Christians Cannot Disagree About Sexuality
“this is a matter of primary importance”
Agree to Disagree
The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) claims that Christians “can’t agree to disagree on these foundational issues of sexuality…because Jesus says they’re issues of eternal significance.”
…if we imply that somehow there’s a range of different things you can believe and live . . . that’s fundamentally dishonest to the teachings of Jesus. His teaching tells us this is a matter of primary importance.
Where? Seriously, where did Jesus say that sexuality is a “matter of primary importance”?
He never said that. He never said anything at all about LGBTQ+ people.
This is yet another example of conservative anti-LGBTQ+ Christians twisting Scripture or simply making things up and claiming Jesus said it. Do they even read the Bible?
Honestly, I think Sinclair knows what he’s saying is lies, but he doesn’t care. He hates LGBTQ+ people so much, he’s desperate to ensure other Christians hate us too, so he’ll say anything to accomplish that. He hopes that the rank and file members of the Church of England won’t bother to read the Bible themselves because they trust their leaders to tell them the truth.
“Clear” Scripture
The CEEC’s National Director, a former Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Revd Keith Sinclair, says that, in the New Testament, “there is disagreement allowed on certain areas, and on the question of sexual ethics there is no latitude. . . And therefore I don’t believe we are at liberty to simply rewrite scripture and introduce into the life of the Church now areas in which the early church of the apostles were very clear as to what the Lord’s teaching was.”
Every time someone says the Bible is “very clear” about this sort of thing, I roll my eyes. This is a lie. The Bible is NOT clear about this at all.
Did you notice that dig for affirming Christians there? Sinclair accuses us of rewriting Scripture when we interpret it differently than he does. I suppose I could accuse him of the same, but where would that get us?
“Foundational issues”
When did LGBTQ+ “issues” become so important to Christianity? It was never a “foundational” thing when I was growing up in the evangelical church. In fact, we never talked about it at all.
The Bible doesn’t say that you must condemn LGBTQ+ people, or anyone at that, in order to be a Christian. There is no Scriptural basis to the idea that this is a “foundational” part of Christianity.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. — John 3:16
Today, it seems like some Christians have made this a litmus test for who is a “real” Christian. If you affirm LGBTQ+ identities, or sometimes even just support LGBTQ+ people, you’re a heretic.
Not “Real” Christians
I always resist defining anyone as not a “real” Christian. If you call yourself a Christian, you’re a Christian in my eyes. No one else knows your heart and soul but you and God. However, people like Sinclair love to label people like me not real Christians.
Like any group of people, there are bad Christians and good Christians and everything in between. Most Christians would be the first to admit that they make mistakes and need forgiveness. That doesn’t make them no longer Christians.
Despite Sinclair’s assertions, I’m still a Christian, and I disagree with him, which means Christians can disagree on this topic.
Esther learned to read when she was four years old, and began writing shortly thereafter. She is a queer Christian poet, crafting with words to create art and music.
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