Is Being LGBTQ+ Some Unpardonable Sin?

August 31, 2023

I’m constantly running across people who run up against the interpretation they have been given of a few Bible verses that supposedly condemn homosexuality. The concern is that we would have to twist Scripture to interpret in any other way than this received condemnation. This is not the first time and the first issue that church and society struggled with changing a received traditional stance on one thing or another. We had virtually the same argument over slavery, over racism, over baptism, over which version of the Bible to use, over music styles and their place in worship, and appropriate dress for participation in church services.

I would present the following questions for reflection for those having difficulty accepting that maybe traditional interpretations and attitudes about people in the LGBTQ+ community. I’d never expect that everyone agree with me on everything. If we can’t at least entertain questions, however, we would have to be very sure about our positions if we consider them of any significance.

1. How many times does the Bible state that we are to love others? Does the Bible make exceptions to this requirement?

2. How did Jesus treat those hated Samaritans who had intermarried beyond Judaism, used a different edition of the Torah, worshiped in the wrong location, and did not fall in line with strict obedience to Mosaic laws of ritual purity and traditional Jewish interpretations?

3. How did the church resolve its conflict in Acts 15 over allowing Gentiles into the community in terms of requirements to first become Jews? How many legal edicts regarding purity, circumcision, and worshiping at the Temple did that decision counter?

4. When James says God cannot be tempted and does not tempt people, he counters other texts in Scripture that appear to say the opposite. (Genesis 22; 1st Samuel 25; Matthew 4; Luke 4; Hebrews 4:15)

5. Jesus reportedly declared all foods clean, despite prohibitions in Torah. Peter still had trouble with that in Acts 10. It was still an issue in the church in Acts 15 and Romans 14. When, how, and why did this issue fade away?

6. Jesus summarizes all of God's will into loving God and loving one another. How far should we go toward saying that something can only be sin if it is unloving or harmful to others?

7. What grounds do we have for elevating sexual orientation and gender identity as greater issues than greed, lying, or withholding help to the sick, hungry, thirsty, unhoused, immigrant, or stranger? We tend to say that we are against “the lifestyle” or practice of homosexuality. The church, especially in the South, has a deep history of being defiantly racist. More recently, we have seen loud declarations of xenophobia against immigrants from the same line of churches, leaders, and congregants. Would that disqualify those pastors, leaders, and parishioners from being acceptable to positions we deny to the LGBTQ+ community? If not, on what basis do we draw the distinction? What is the Scriptural basis for it?

8. If Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world (John 3:17), what authority do we have to cast blanket condemnation upon one specific community in particular? How is that loving or redemptive?

I would challenge you to sit with these questions, not as an attack, not as condemnatory. Sit with them in reflection, prayer, and study. “Study and show yourself approved” (2 Timothy 2:15) is an ongoing charge and challenge for continual growth. Then I would have one final question. How have you communicated love to those of the LGBTQ+ community in any meaningful way that they can recognize as love? (1st John 4:20, “If you do not love your sibling whom you see, how can you love God whom you can’t see?”)

“In this shall all know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.” – John 13:35.