I listened to a news report the other day on All Things Considered from NPR concerning the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s national convention and their dealings with the ordination of gay people and the blessing of same-gender unions. One of the people the reporter interviewed said that those who favor the ordination of gays and the blessings of same-gender unions are propagating a different Gospel. I’ve heard the same accusation in the Episcopal Church as we navigate through these controversies.
The homosexual question is only the current flash-point between the groups of people who supposedly advocate competing gospels. There is some truth to the assertion, because there has developed two fundamentally different interpretations of the purpose of Jesus’ message and work – for the lack of better words: Affirmation vs. Transformation. I do not agree, however, that all who favor the inclusion of homosexual people in the life and ministry of the Church must be part of one group and excluded from the other. Of course, these are arbitrary terms and groups.

The interviewee said that the Gospel, the TRUE Gospel, is all about transformation. God accepts all of us in the condition we are found, but never leaves us in that condition. According to the standards and eternal truths established from the beginning of all things, God transforms us into the kind of person He always intended, which is realized only within His clearly defined boundaries detailed in Scripture. Since the Bible is absolutely clear that God forbids homosexual conduct and the tradition of the historic Church has never accepted homosexual conduct, the implication is that homosexuals, while loved and welcomed into the Church and by God where they are found, must understand that the true Gospel of Transformation dictates that homosexuals are to be transformed into heterosexuals – God’s original intent. If they can’t be, for whatever reason (a thorn-in-the-flesh, being obstinate, etc.), then they are to remain sexless.
Those on the other side of the issue are accused of propagating a new and false gospel of Affirmation. Under this gospel, God accepts us for who we are, period. God’s love, mercy, and grace are so great that God affirms us in our humanity and makes us realize that being made in the image of God is to be made good, period. This affirmation makes us feel better about ourselves as we realize who we really are, and in so doing enables us to respond to our neighbors in ways that encourages peace and goodwill and that enables us to share this good news with others for their benefit – justice, freedom, self-esteem. God don’t make no junk, after all. By implication, many believe there is no such thing as “sin” as sin has been traditionally defined, no original sin, etc. If there is no sin, then there is no need for “salvation” as traditionally understood, just the realization of how much we are loved and how accepted we really are in God’s sight. There is no demand or call for transformation aside from the obligation to advocate for change in society.
For those opposed to homosexuality, the advocacy for homosexuals to remain in their current condition is actually being abusive towards homosexuals. By convincing gays that they do not have to change, gays are being condemned to a living hell on earth and an eternity in the literal Hell. This new gospel of affirming the “homosexual lifestyle” is dangerous for the welfare of humanity, as well as being heresy, and blasphemous heresy at that.
The opposition to homosexual inclusion rests on a particular exegesis of Scripture and a specific hermeneutic applied to the Western World of the later 19th century through today, along with the tradition of the Church universal. I disagree with their premise and their application, and I do not believe God is in the business of transforming homosexuals into heterosexuals, but that does not mean that I do not believe that the purpose of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is transformation!
I have to say that in most things I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the business of transformation. The question we have to ask ourselves is what needs transforming and what does not. We need to be discerning by judging whether our preconceived notions of such things reflect reality. There is a growing cadres of Biblical scholars (Evangelical as well as progressive and liberal) who believe that the way the Church has traditionally dealt with the segments of Scripture believed to forbid homosexual relationships has been incorrect – in the same way the Church has incorrectly used Scripture to condemn and justify all manner of things in the past that we do not accept or abide by today.
In addition, if God’s will is to transform homosexuals into heterosexuals, where are they? There are a few who claim to have been completely “healed” of any homosexual desire or tendencies. Many who made this claim in the past have recanted. There are always new people who will claim such a healing or transformation, but only time will tell whether they, too, will recant (or get caught in compromising and tragic circumstances). This isn’t failure; it is simply rejecting hypocrisy and being honest.
Much of the Church defines “coming out of homosexuality” or being “healed of homosexuality” as simply refraining for sex. If you resist the lustful temptation to have sex, then you are ex-gay and living within the true Gospel of Transformation. The reality, however, is that this is not transformation. It may be behavior modification, but is not transformation as God might define the word or experience through examples in Scripture. Evidence, whether my own antidotal evidence from experience and observation or evidence derived from research, suggests that God is not in the business of transforming homosexually oriented people into heterosexuals. It ain’t happenin’. I know too many people and know of too many examples to take at face value someone’s claim of change.
God is certainly in the business of transformation, but we have to be careful of making claims for God concerning what He will or will not transform. God claims we are worthy and does affirm that His love is never ending and His acceptance of us is complete – Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified for that intention, after all. But that does not mean that God leaves us where He finds us, and this is the mistake of those who truly do advocate against notions of human sin or our need to live within God’s Way.
I agree with those who believe there is an honest, truthful, and faithful reading of Scripture that does not forbid same-gender relationships within boundaries. I do not agree with those who claim that God is busily changing homosexuals into heterosexuals. I do not agree with those who claim that anyone who advocates for the inclusion of homosexuals is preaching a different gospel. For most of us, gay or straight, we do not advocate between two separate gospels. We believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ Transforms us into the very people God intends us to be, and in His wooing of us for transformation is the Affirmation that nothing, nothing, and again nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ.