Since the Ebola scare is today’s top story, there’s a secondary item you may be unaware of: the City Council of Houston has subpoenaed the sermons of local pastors to review what they’ve been saying about homosexuality.
Under any circumstances that’s at least outrageous; at most, frightening. But the events leading to this heavy-handedness only underscore what an abusive, arrogant move it really is.
“Houston, We Have a Problem”
It all began last June, when the Houston City Council passed the Human Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) also known as the “bathroom bill”, a city ordinance claiming to protect differing classes from discrimination in the use of public facilities, granting anyone the right to use a public restroom designated for anyone else. In simpler terms, if a male identifies himself as a female, he is now free to use the ladies room, and vice versa. Some people sincerely view this as progress, including Houston’s Mayor Annise Parker, openly lesbian, whose identification with the bill is summed up in her own public statement: “It is personal, it’s not academic; it is my life that is being discussed.”
Others object. More than 50,000, to be specific, who signed a petition to place the matter on the ballot so the voters could decide its outcome, while a coalition of more than 400 Houston area churches likewise went on record with their opposition. In August the City Council threw the petition out, citing irregularities. In response, a number of its signers filed a lawsuit against the city, and now, allegedly as part of its preparation for the suit, Houston demanded that a number of the city’s pastors turn over records of any sermons they’ve preached in which homosexuality, transgenderism, the “bathroom bill” or the mayor herself were mentioned. Apart from sermons, any other communications touching on these subjects are also demanded.
(Of particular interest is the fact that some of the churches receiving subpoenas were not even part of the coalition, nor are they named in the suit.)
Mayor Parker has distanced herself from this action, stating she was unaware the attorneys involved were taking it, though as of this writing she’s said nothing to denounce, much less stop, these extraordinary measures. And some – me included, I’ll have to admit – find it a huge stretch to believe city attorneys would take such drastic steps without the Mayor’s express knowledge and approval. Regardless, this is a showdown we’ll be watching closely, because it touches on the basics: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and government overreach.
All of which brings up three issues on my heart: Prediction, Preparation and Perseverance.
Prediction
I think “I told you so” is a loser’s saying, an obnoxious way of claiming high ground, and I try to avoid using it. But I’ll bend my own rule a bit by saying “Lots of us said so”, since so many of us, whose work or interests have touched on homosexuality and related issues, have been saying for decades that it would come to this. In fact I’ve often said, and truly believe, that where gay rights go, freedoms of religion, speech, and conscience suffer. Looking at current trends I still think that’s a fair assessment. So OK, we saw it coming.
Which really doesn’t ease the pain. Witnessing the cultural crucifixion of public figures who dare to hold traditional views on marriage, or the civil actions against those whose conscience prohibits them from offering services for a same sex wedding ceremony, or the speech codes strangling honest discussion of the issue among university students, is heartbreaking. It’s like watching a child grow who is defiant and anti-social, knowing full well he’ll wind up in Juvenile Hall. When you finally get the call that he’s been caught shoplifting you may not be surprised, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
Likewise, for decades I’ve feared for America. Now that so much of what I’ve both feared and expected is happening, it’s no surprise, but who cares? I miss the nation I used to know, and honestly doubt that I’ll ever see it again.
Preparation
But we can either freeze in our grief, or prepare for harder times. If churches can now expect to be subpoenaed for sermon material, they can also expect more, and worse. In the not-too-distant future, non-profit religious organizations can realistically expect challenges to, or even revocation of, their tax exempt status, based on their position on homosexuality. Christian universities will surely face the same. Individual churches can expect at least scrutiny, and at most draconian actions, determined by their willingness or unwillingness to dance to the modern piper’s tune. Lawsuits against Christian leaders, pastors, counselors or activists may soon become common. And believers in general can expect to be compared to segregationists of earlier times: bigoted, ignorant, hateful. Those considering homosexuality to be unnatural or immoral are now the minority. Soon we’ll become the despised minority.
As such, in the interest of good stewardship, we’ll need to know the laws governing us, follow the legal roller coaster this issue throws us around on, and, when unjust ordinances are considered, oppose them. (We may well lose, but we’ll need to know we responsibly tried.) Then by God’s grace, if and when injustice prevails, we’ll need to prayerfully consider when to comply, when to privately resist, and when to publicly say along with Peter and John, consequences be damned, “We ought to obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29)
Perseverance
This will be the hardest. One of my favorite movie lines comes from the film The Insider, in which the protagonist says,
“But principles only mean something if you stick by them when they’re inconvenient.”
The belief that God intended the sexual union to be heterosexual is, let’s face it, an increasingly inconvenient principle.
Not that we started a fight over this, because I really believe we didn’t. It’s just that we can’t in good conscience go along with the cultural trend, and when we’re told we must, what choice do we have but to resist and thereby become the troublemakers?
And troublemakers we will be, like it or not. To refuse to comply is the same, in many people’s eyes, as active opposition. To the bully, saying no is no different than picking a fight, so here we go.
But as we go, let’s keep this in mind: Gays and lesbians are not our enemies. Many homosexual people by no means want to silence the Church, and many of them do, in fact, oppose actions like those taken by the Houston City Council. A number of leading gay figures, including Andrew Sullivan, Tammy Bruce and Camille Paglia, have openly rejected these kinds of measures, and would stand alongside conservatives in opposition to them. Integrity absolutely exists among any number of same-sex attracted people, and to miss that point is to be crucially in the wrong.
There’s a difference between the gay rights movement and gay people, and our argument is largely with the first, hardly with the second. In fact, many heterosexual people are part of the gay rights movement, and it is that social/political movement which we are (or at least should) be fighting, rather than homosexuals themselves, many of whom have no agenda other than to pay the bills, stay in shape, and be good neighbors and fellow citizens. The movement seeks to normalize homosexuality, then silence opposition, and plenty of people, homo and heterosexual, oppose it.
And what of those who don’t? What of those gays and lesbians who clearly DO want to convert the masses and punish the unconverted? Paul himself faced similar types among the many who opposed him, and his own Jewish countrymen were his fiercest critics and enemies. And of them he said, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (Romans 9:3)
No trite little “Love the sinner; hate the sin” for Paul. His love was a muscular force refusing to hate, loving when reviled, wishing even for his own damnation if it would save the very people who opposed him. That kind of love, impossible for us but granted by God when it’s sought, will sustain us to pray “Father forgive them” when everything in our flesh would scream “Crucify!”
And if, during the hardest of times, we find the deepest love, express it in tangible ways, and refuse to be overcome with evil but rather overcome it with good, then this weirdly predictable battle we’ve long expected but hoped to avoid, will not, by any means, have been fought in vain. Chris Seay, Pastor of Houston’s Ecclesia Church, said it well in his pubic response to the current controversies:
“As religious leaders, if we begin to change our teaching to accommodate popular opinion, we have failed to practice faithfulness to what we believe is our God-given call. We cannot and will not walk that path.”
Comments
Julie | Oct 15, 2014
I think the city is going to get their hand smacked for doing this...I really do. They have no leg to stand on here and will be violating several bill of rights here. I really hope this Alliance Defending Freedom representing these churches can put a stop to this. I am not sure why a lesbian..who is a female and not a transgender is saying this bill is her life. She will still use the ladies restroom, not the men's so I don't understand why she is making this so personal. I don't think its right that any city worker use their office for personal reasons like this either. I am surprised she hasn't been called on that! Usually they get in very hot water for trying to pass things for personal reasons.
Our city went through this bathroom fight here too a couple of years ago and it got pretty ugly. Many people were deeply concerned this bathroom bill would be abused by those seeking to hurt their children like pedophiles...a man could follow a girl into the restroom and no one could question it. There was the concern about older children going to the bathroom alone in a public place and encountering a man in the girl's bathroom or a woman in the boys also. Though I really think many of these transgenders will likely look like the opposite sex and few would realize it was a man in the women's restroom or a woman in the man's and I realize those people would not bother any children there. But I can understand families concerns over this.
A few months ago we were in a public place to watch a graduation and afterwards, my elderly mother and I went to the ladies restroom. There was a woman standing in line with another lady in there that I know was a man...though had makeup on, a dress, even nails done. There wasn't one thing femine about this person. I said nothing, nor did I do anything. My mother never noticed a thing. Every stall in the ladies room is private anyway. As adult that is aware, and understands, I have no problem with this personally but like I said, I do understand families with young children's concern over this.
JW | Oct 16, 2014
Hear hear and amen brother. As always I so appreciate your gift of clarity. This issue has been like a pressure cooker just waiting to blow IMO. Because it will never matter what the state wants to call "marriage," I can not comprise my own convictions while agreeing with Jesus in Matthew 19. Even when I try to explain to this to my leftist friends and family members...that I am for equal justice under the law- the state should absolutely grant the same benefits to same sex civil unions as it does to married couples...but regardless of what the state calls marriage it will only always be what Jesus reaffirmed it as in Matthew 19! And everytime I do this unequivocally makes me a bigot in their eyes. I believe it will only get worse.
Darla Meeks | Oct 16, 2014
Thank you, brother, for another insightful article. I have some meandering thoughts...your patience is appreciated.
Japan has had unisex bathrooms and bath houses for generations...men, women and children use the same public restrooms without even the privacy of separate stalls. My father was stationed there for a while during the Korean war...he used a public restroom for the first time, and a woman with her small child came in and used the toilet next to him. There simply was no taboo or cultural prohibition against it. I guess human bathroom duties are asexual to them.
It's not that gay people, or non-gays for that matter, are particularly involved with bathroom sex...the problem is that this culture, American Christian culture included, tends to sexualize almost everything. Our minds are in the gutter.
The unreasoning fear of unisex bathrooms defeated the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970's...and the language of that amendment, which still comes up now and then, is so innocuous: " Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
This escalation has occurred because of fear...fear of giving in. This secular society is going to do what it deems best about its gay population, primarily to bring order. The law of Moses provided for homosexuals to be excised from society through public execution. Is that what God wants now? Christians are called out from under the law and into grace...our ONLY reason for being here is to glorify God and preach the gospel...to follow Jesus. The NT seems to indicate that we are to keep to ourselves and pray for our leaders...and it is made clear to us that persecution is a thing of joy, because the persecuted will always end up on top.
Case in point: Christians were persecuted, and as a result ended up controlling much of the civilized world for a long,long time. Homosexuals have been persecuted...and now, they will gain ascendancy because of it. The last shall always be first...Jesus gave us that axiom to remind us that when we seek ascendancy, we will end up at the bottom and not on top.
Jesus gave His ascendancy away. Did Jesus preach against the Roman brothels and their cellars full of the skeletons of unwanted infant boys? Did Jesus file lawsuits to shut down the bath houses? No, He came not to condemn the world, but to save the world.
Our Constitution guarantees equal rights under the law. When it was written, black people were slaves and women had no vote and no property rights. Gay people were in closets, of course. But when that Constitution was written, slavery was already over, and women already had the vote...it just took a long time and a lot of blood for everyone to admit. Our founding fathers created this society where people groups are given their due...right or wrong, equality is here to stay and gay people already have it. We must expect that this secular society will do nothing but what the Constitution says about equality...except for Christians.
Christians will not have equality. We will be persecuted and denied all rights...Jesus said we would be blessed in all sorts of ways, but persecuted. We must depend on Him for protection, provision, and guidance. We must NEVER persecute others...we are reaping the consequences of our persecution of gay people. We have persecuted them instead of loving them and giving them the gospel. We made demands on them and put them at the bottom of the barrel...and in so doing we have made them our masters.
Let the dead bury their own dead. Follow Jesus.
lost33years | Oct 16, 2014
The mayor who is leading satans minions does she believe she is the god of this world hmm jokes on her she seems to have fallen for the father of lies. Persecution has NO place in an ELECTED officials duties. I was taught elected official can be taken out of office in hand cuffs just for running their personal agenda instead of doing the job they were voted in to do. Sounds too much like 1984 big brother DICTATORSHIP where is the democracy and the rights our government was created to protect for the people NOT FOR the perverted leaders to crucify WE the people. Yep your we all said so. I would stand before my church to defend my GODs house of worship.
Jim Gloster | Oct 16, 2014
"And believers in general can expect to be compared to segregationists of earlier times: bigoted, ignorant, hateful. Those considering homosexuality to be unnatural or immoral are now the minority. Soon we’ll become the despised minority." For several years I have posted on a message board. For all that time, the afore mentioned quote has been in full force. On more occasions than I can count, I have been called all those in the most ugly and personal way.
Darcy Watkins | Oct 25, 2014
Regarding your comment that the Gay Rights Movement is different from the Gay People, I think you have touched on something here. To me as a Christian, the issue is a matter of what is right and wrong. To a gay person, to paraphrase the Houston mayor, it's a matter of identity. It's really impossible to come up with rules to "fight nice". At best it would be like two people very cautiously trying to pick at each others scabs and then being surprised when one of them starts to bleed. Despite that, I do think there are areas where Christians and gay people can dialog and work together constructively. The challenge is to figure out how and to keep spoilers from jumping in to destroy it because they can't have their way.
On the other hand, it may be possible that certain proponents of the Gay Rights Movement don't really care about the homosexual community per se so much as they want to destroy the church. This could really just be another anti-Christian movement front in disguise. If that were truly to be the case, then should the movement succeed to destroy the church, Gay people would have no guarantee of any continued rights afterwards. It would be something like, "You had your day, now get out of our way as we bring in what we really want in place of the church". If that were some form of hyper-radical Islam or some other way, intolerance like never seen before would arise, and there would be no one left to object to it or to defend those oppressed by it.
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