What Will It Take?

Mike Goeke, August 2008
Recently, I read an article about homosexuality in Texas. The author noted that a movie slated for release in 2009 could be a ‘breakthrough' movie about Texan homosexuality. The movie is called "Southern Baptist Sissies." As I read the article, I imagined how it would all play out. The movie will likely be released to rave reviews, Southern Baptists will be up in arms and will fire back, defensively, against the gay community and the gay agenda. And then, when the furor ends, all the nice Southern Baptists will retreat into their be-columned fortresses and continue life as normal, fully ensconced away from the ugliness of the world.
When I left my wife to pursue homosexuality, I was buoyed by the teachings of gay theology. My Baptist church and my Baptist university never spoke to my issues, and when I finally heard theology that acknowledged what I was dealing with, I fell for it. As I have ministered to struggling people over the last few years, I have been amazed at the number of people who have a Southern Baptist background. Sadly, most walked away from Baptist churches at some point in their struggle and when they began to seek help, they did not find it in Baptist churches. I wonder what it will take for us to quit shutting our ears to the realities around us? How many gay former Baptists will have to highlight our callousness before we begin to acknowledge the enormous elephant that sits in our midst?
I love this denomination. We have not strayed from truth, and I believe with all my heart that the truth of God's Word will truly set people free. I returned to this denomination in spite of itself solely because I was desperate for solid doctrine and Biblical truth. But I think we are missing a huge opportunity to highlight the amazing, freeing, life changing power of the Gospel of Christ to people who possibly need it the most. Our pews are full of struggling people, and until we start speaking truth to them and acknowledging their existence, they will continue to give up and follow a lesser Gospel. They will continue to make movies about how hard it was to grow up gay and Baptist. They will continue to ridicule us and mock us. And every bit of what they say will be true. We will fully become the clich矷e are on the road to becoming.
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus identifies himself as the fulfillment of the prophesy in Isaiah 61. He quotes the prophet Isaiah and says "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." What amazing power is present in these words. Could they be more beautiful and hopeful? This was the mission of Jesus, and it is to be our mission too. Oh how my heart breaks that THIS is not what the world sees and hears from us.
Jesus walked into the world of the spiritually poor and those oppressed by their own sin and darkness and those blinded by their own humanity and those held captive by desires and feelings that were killing them. He walked into the world of sinners – and he shared himself with them, and they were changed. Is this what we are doing? Or are we making ourselves feel better by doling out our financial largesse? Are we getting dirty with the ‘least of these' or are we working constantly to scrub and sanitize our church world to make us feel better and safer?
We have been called to speak the power of the cross for the poor, the blind, the imprisoned and the oppressed. If we actually know this power, then we should not be able to contain our voices. Are our voices loud with hope or just noisy with distracting words and defensive tirades? Let's not let one more scared teenager – a teenager on the verge of blindness and oppression and captivity and poverty – slip through our cracks. Let's not let one more marriage crumble or ministry fail. Let's start talking. And not just talking, let's start helping people apply truth to their real lives. Let's accept Jesus' mission as our own.
If we continue to close our eyes and to simply wait for culture to change, we will crumble. We will be like the shepherds described in Jeremiah 10:21 – "For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the Lord; Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered." We may be closer than we think. Many of our flocks are already scattered and we are way behind the curve. Let's step up. Let's own up to our failures. Let's seek the Lord and move forward. And let's create safe places for all people with all issues to find life saving and life freeing truth.