Addressing An Issue That Jesus Never Did

[The following is a column which appeared in the Holland Sentinel.]

During Holland’s Tulip Time Festival, while enjoying dinner from one of the food vendors (something healthy, like a bratwurst sandwich), a man asked me, “Are you Bill Freeman?” I hesitated answering because, as a chaplain, I sometimes take controversial stands on issues. For example, I support the rights of two adults to marry (even though, in every other way, they seem to be of sound mind), whether the two adults are named Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve.

After seeing that the man was not carrying a knife or a gun, I replied, “Yes, I am Bill Freeman.” Turns out that, years ago, in a previous life as a TV news reporter, I’d done a story about the man. (And, miracle of miracles, he’d liked it!)

Because of my stands on issues, I sometimes receive items in the mail (and frequently they’re not even ticking). Recently a letter arrived from a woman we’ll call Gertrude Van Smith. She begins, “It is hard for me to understand anyone who claims to be a pastor that doesn’t understand the Scriptures and God’s clear cut ruling that homosexuality is sin.” She quotes from the New Life Version of the Christian New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:9, “…people who do sex sins with their own sex, will have no place in the holy nation of God.” She continues, “I would hate to be in your shoes when you stand before God.” She then informs me where I will end up after I die. (Care to guess?)

Here’s my reply.

Dear Ms. Van Smith,

While we might disagree on some things, we can both agree that Jesus was a great teacher. Matthew 12:10-12 says, “A man was there with a withered hand, and they asked Jesus, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’” What Jesus is saying goes against one of the Ten Commandments - not to do anything on the Sabbath.

Like Jesus, Christians don’t always take the Scriptures literally. For example, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:34, “Women should be silent in the churches.” And yet many churches today joyfully call women to be preachers.

Christians also don’t take the Bible literally when it supports slavery, as Paul seems to in Ephesians 6:5, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters.” Christians stopped owning slaves because of the Civil War, of course, but also perhaps because they heard Jesus’ words echoing across the centuries, “How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep!”

Today, since Jesus did not say one word about homosexuals or homosexuality, Christians face a dilemma: 1) take seven Bible passages literally that condemn homosexuals and/or homosexuality, or 2) support human beings who happen to be practicing homosexuals. That dilemma will be solved, as it was with women in ministry and owning slaves, when Christians increasingly hear Jesus’ still-echoing words: “How much more valuable is a human being!”

I hope my reply convinces Ms. Van Smith that, if I do end up where she thinks I will (and, God knows, there are many reasons why I should), it at least shouldn’t be because of an issue that Jesus never addressed.