who is seriously strange, that girl who can't seem to find enough clothing to cover up any part of her body, etc. But I realize that it's also people who are just different from you who you don't know HOW to love. I'll be REALLY honest here: I didn't quite know how to love the LGBTQ community until a few years ago. Then I went off to college, grew up, met people who were gay, and found that I loved them because of who they were: really wonderful. I always thought that if I loved them, I condoned what they did and believed and I realize now that you can love without condoning. Jesus LOVED the prostitutes he hung out with. Did he condone their conduct? Nope. But He loved them. And that's what we're called to do: love.
I suppose that what I'm really walking away with is that we have to love everyone, be nice and kind to everyone, show respect and dignity to everyone, be Christ to everyone. We don't have to condone what people do or even agree with them, but it is God's place to judge and to change, not ours. It's our job to love, to speak the truth in love, and to allow Him to look for how He wants to work through us.
I guess that I'm really thankful for the APU community (all of it, not just the parts I agree with) for this honest sort of discussion that's arisen in and out of class. It's forced me to think about how we are to be Christ to others and how I'm going to live that.
God bless and shalom.
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