Today I would like to talk about a divisive topic, Homosexuality and the Church. This is one of the most polarizing issues in Christianity today. There have been countless papers, speeches, movements, and angry Tumblr debates that fall on either side of this issue. On one side of the argument there we find a group of men and women who are hesitant to doubt a theological idea that has survived in the Church for two thousand years and has remained untouched throughout every major split that the Christian Church has ever suffered. And on the other, we have a group of men and women who have truly suffered great atrocities at the hands of leaders who claim to be Christian. In all of American history, only African American Slavery has caused more fear and division between two groups of people. But I am not here to champion one side of the argument of the other, not in this letter.

I am writing now with the goal of calling out a hypocritical group of church elites who are completely devoted to following the letter of the law of Christ, but not its spirit. I am here to tell my fellow Christians that we have forsaken the teachings of Christ in our dealings with the Gay community, regardless of whether or not their actions are moral. For the Christians who may read this letter, I am accusing you of approaching the very real theological issue at hand in a way that is completely at odds with the life Christ has called us to. When it comes to Christianity in the west, we have established a kingdom that is incredibly earthly in nature. For hundreds of years, we have used the governments of the world to impose our own morality on all those around us. We have forgotten that Christ himself entered the world and lived his life as a servant of men, and while this has been forgotten we, his followers, have sought to become rulers of men.

For too long we have sought to implement by force what Christ called us to by love and compassion. Regardless of what the bible says about the morality of homosexuality, it also states that before we seek to remove the speck of dust in our brothers’ eyes we should first seek to remove the log in our own. For this purpose, I am calling upon any Christian who would hear me to help me give up our obsession with the physical. Today in America I see more Christians who are focused upon retaining the political power necessary to impose the laws of Christ rather than fulfilling the will of Christ. We have forgotten that it is by our love to those outside the faith that we are to be known as Christians. We are not meant to sit upon the highest rung in the eyes of men, but upon the lowest rung. We are not meant to be rulers, but servants following in the footsteps of the king of servants. We are called to emulate Christ in our own actions, not to force others to conform to them against their will.

Political power is a treasure that we build on earth, and we have allowed this treasure to turn our heads away from Christ. So, to my fellow Christians, I call upon you to go to the aid of the LGBT community. Do this not because they are necessarily right (and do not compromise the morality of yourself or your church). Do this not for the sole purpose of converting them - in our current situation this goal would likely scare more away from your services. Do so because they have been truly hurt, do so because many amongst them are struggling with the hostility of the world, do so because we are called to help those in need regardless of whether or not they will ever come to a similar faith in Christ as our own. It is our calling and our privilege to show them the free love of Christ, so that the world may know by that love that we are truly His followers.

J.R. Woodwright