Why are straight Christians so dismissive of gay Christians?

by Tilly
(USA)

There are lots of factors which motivate non-gay Christians to hate on, ignore, ridicule, dismiss, attack, vilify gay Christians. I'll list seven and hopefully our readers around the world will add more factors/reasons in the Comments section at the bottom of this page.

1. The lack of spiritual discernment factor. Most Christians lack spiritual discernment. Therefore they operate in the realm of feelings or "this is what we've always believed" or "I've never experienced that so it cannot be valid for anyone else."

Since they form their opinions based on emotion instead of reason, this quotation applies. You cannot reason someone out of a belief they were never reasoned into.

2. The scriptures rightly divided factor, 2 Tim 2:15. Many Christians base what they believe on verses taken out of context. If non-gay Christians took time to study the alleged anti-gay verses in context they would discover that the Bible doesn't say what it is alleged to teach.

3. The fear of affirming sin factor. The gay community is viewed as embracing sin because some gays live sinful lives. During Mardi Gras many heterosexuals indulge in public sexual excess yet Christians don't refuse to affirm heterosexuality for fear they will be viewed as affirming sin. Just so, we can affirm homosexuals and their committed partnerships without condoning sin in general.

4. The fear of destroying marriage and western society factor. It is often preached that since God destroyed Sodom for the sin of homosexuality, we must always fight homosexuality lest God destroy us. Some preachers yell, "If God doesn't destroy San Francisco, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!"

Obviously "all those gays" are out to "destroy" the institution of marriage and we can't allow that. Of course facts on the ground tell a different story. No verse of scripture says that God destroyed Sodom for the sin of homosexuality.

And heterosexuals seem to be doing a pretty good job on their own of undermining marriage with their rampant divorce rates and their obsession with having sex outside of marriage. Gays on the other hand, after decades of being told we're too promiscuous, are seeking the right to settle down and legally marry.

5. The ick factor. Many heterosexuals have difficulty getting past their mental images of what homosexuals "do." They sometimes bring up anal sex as reprehensible, apparently forgetting that heterosexuals have for thousands of years used anal sex as a primitive method of birth control.

And statistics tell us about 25% of heterosexual couples have engaged in anal sex while about 10% do so on a regular basis. On the other hand, while many gay men have engaged in anal sex, only about 66% of gay male couples do so on a regular basis. That leaves about 34% of gay men who do not engage in anal sex.

6. The no grandchildren factor. It is normal and certainly understandable that many parents worry they will never have the joy of grandchildren from their gay or lesbian children. The answer to this is that many gays and lesbians want children if society will legally accommodate them being parents.

7. The theological liberal factor. Many in the gay community have rejected foundational Bible doctrines like justification by faith alone in Christ alone, substitutionary blood atonement by Jesus, our Lord Jesus as the only way to heaven and the Bible as our rule of faith and practice.

Many gays have also embraced false doctrines like Universalism, the false teaching that everyone is already saved without trusting Jesus Christ or that there are many ways to heaven or that Jesus is just one in a long line of "legitimate" spiritual masters.

Anti-gay Christians have legitimate concerns about these false teachings. I have the same concerns and refuse to put links on my website to other gay Christian sites which promote these false teachings.

Having never studied the clobber passages in detail, anti-gay Christians fear that affirming their gay brothers and lesbian sisters means affirming the false doctrines held by so many in the gay community.

Our job is to preach and teach God's Biblical truth and keep steering the conversation back to what the Bible says, in context. We can believe the Bible and affirm our gay brothers and lesbian sisters without becoming theological liberals.