Dr. Preston Sprinkle makes an effort to examine the topic of homosexuality and Christianity in an unbiased manner.*   In the previous post “People to be Loved” I commented on his thoughts about Christians who attribute actions to Jesus that Jesus may have never done.  Would Jesus affirm homosexual behaviors?  It is highly unlikely.  Why would a more conservative Jew “affirm” behavior that goes against Scriptural Law that He knew so well?  Christians who say that Jesus affirms homosexuality are probably very wrong when they argue that His silence means acceptance. Silence on the subject of homosexuality does not mean anything other than His words and actions focused on other ideas.

But let’s turn the tables.  Is Sprinkle saying that Jesus was bound by Scripture in Leviticus that speaks against homosexuality [Lev. 18:22 and 20:13]?   The “hardline stance” against homosexuality found in the Old Testament may seem to be proof that the “non-affirming” crowd has scored a victory. Indeed when a more conservative Jesus does not address this topic, maybe non-affirming Christians are justified in their negative feelings about homosexuals.

Sprinkle will not accept that idea either.

How can he feel that way?

First of all, just because the church in the Twenty-first Century is locked in a debate about the acceptance or non-acceptance of homosexuality does not mean that this was a relevant discussion in the First Century.  Maybe there were more pressing matters to address in Jesus’ short time on earth.  Also Jesus rarely spoke of His relationship with Jewish law, saying  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Laws or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” [Matthew 5: 17].  In my reading, He was less concerned about changing Jewish laws than the misinterpretation of those laws by the Pharisees.  His concern was not so much with the Law or politics of the day; He wanted to show the world how to deal with people, people who needed to be loved and accepted for who they were.

Sprinkle points to His acceptance of the “less than desirable”.   In Matthew 8 Jesus meets a centurion.  These Roman military leaders represented one of the most oppressive empires known to man.  Yet when Jesus encountered this man, He found that he needed healing for his servant.  Jesus perceived the need and felt the good in this man’s heart so instead of responding with negativity, He responded with love.  He healed the servant and found that the centurion had great faith.  This shocked the Jewish community because centurions were labelled the most sinful humans on earth.  What is Jesus doing?  He is teaching His followers that love is a very powerful force in this world.

Matthew the tax collector is another example.  When Jesus saw him sitting in the tax collectors booth, He went up to him and said two simple words “follow Me.”  Matthew got up and followed Jesus.  It is not a small thing that Jesus has done here.  Religious Jews hated tax collectors, thinking them worse than thieves and murderers; Sprinkle states that they were “on par with dung collectors”.  The Jewish community considered them turncoats as they sold out to the Roman Empire so the Empire could fill their coffers with Jewish taxes.  To make matters worse, tax collectors were well-known as people who led lavish life-styles and excessively immoral lives.  In essence, “they were thought to be past the point of repentance….a modern day parallel might be a pimp, who is also a drug dealer, who runs a porn studio on the side, and funnels his profits to support terrorism around the world” [Sprinkle, 76-77].  What would you say if you encountered someone like that? 

Jesus says “Follow Me.”

Again what is Jesus trying to say to His contemporary community?  He is not supporting tax collecting.  I would imagine that Jesus would not want Matthew to continue collecting taxes and Jesus gives Matthew something else to do—be His Disciple.  How does He convince Matthew to change—by accepting him, by loving him, by going against the accepted norm which was “Jews must hate tax collectors”. 

Jesus, time and again, confounded the religious people of His day by befriending terrible sinners. 

Why? 

He is saying to all of us that this is what we are called to do.  Reach out to those who need our help.  Their needs are great and we must show them our love.

This past Super Bowl was a perfect case in point.  The Christian advertising group “He Gets Us” produced and aired a commercial about foot washing.  There is no act that can depict caring and loving for others more than washing another’s feet.  It is humbling to do this and it is humbling to receive it.  This ad portrayed unusual people paired together in foot washing.  The pro-life protestor washing a young woman’s feet outside the family planning clinic [presumably she was a client in the clinic], the Hispanic policeman washing the black man’s feet in an alley, the dislocated migrant woman holding her baby having her feet washed by the white woman from a suburb [she has been bussed there from the southern border].  The ad seemed to be telling us that we need to reach out to others in love, acceptance and service, the very message that Jesus sought to preach with His actions at His last Passover meal with His disciples.  Maybe some Christians got the message, but many did not.  They were angered by the ad [all you have to do is check out the criticism on your computer].  I read these views and I see words like “blasphemy,” “right-wingers upset,” “controversy ignited,” and “conservative Christian outrage.”  Dare I say it, but are there Pharisees alive and well in the Gentile community?

Maybe…

Let me end with this point which brings us back to the debate of whether Jesus would affirm or disaffirm homosexual behaviors in people today.  We have no record of His stance on homosexuality, but we do have a record that He felt compassion for sinners.  He told the story of the prodigal son who was embraced  and loved by his father.  He refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery, telling her to “sin no more.”  He washed the prostitute’s feet and did not mention her sin.

Did Jesus affirm sinners?  He did not.  Did He love them despite their failings?  Yes He did.

This is where the “non-affirming” Christian is missing Jesus’ message.  Too many Christians just condemn and hate [yes that is a harsh word] the LGBTQ community. 

What do non-believers think about this?

I venture to say that Christians who cannot love others [different from themselves] are sending out a strong message that they cannot act out the faith that Jesus portrayed for all of us.  You may not like homosexual behavior but you don’t have to hate homosexuals.  Christians are seen as “judgmental” and “hypocritical” because of this stance.  Recent statistics summarizing the feelings of young non-Christians report that ninety-one percent say the first thing they think about Christians is they are “anti-homosexual.”

Non-affirming Christians don’t know what Jesus would do today if He encountered members of the LGBTQ community.    

Let me be clear; Preston Sprinkle is not calling on the church to give up its convictions.  We can’t ignore Scripture that labels homosexuality a sin.  But Sprinkle is calling on the church to “change its posture.”  Christ did not limit His love to the “desirables.”  He reached out to the sinner and the righteous alike.  When He encountered those who sinned, He gave them love; He gave them compassion.  The way to repentance was not hate; it was love. 

I love the way Sprinkle ends his Chapter Six so much I will use his words.  “He [Jesus] stands in solidarity with the woman caught in adultery, taking on her shame and sin, and declaring: ‘Neither do I condemn you.’”

Do believers often fall short of the glory of God?

Are they able to truly say “Neither do I condemn thee” to the LGBTQ community?

Some can, but You know the answer to that question for many…

*This is my opinion only.  I have read criticism of Dr. Sprinkle from very conservative Christians, that he “leans too far to the left.”