A New Map: Navigating the Path of Scripture and Sexuality

 This weekend is the first weekend of Lent, as we follow our path of “Joining Jesus at the Margins.” You can engage in the season in many ways: We have a Text Study of the Gospel of Luke; a Book Study of Jesus and the Disinherited by Dr. Howard Thurman; and are walking this path of discipleship with our sister community, New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim. You can order a copy of Thurman’s book here and sign up for the book discussion here.

Have you ever wondered why it is that Christianity is supposed to be a love-driven way of life, but seems to be nasty and hateful when some people present it? Do you tire of always having to clarify something like, “When I say I am a Christian, I don’t mean like those people”? Do you even shy away from the word “Christian” or “church” at times, simply because you don’t want to be associated with exclusionary speech? If so, please know that you are not alone. There are books for sale entitled, They Like Jesus but Not the Church and Love Jesus, Hate Church. I haven’t read them, so this is a reference, not a referral. Just the fact that people have felt the need to write books trying to distinguish between Christ and the church – which is called to be “the body of Christ” – is disheartening. 

I suspect one reason many people have left the church through the last few decades has to do with the way the church presents the Scriptures as warrants for exclusion and bigotry. It is one thing to see how some church leaders are manipulating the Christian message to legitimize their bigotry. It becomes another thing they start citing Scripture to defend their exclusionary or demeaning stance. That is exactly how many of us were taught that Christians are supposed to act in the world – to know what the Bible calls sin and to oppose it in the name of Christ. So, if someone is taught (wrongly) to read the Scriptures as being anti-gay, the question is, “Can I be a faithful Christian if I am gay, or I am not anti-gay?” It leaves us asking if the Bible is true, or, at least how to read the Bible and not be a bigoted person as a result. 

If you have struggled with how to be open and loving while being faithful to the Scriptures; or if you know that you are following Jesus but don’t always know how to express your faith when others cite “chapter and verse,” I invite you to a workshop here at St. Mark called “A New Map: Navigating the Path of Scripture and Sexuality.” The workshop will take place Saturday, March 25, from 9:00am to 2:00pm and includes lunch. A production of our Adult Discipleship and Nurture Commission, in conjunction with Christ by the Sea United Methodist Church, our workshop’s featured presenter will be Dr. David Lull, retired New Testament professor at Yale Divinity School and Wartburg Theological Seminary, who will lead us in a deconstructive project of disclosing how the Scriptures are often misread and misused, before turning to a more constructive project of how to read the Scriptures more faithfully and lovingly. Dr. Lull’s presentations will be followed by a panel discussion from a variety of perspectives, as well as some Q&A opportunities. You can register for the workshop here or send questions here, and we will be providing more information as we get closer to the event. 

Whenever God’s people fall into using God’s name to legitimize their conventionality or prejudices, God raises up prophetic voices calling us back to doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly. I genuinely feel that God has given that prophetic voice to St. Mark for many years, and continues to call us in that way. This workshop will be one way to strengthen our resolve to be a capacious and welcoming community because we are faithful to the way of God that Christ makes known through the Scriptures. 

See you in worship,

Mark of St. Mark