Good morning, friends! Well, it has been quite the few days around here. My little blog that usually gets about 100 readers per post has had more than 300,000 1,000,000 since April 1st. I’ve closed the comments on Bake for them two, but I wanted to share a few resources for those who had questions that I haven’t been able to get to.
For those who are looking for safe space to discuss issues of Christianity and homosexuality, The Gay Christian Network has some great resources. Here is what they’re about:
Founded in 2001, GCN is a nonprofit Christian ministry dedicated to building bridges and offering support for those caught in the crossfire of one of today’s most divisive culture wars.
Our membership includes both those on Side A (supporting same-sex marriage and relationships) and on Side B (promoting celibacy for Christians with same-sex attractions). What began as an organization to provide support to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Christians has grown into a worldwide movement for compassion with many straight members as well.
GCN helps create safe spaces both online and offline for Christians of all sorts to make friends, ask questions, get support, and offer support to others.
Through conferences, speaking events, videos, message boards, and more, we’re transforming the conversation in the church and working to “share Christ’s light and love for all.”
There you can find message boards, videos, and essays by gay Christians. I so admire GNC for creating space for safe, loving dialogue on this issue.
For Christians, gay or straight, who are struggling how to best follow Christ on these issues, I recommend reading a variety of perspectives. Jen Hatmaker shared this wonderful essay last year which I think is a great example of a conservative Christian sharing her view in as loving a way possible.
Rachel Held Evans has written extensively on the subject. Here is an excerpt from her book Searching for Sunday that talks about her journey. Nadia Bolz-Weber and her church have addressed the issue in many ways — you can start with this wonderful video made by members of her church. My dear friend Glennon Doyle Melton wrote this wonderful essay in the form of a letter to her son.
My friend Steve Watson, pastor of the Greater Boston Vineyard church directed me to this really interesting website, the Third Way Newsletter.
And Steven Kostner at Think Christian published this deeply thoughtful statement on their position on homosexuality. “A theological position is a foundation for ministry, but it is not ministry on its own.”
And lastly, I’d like to recommend two Christian authors without whose writing I would not have made it through the last few years. They didn’t write about gay marriage per se, but just about the incredible love of God for all of us. Brennan Manning wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel and Ruthless Trust among many other incredible books. And my dear, wonderful, beloved Henri Nouwen wrote The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society and The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom.
If you have other resources you’d like to share, please leave them in the comments. I will try to update the comments tonight.
Oh, and some of you have asked about following me on Facebook — I don’t have a public Facebook page right now, but you can keep in touch with me on Twitter.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Jessica
Late Fragment
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.”
~Raymond Carver, A New Path to the Waterfall
Ten Thousand Places 
Christ condemned no one and in fact, ate with them. One of the most sacred acts a person can do with another person because it shows communion. With this in mind, I find it difficult to understand why people have such a difficult time with homosexuality. It’s been around since the dawn of time. There must be something natural about it. Perhaps homosexuality would be easier to accept if a person could change their image of God from a white-bearded man upon a throne, to a non-physical, spiritual being that is both male and female, not one or the other. The biblical text about men lying with men is in context of 2000 years ago from people who understand as little about it as those who are frightened by it today. It is not wrong, it just is; just as heterosexuality just is. Our attraction and love of people is a good thing.
The bible is filled with contradictions. For example, the bible isn’t crazy about divorce but it’s pretty epidemic. If the bible says that homosexuality is wrong, then divorce must be wrong too, therefore, it should not be allowed. I think people need to do more learning about the bible’s origins and to understand how many times it has been translated from multiple languages. All these dynamics have a part to play in what the bible says and how it says it.
Same-sex marriage is not wrong. It is two people willing to devote themselves to each other out of a great and mystical love. No different than two heterosexual persons. It truly is that simple. I think we have complicated the issue far beyond its necessity.
If you are thinking of reproduction issues…well, there are so many unwanted and abused children in the world already, more than the world can even care for. To solve this issue, allow same sex couples to marry and adopt. It’s a win/win! Any other issues that arise can be solved and handled by finding solutions we would for heterosexual issues. I hope and pray that the holy spirit will enlighten hearts and open minds.
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interessante
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Another great blog dealing with friendship, community, homosexuality, and the church is spiritualfriendship.org! A group of writers contribute a wide-variety of posts there that are always very thoughtful.
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If you want a comforting book to read read “The Shack”. Millions of copies have been sold. The author believes the Bible teaches Universal salvation. (God’s loves us and there is no hell for anybody) It’s a fun read. Very creative. Unfortunately the Universalism it propounds is not supported in scripture. But you can be happy as you move along with scales over your eyes until the end. People say a lot 0f things that make sense in our human minds. The only truth however is found from the book of Genesis to Revelation. All the rest is feel-good fantasy. Don’t let yourself be misled. Read the Bible and find the truth. BTW I was an atheist until the age of 40. I’m 73 now and the truth did set me free. 🙂
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I enjoyed your article. I don’t know if you’d be interested in reading it, here’s the link if you want take a look. http://disturbingtheuniverseblog.com/2015/04/03/religious-persecution-in-america-by-christina-knowles/
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Jessica, thank you for this post and your superb one that (deservedly) gained you so many shares regarding baking two cakes. As a really new Christian (training wheels firmly in place) the topic is one that has caused me much angst and it was a pleasure to read your blog that look beyond the ‘clobber’ verses to explore the issue. Blessings.
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Phil, thanks for reading and commenting!
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I really like Anne LaMott, but you have probably already read her. I can’t say how much I appreciated your article about baking two wedding cakes. That is the only thing of yours I have read so far but that alone convinces me/us to follow your blog. My wife Kathryn is an Episcopal priest and brought you to my attention. Thank you.
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Jessica:
To carry a cross, as Jesus commanded, is to give proof to a frightened world that there is nothing that is not sanctified by the entering into it of love – not least because love heals the wounds left by sin.
Thank-you for the work that you do. Blessings on all your efforts to bring healing into the world. Please be certain to take the time to allow the Divine Presence to tend to yourself and your loved ones.
Brian
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Thank you, Brian!
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I found your blog via the “one that went viral!” Congrats – that’s a great blog and it did the one thing I have yet to do: go viral and go big! You go girl! Thanks for doing some great writing – and keep up the great work!!!! I love good writing (and I’m a content writer too, so howdy do!).
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I also found your blog by way of the one that went viral. I have always been confused when combining the ideas of Christianity and homosexuality. I thought standing up to what I believed was “right” was the thing to do. But after reading “Bake Two” I realized that the only thing right is to live like Jesus – love always. Thank you for writing what turned on the light bulb! I sent the link to a good friend. She wanted to use it at her Bible study.
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Next to Jesus himself, you could not have given better further references than Brennan Manning and Henri Nouwen. Bless you. Be encouraged. Love wins.
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I have been looking for this, thank you.
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Why is it that we, in our fleshly nature, can sin and then compare our sin to others and find them lacking? Why is it that we cannot agree to disagree and to love others where they are? Jesus loved all of us past, present and future so much that he bled out His life’s blood and with His dying breath begged the Heavenly Father for forgiveness…not forgiveness for Himself, for he knew no sin, but for us..all of us down to the smallest babies. Why, then, can we not honor what our precious Savior did for us and realize it isn’t about what we think or what we want or what we do, it is about love and giving God the glory for what He has given to us. Eternal life through His son, Jesus Christ. Would you have traded places with Jesus and lived your entire life knowing that your were born to die for sinners and that you would be so filled with sin at the moment of your death, that your Father could not even look upon you? Would you be willing to be persecuted, wrongly accused, tried in a kangaroo court and sentenced by a crown who only wanted to satisfy their blood lust? And would you willingly be crucified, humiliated and stripped naked in order to prepare a way for people who won’t even speak your name to be able to enter into the gates of Heaven? My mind cannot comprehend the suffering my precious Savior went through for ME. History has proved that this man named Jesus lived and died and was seen after his death by more than 500 people. Yet, there are still people who doubt His existence and the one true and living God. So, all that being said, what gives anyone of us the right to make other people fit into the molds we think they should. Isn’t that God’s authority? Shouldn’t we stop making choices in His name and condemning others in His name? He has commanded us to “Love one another as I have also loved you.” It is our responsibility to speak the truth insofar as it is written in the Gospels and teach the love and peace and joy of our Heavenly Father. I have not found one sentence in the entire Bible that says hate those who do not believe as you and hate those who choose a different path than you. Love them anyway.
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Hi Jessica,
I loved your piece on “baking them two” and agree wholeheartedly.
The rejection of your message brings to my mind the adage (in its simpler version, but here is the longer form): “There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.”
Many conservatives whose comments I read say that the mainline churches are losing members because they don’t preach “biblical truth” any more. They seem not to want to admit that people are more and more telling census takers and pollsters that they fall into the “none” category when it comes to religion because whether one is Christian or Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or Jewish or whatever, there is an affirmation of hatred for “the Other” in so many expressions of the various religions that the folks who actually learn and live out their religion’s teachings about love and forebearance and forgiveness and helping one another are seen as anomalies by those who choose to distance themselves from religion rather than as the routine product of one faith or another. How sad! Jesus stands, looking over the whole world this time and not just Jerusalem, and weeps. And we who love the world as he loves it weep along with him, yet continue – as he did – to carry our crosses daily, regardless of the cost. Because the blessing in which we live is priceless.
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Jessica,
I was first introduced to your blog when you wrote Bake For Them Two. I was deeply touched by your powerful words. You’re the type of person I’d enjoy having long conversations with. I hope you’ll continue to stand strong against the barrage of arrows which have been sent your way. Know that you do not stand alone.
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Christians are often accused of “judging” whenever they speak out against a sinful activity. However, that is not the meaning of the Scripture verses that state, “Do not judge.” There is a righteous kind of judgment we are supposed to exercise—with careful discernment (John 7:24). When Jesus told us not to judge (Matthew 7:1), He was telling us not to judge hypocritically. Matthew 7:2-5 declares, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” What Jesus was condemning here was hypocritical, self-righteous judgments of others.
In Matthew 7:2-5, Jesus warns against judging someone else for his sin when you yourself are sinning even worse. That is the kind of judging Jesus commanded us not to do. If a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his Christian duty to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with his sin (Matthew 18:15-17). This is not judging, but rather pointing out the truth in hope—and with the ultimate goal—of bringing repentance in the other person (James 5:20) and restoration to the fellowship. We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). We are to proclaim what God’s Word says about sin. 2 Timothy 4:2 instructs us, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.” We are to “judge” sin, but always with the goal of presenting the solution for sin and its consequences—the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
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