Does Pastor Preston Sprinkle try to “bridge the gap” between those who advocate for LGBTQ+ participation in church and those who do not?

We have looked at two chapters of his book People to be Loved: Why Homosexuality is not Just an Issue and he has tried to explain that the Bible does provide evidence that sexual difference is necessary in marriage, but the Bible does not “directly” address questions about homosexuality.  Can homosexuals be married?  In two chapters of his book he states: “None of the texts [Genesis 1 and 2*] we’ve looked at were written to refute same-sex relationships.”

Now we look at what Sprinkle calls clobber passages.

What are these “clobber” passages?

Genesis 19: 1-9 when Abraham went to Sodom and Gomorrah and a gang of men visited the home of Lot demanding they have sex with Lot’s angelic visitors [homosexual sex?]

Leviticus 18: 22  “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”

Leviticus 20: 13  “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Romans 1: 26-27   “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

1 Corinthians 6:9   “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.”

1 Timothy 1: 10   “The Law is made for…for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.”

I reproduce these passages here because they are the passages from Scripture that are at the heart of this contentious issue.  Sprinkle calls them clobber passages because “Christians have ripped them out of their life-giving context and used them to club gay people” [41].

Ok, I can see that but what are we to do with these passages?

Are we supposed to take razor blades and cut them out of our Bibles?  Are we supposed to believe them or ignore them?

Sprinkle keeps coming back to the idea that there are people involved here when these passages are used to condemn them, real people who respond to hurtful words.  When we throw these passages at them, we are calling people “abominations”.  “These texts are dripping with blood.  When gay people hear them, they immediately think of hate, not love; abuse, not embrace;  ignorance, not understanding”.

Is there painful abuse of people when Christians misuse these scriptures?  Of course that could be the case.  No one is debating that.

But again, what are we to do with these passages?  Whether they are used to hurt other people or not, are we supposed to play like they don’t exist?

Sprinkle begins his discussion with Genesis 19.  Sodom has been synonymous with God’s hatred of gay people in the minds of many Christians.**

Sprinkle does not see this episode in Scripture as a “contribution” to the discussion of homosexuality.  He feels that Lot’s guests were angels [who appeared as men].  We also know that Lot offers up his virgin daughters to the crowd that is clamoring to be with the angels.  This is his effort to protect the angels  [not exactly what I would call a “moral” act]. 

Does this story have anything to do with “consensual, loving, monogamous same-sex relations today?”  Sprinkle feels that it does not.  At worst, this is a story of gang rape of men by other men.  There is nothing that says this is acceptable. 

Sprinkle also points to other instances of Sodom being mentioned in other Scriptures.  Isaiah 1: 10-17 refers to Sodom but does not refer to gay sex.  Isaiah 3: 9 also does not mention gay sex.  Jeremiah 23: 14 likewise does not refer to homosexuality regarding the city of Sodom.  Lamentations 4: 6 does not bring up the subject either as well as Matthew 10: 5-10.  What are we to make of that?

Some scholars feel there is too much focus on sexuality in the city of Sodom, the idea being that the whole city was full of homosexuals.  Sprinkle thinks otherwise; the main reason the city was destroyed was inability to help those less fortunate, an overabundance of pride and gluttonous behavior etc. [see Ezekiel 16: 49]. 

Ok, is Sprinkle parsing his words or does he have a point?  What about those other scriptures that are very direct: Leviticus 18 and 20 and others?  He writes “As we read these verses, we’re faced with two questions;  first, do these verses prohibit all forms of homosexual acts or just certain exploitative forms of it (rape, prostitution etc.)?” [45].   Are these verses relevant for the consensual, monogamous, loving gay couples of today?  

We will turn our attention to the “very direct” clobber passages in my next post, but for now let’s consider what Sprinkle is trying to do.  Some would say he is trying to be a peacemaker between more accepting Christians who are willing to invite LGBTQ+ people into the church for full participation and those Christians who say you can come into church but don’t ask for marriage or expect to be a leader if you are gay.

I would be naïve if I don’t state that there are those who feel that Sprinkle is practicing “accommodating theology,” twisting God’s words into a contemporary framework.  That contemporary framework is accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.  Maybe God did not really intend to be that “accommodating” at all.

Ok, maybe I can see his point about the aggressive behavior of the people of Sodom toward Lot’s visitors not being relevant but as we turn to other passages, will the argument that God’s words don’t appear to be relevant really apply?  Is Sprinkle really bridging a gap or just making allowances with accommodating theology?

We will see…

*see August 28, 2023   St. John Studies “The Need to be Affirmed” and September 4, 2023  St. John Studies  “Male Female Pairing…A Necessity in Marriage.”

**see August 19, 2023  Kevin DeYoung  St. John Studies  “Sodom and Gomorrah and Revisionism”.