the Body is Christ's
A response to a good article on homosexual issues in the church, on Jesus Manifesto:
I think this article brings out the more fundamental problem underlying the "accepting homosexual people in church" issue (and also the "women's leadership in church" issue, among many others): The Institution. This issue is only a problem in the institution we call "church." All the seemingly impossible complexities and power struggles involved do not exist in the Body of Christ itself.
Note these lines, where the institutional church issues are clearly apparent:
The "homosexuality" question being discussed here is not primarily about sexuality. It is about authority and power. An institutional authority and power that Jesus avoided altogether. We have created these impossible situations by institutionalizing ourselves, and no "new way of talking about it" will get us free.
But the Body of Christ is already free. If we were living as Jesus did (as members of his Body now), then homosexual people would have no basis for complaining about exclusion or oppression. And we would not be struggling to find a way to "let them in." The Body is Christ's.
I think this article brings out the more fundamental problem underlying the "accepting homosexual people in church" issue (and also the "women's leadership in church" issue, among many others): The Institution. This issue is only a problem in the institution we call "church." All the seemingly impossible complexities and power struggles involved do not exist in the Body of Christ itself.
Note these lines, where the institutional church issues are clearly apparent:
"Complicating matters for the church, the leadership and the conference was the matter that my [recently "outed" lesbian] colleague was the first woman to be licensed by the our regional conference...."Challenges of membership, leadership (and "licensing"), and church politics do not exist in the Body of Christ, but only in our institutions. Struggles about who sets church policy or who defines sin do not exist in the Body. None of us are in power in the Body, none of us decide what is sin, none of us decide who is in and who is out.
"I have also experienced betrayal at another level.... The pastoral team leader was a person who also advocated tolerance for gays and lesbians in the church. He was also a seminary professor and knew the cost of disclosing his personal position. When he was asked by the church board to lead the process, he turned to me and asked me if I would lead the process...."
"The process for the church came to an end with a decision to agree to disagree and that we would consider the issues of membership on a case by case basis..."
The "homosexuality" question being discussed here is not primarily about sexuality. It is about authority and power. An institutional authority and power that Jesus avoided altogether. We have created these impossible situations by institutionalizing ourselves, and no "new way of talking about it" will get us free.
But the Body of Christ is already free. If we were living as Jesus did (as members of his Body now), then homosexual people would have no basis for complaining about exclusion or oppression. And we would not be struggling to find a way to "let them in." The Body is Christ's.
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