46. The Clobber Verses Debunked

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spk_0 The homosexuality being forbidden in the Bible bears no resemblance to the loving monogamous

spk_0 spirit-filled same-sex relationships of my queer siblings.

spk_0 This is part four of a sermon from Pastor Zach W. Lambert. Many thanks to the staff at

spk_0 Restore Austin and Pastor Lambert for allowing us to use this sermon. In part one, we heard

spk_0 about Restore Austin being condemned and thrown out of their denomination and experience

spk_0 that many in the LGBTQIA-plus community can relate to.

spk_0 In part two, we heard that God loves all of His creation, including trans, cisgender, and

spk_0 intersex individuals. And in part three, Pastor Lambert reviewed three of the most powerful pro

spk_0 LGBTQIA-plus-versus in the Bible from Isaiah, Matthew, and the Book of Acts. In this episode,

spk_0 Pastor Lambert preaches about the clover-versus, those Bible verses that are often misused to attack

spk_0 sexual minorities. Here is Pastor Lambert. Now I want to bring us to a close by addressing the

spk_0 main objection to full inclusion of sexual and gender minorities that I've been talking about.

spk_0 Namely, the six verses, three in the Old Testament, and three in the New, that seem to prohibit

spk_0 homosexual behavior. Walking through each of those would be a whole other sermon, so I'm going

spk_0 to summarize the two major viewpoints, and I'm going to tell you what I believe. Again, my goal is

spk_0 not to make you think like I think, on this issue or really any other issue. I am a flawed human

spk_0 being with my own biases like all of you, however, I've spent the last decade studying this and

spk_0 reading everything I get my hands on about it from people from all over the theological spectrum,

spk_0 and I want to share what I learn, and I want to be open about what I believe. Two major viewpoints

spk_0 when interpreting these six verses, the first is called non-affirming theology. This is the belief

spk_0 simply that scripture forbids homosexual behavior. Now, even a lot of non-affirming people don't

spk_0 ascribe to the three Old Testament verses. That's because one is about Sodom and Gomorrah, a really

spk_0 bizarre story about a group of men forcing themselves on angels, and the other two are in the

spk_0 Levitical Law, which Christians don't abide by, and includes commands like Don't Eat Pork and

spk_0 Don't Cut Your Sideburns and Don't Mix Your Fabrics and stuff like that. But non-affirming people

spk_0 interpret the three New Testament verses at face value. The most popular of these verses and

spk_0 Paul's letters to the church in Corinth, he says this, do you not know that the unrighteous will not

spk_0 inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters,

spk_0 nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkers,

spk_0 nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

spk_0 Non-affirming theology looks to diverse like this and it says very simply, this is a list of bad

spk_0 things that we aren't supposed to do. Homosexuality is on this list, and so homosexuality must be a

spk_0 bad thing that we're not supposed to do, which makes sense. And it's the way that this passage has

spk_0 been historically and traditionally interpret it. It's also worth pointing out that there are some

spk_0 LGBTQ plus people who hold non-affirming theology and choose to practice celibacy because they believe

spk_0 that that's God's best for them. And as you can probably guess, the opposite of non-affirming

spk_0 theology is affirming theology. This is simply the belief that Scripture does not forbid homosexual

spk_0 behavior. The foundation belief, the foundational belief of affirming theology is that the homosexuality

spk_0 forbidden in Scripture is not the same thing as the loving, equitable, same-sex relationships we see

spk_0 today. Instead, the homosexuality that Paul was talking about is about power and abuse and unrestrained

spk_0 lust because in the patriarchal culture of the first century, men had all the power. That's why it says,

spk_0 men who have sex with other men or practice homosexuality. So these patriarchal men, right, they could

spk_0 have sex with their wives, male and female prostitutes, even male and female slaves without any

spk_0 ramifications. There were also pagan temples like the Temple of Aphrodite in the city of Corinth

spk_0 where Paul wrote that letter that were famous for encouraging sex as a form of worship. These

spk_0 temples often kept both adults and children as sex slaves. So affirming theology claims those

spk_0 things are what Scripture is condemning. They argue that monogamous, same-sex relationship,

spk_0 they didn't exist in the biblical world, and that's historically accurate, even most non-affirming

spk_0 scholars would concede that point, but they would still argue homosexuality of any type is still

spk_0 forbidden. Affirming theology also points to the fact that the word homosexuality did not appear in

spk_0 the English translation of any Bible until 1946. Because that year, for the first time, the committee

spk_0 translating the revised standard edition made the decision to combine two Greek words into the

spk_0 English word homosexuality in that passage from first Corinthians we just looked at. Previously,

spk_0 it had been translated things like abusers of themselves with mankind or even effeminate.

spk_0 Now, not long after the Bible was published, a letter was sent to the RSV committee

spk_0 disputing this translation of first Corinthians 6. And Dr. Luther Weigel, the head of the committee,

spk_0 he wrote a letter back acknowledging their mistake and committing to correct the error.

spk_0 But homosexuality wasn't officially changed to the more accurate sexual perversions

spk_0 until the next revision, 1971. And after 25 years, a lot of damage was done.

spk_0 Homosexuality had been picked up by other translation and applied to other New Testament verses too.

spk_0 Now, if you want to learn more about this, there's an upcoming documentary called 1946,

spk_0 it tells this story, Kathy Baldak, who wrote this book, helped with a lot of the research on it.

spk_0 So that's a quick overview of both affirming and non-affirming theology.

spk_0 Now, there was a time in my life when I found the non-affirming arguments to be convincing,

spk_0 but that is no longer the case. To be very honest with you all, I'm not exactly sure when it happened.

spk_0 It wasn't like a switch that flipped. It was more like a dam that slowly developed cracks

spk_0 until the whole thing gave way. See, the cracks started forming when I met LGBTQ plus folks who deeply

spk_0 loved and pursued God. And the cracks got bigger when I met queer Christians who had suffered

spk_0 through the horrors of conversion therapy, but still followed Jesus. And they got even bigger when

spk_0 I met people right here at Restor who had been kicked out of churches because of their sexual

spk_0 orientation and gender identity, and yet they still wanted to be a part of a church family.

spk_0 And then, when I began to dig deeply into Scripture, the dam burst.

spk_0 And I began to apply the same exegetical and interpretive approach to the six pastures about

spk_0 homosexuality that I do with everything else in Scripture. I began asking questions about context

spk_0 and culture and language. And when I did, I came to the conclusion that the homosexuality being

spk_0 forbidden in the Bible bears no resemblance to the loving monogamous spirit-filled same-sex

spk_0 relationships of my queer siblings. I do not believe that same-sex relationships are inherently

spk_0 sinful. Now, they can be, but in the same way a heterosexual relationship can be. When there

spk_0 isn't respect or equality or Christ-centered love in the middle of it, I believe that God desires for

spk_0 any relationship, heterosexual or homosexual to be covenantal and monogamous. I think that's his

spk_0 best for us. And let me add a quick but important side note, I don't believe heterosexual or homosexual

spk_0 marriage is a necessary part of life. Singleness is good and it is beautiful. And single people are not

spk_0 incomplete. They do not reflect any less of God's image or fulfill any less of God's mission without

spk_0 a spouse or a partner. Okay, back to sexual and tender minorities. I really like the way David

spk_0 Gushy says it in this book called Changing Our Mind. He says, if what we're talking about is blessing

spk_0 and anything goes ethic in a morally liberty and culture, I stand utterly opposed as I have

spk_0 throughout my entire career. But if what we're talking about is carving out space for serious,

spk_0 committed Christians who happen to be gay or lesbian to participate in society as equals,

spk_0 in church as kin and in the blessings and demands of covenant on the same terms as everyone else,

spk_0 I now think that has nothing to do with the cultural, ecclesial and moral decline and everything

spk_0 to do with treating people the way Christ did. I don't believe any of what I just said in spite of

spk_0 Jesus' inscripture. I believe it because of them. And I believe it because of the rotten fruit I've

spk_0 seen come out of marginalizing and excluding the queer community. And I believe it because of the

spk_0 Christlike fruit I've seen come from empowering LGBTQ folks to follow Jesus with their whole

spk_0 selves. Again, I'm not trying to get you to come to the same conclusions that I have.

spk_0 You can interpret scripture actually in a more traditional or non-affirming way and still be

spk_0 fully inclusive. We actually do this all the time. The best example is with divorce. See,

spk_0 the Bible talks a lot about divorce, including the very direct words from Jesus we read earlier.

spk_0 But Christians are far from unified about when it's okay and when it's not. In fact, I bet if you

spk_0 asked everyone here, their perspective on divorce, you would get as many opinions as there are people.

spk_0 And yet, we do not feel the need to force our opinion on others. And we certainly don't feel the

spk_0 need to exclude or marginalize someone who's been divorced, even in a way that might confuse us.

spk_0 In the same way, interpreting the Bible in a way that leads to non-affirming theology is not

spk_0 inherently homophobic or transphobic. I'm going to say this again, this is very important.

spk_0 In the same way, interpreting the Bible in a way that leads to non-affirming theology is not

spk_0 inherently homophobic or transphobic. But forcing LGBTQ plus people to adhere to a non-affirming

spk_0 theology in order to fully participate in the life of the church is. Does that make sense? You're not

spk_0 with me? Okay. Thanks for clapping. That's nice. That is why we are fully committed to full inclusion.

spk_0 We join with God and the first church in the rejection of discrimination against sexual

spk_0 and gender minorities and the full inclusion of LGBTQ plus folks in both God's family and in

spk_0 our family here at Restore. So I'm going to close with a message I got this week from a gay member

spk_0 of our church. It's a beautiful example of what that Christ-like fruit looks like that comes from

spk_0 celebrating, embracing, including our LGBTQ plus siblings. This is shared with permission.

spk_0 He said, my mind seriously couldn't comprehend a world where I could be gay and a part of a

spk_0 religious community. I had shut myself off from even entertaining it as a possibility.

spk_0 But God's love finds a way through and I was able to find my way back to him through your

spk_0 demonstration of his love. I found he never left and was simply patiently waiting for me the whole

spk_0 time. The love I receive at Restore is why I'm able to share that same love with others. Your love

spk_0 is baffling. God's love is baffling and my motto lately is that I want to love in a way that baffles.

spk_0 Stories like that are why we are so committed to this hard but important work.

spk_0 And we believe it's how Jesus has confirmed again and again that this is what he has asked us to do

spk_0 and who he has asked us to be. I'm going to pray or he'll be done. Lord God, you are good, you are

spk_0 loved, children with whom you are well pleased. We are so grateful for that. I'm also grateful for

spk_0 these stories and scripture, for your words through the mouth of Jesus, for your words through the

spk_0 prophet Isaiah and for your specific direction of Philip fully include sexual and gender minorities,

spk_0 not in just your family but in the local church, the first church. So there wouldn't be any

spk_0 question about this. Thank you for your clarity, thank you for your grace and your hope and your love.

spk_0 I pray that we would do everything that we can to step in and live in to who you've called us to be.

spk_0 Both as individuals and as our church family here at Restore. And Jesus name my pray. Amen.

spk_0 Amen.

spk_0 Wow, there is so much here. Pastor Lambert opened talking about three old testament

spk_0 clobber verses and he says, one is about Sodom and Gomorrah, a really bizarre story about a group

spk_0 of men forcing themselves on angels and the other two are in the Levitical Law which Christians

spk_0 don't abide by and includes commands like Donate Pork and don't cut your sideburns and don't

spk_0 mix your fabrics and stuff like that. Of the many podcasts that I have produced, the most

spk_0 popular remains Sodom and Gomorrah, the most misused scripture in the Bible. I also have several

spk_0 podcasts dealing with the hypocrisy of conservative Christians who throw out most Levitical laws while

spk_0 claiming that sexual minorities have to follow two obscure verses in Leviticus.

spk_0 Speaking of the New Testament clobber verses from Paul's epistles, Pastor Lambert says,

spk_0 the homosexuality forbidden in scripture is not the same thing as the loving, equitable,

spk_0 same-sex relationships we see today. Instead, the homosexuality that Paul was talking about

spk_0 was about power and abuse and unrestrained lust. Many theologians agree with Pastor Lambert,

spk_0 the Roman sexual practices that Paul is condemning refer to sex trafficking, sexual slavery,

spk_0 and adult men having sex with children.

spk_0 Pastor Lambert also points out, the word homosexuality did not appear in the English translation

spk_0 of any Bible until 1946. The homosexuality being forbidden in the Bible bears no resemblance

spk_0 to the loving monogamous spirit-filled same-sex relationships of my queer siblings.

spk_0 The sexual practices Paul is condemning bear no resemblance to the loving, monogamous spirit-filled

spk_0 same-sex relationships that we see today between consenting adults.

spk_0 And finally, I loved this. Single people are not incomplete. They do not reflect any less of God's

spk_0 image or fulfill any less of God's mission without a spouse or a partner. Putting the lie to the myth

spk_0 that the Christian ideal is marriage and having babies- another conservative myth that exists

spk_0 nowhere in the Gospels. I'm so glad you have joined us and I do hope you will join us again.

spk_0 Until next time, remember that God created you exactly as you are and has promised you a place

spk_0 in His kingdom. I am Elton Sherwin. Stay safe, be brave and God bless.

46. The Clobber Verses Debunked

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