Christian? or Paulian?

I am angry today, angry to the core of my being. Not that anything has changed all that drastically in my life since this time yesterday. It's just that my uncle is coming from Texas for the funeral. In five hours, I will hugging be him, telling him how happy I am to see him (which will be true), and he'll be telling me how good I look (which will not be true) and how much my kids have changed (which will also be true). I am so excited to see him. And I am so dreading it.

See, I cannot think of my uncle anymore without thinking of what he said about my sister Katie. After two failed marriages and dipping dangerously close to suicide at least once, my sister admitted that she's gay. My uncle said that the Bible is very clear about how we must treat gay Christians, that if his daughter Claire ever did such a thing, he would cut her off. The heartbreaking thing is, I know he would.

The thing is, when Katie came out of the closet, I, being a "righteous" person, shut her out -- until God started to convict me of my arrogance. I've realized many things over the last couple of years of soul searching. I'll share a few with you (if you're still listening. I'm sure more than a few have stopped reading by now.)

So what have I learned? First of all, the Bible refers to homosexuality four times. Four! Do you know how many times it refers to poverty, to compassion, to taking care of the sick and the widow? I don't have the exact number on hand, but I know that it's in the hundreds. We are quick to throw the gay person out of our midst, but the stingy and the arrogant are more than welcome. But who did CHRIST condemn? The arrogant, those who loaded down the backs of the people beneath them and did not lift a finger to help them carry their loads. I know many people will think that I am teetering dangerously close to the ledge of hell, and I'm sorry for causing you that anxiety, but I have to be honest here. I just don't see Christ taking the side of the Pharisee against the monogamous gay person.

Now am I saying that I agree with the gay lifestyle? NO, no, no. I think that sex involves giving a piece of your inner being to another person, that those who give themselves away too often, too freely end up brittle -- or hard as a rock, whether she is gay or straight. But the context of Deuteronomy is pagan worship practices, which involved male prostitutes, and the context of Romans is the flagrant no-hold-barred, let's-sodomize-little-boys-and-anything-else-we-can-get-our-hands-on attitude of first century Rome. I don't believe this is anywhere near the same thing as a monogamous gay relationship.

Oh, but Romans is the Word of God, right? And the Word of God says ... No, stop. CHRIST is the Word of God. Romans was written by Paul. Paul. A man. A godly man, yes, but a man. I wish, from the bottom of my heart, that the modern church would stop being Paulians and start being CHRISTians.

And one more thing ... if you must insist that Paul spoke the words of God, then I must politely insist that you remove your earrings and makeup, that you take out those braids in your hair, that you women cover your head, that we dig up your grandparents and baptize them, that you beat yourself for the good of your soul, that ... what else? Enough. You get the idea. Once you've done all that, then perhaps you are qualified to disown your daughter because she had decided not to lie any longer about who she is. Take the whole basket, or leave it. Don't pick out pieces of fruit and peg people in the back of the head with them.

But if you'll excuse me, I must go get ready for my family gathering because ... I love them, unconditionally. And I always will.