February 8, 2015 5:27 AM

Doing the right thing may be cause for celebration, but certainly not for self-congratulation

Three Sundays ago in Franklin, Tenn., twenty minutes south of Nashville and in the heart of the country’s contemporary Christian music industry, pastor Stan Mitchell of GracePointe Church preached what was perhaps the most important sermon of his life…. [O]n Sunday, Jan. 11, the church reached a conclusion, as Mitchell shared: “Our position that these siblings of ours, other than heterosexual, our position that these our siblings cannot have the full privileges of membership, but only partial membership, has changed,” he said, as many in the congregation stood to their feet in applause, and other sat in silence. “Full privileges are extended now to you with the same expectations of faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill, and willingness. That is expected of all. Full membership means being able to serve in leadership and give all of your gifts and to receive all the sacraments; not only communion and baptism, but child dedication and marriage.”…. With those words, GracePointe became one of the first evangelical megachurches in the country to openly stand for full equality and inclusion of the LGBTQ community, along with EastLake Community Church near Seattle.

On the one hand, I find myself wondering how a Christian church could even be wrestling with the idea of treating the LGBT community as full and equal partners. It shouldn’t even be a question; it should be the norm, the everyday reality of people endeavoring to live Christ-like lives. Jesus never preached against homosexuality, but he did preach love, understanding, and tolerance. The idea that GracePointe Church is now recognizing those who are LGBT as eligible for full and equal partnership seems indicative of the church merely recognizing what it should have long ago acknowledged as its responsibility. This is a debate that never should have occurred, because if you truly believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you believe that ALL are created equal in His eyes.

‘Course, I don’t even believe in God…so what do I know, right??

On the other hand, at least this is happening. It’s been a long time coming, and it will be a good long time before GracePointe’s position is among the majority…but it’s a start. If every journey begins with a single step, then I think we can safely assume that momentum for equality will only continue to grow. It took quite some time for the momentum behind the push for legalizing same-sex marriage to reach critical mass; I suspect the same will hold true here.

Before Christians start patting themselves on the back for their progressive position on equality, I’d suggest they take a step back and recognize the unacknowledged reality: THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALL ALONG. There’s no cause for self-congratulation here. You’re doing what Jesus commanded you to do all along. It was just too inconvenient to obey that command, because it clashed with your ignorance and prejudice. Doing the right thing because you should have done it all along is hardly reason for thinking you’ve done a wonderful thing.

Still, before I start sounding like Debbie Downer, this IS progress…and definitely a step in the right direction. Perhaps it will lead to more churches recognizing that discriminating against the LGBT community is as immoral as it is unChristian,

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 8, 2015 5:27 AM.

This is what happens when ignorance is conflated with religious belief was the previous entry in this blog.

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