Gay Christians: Conservative or Liberal?

Gay Christians: Conservative or Liberal?

In Christian religious circles of fellowship across the world, it seems that lines of separation have been clearly drawn between being conservative or liberal.  Church denominations have been divided into two opposing ‘camps’ and church leaders have enlisted the support of church members to rally around their ‘banners’ in support of their cause.  Unfortunately, the definition of being conservative and liberal has been specifically and uniquely defined as being ‘pro-gay’ or ‘anti-gay’.

Having been raised in a conservative Christian fundamentalist Preacher’s home, and then joining as an adult, by baptism and confession, an Old Order church community, I think I know a little about what it means to be ‘Conservative’ Christian.  At the age of 35, I finally came to terms with the reality of who I actually was a same-sex attracted Gay man, and suddenly felt all too well, the ostracism and segregation this new reality brought in my life as a conservative Christian.  In an effort for physical survival, I reached out to ‘liberal’ Christians, who I knew would be welcoming and affirming of gays, and sought refuge from the desperate situation I found myself in, homeless, jobless and friendless.  Ironically, all the years of preaching I had heard against the ‘liberal, so-called Christians’ was actually informative for me to know that I would be welcomed amongst them. 

Why is it that Christians must be divided so much? Why is it that a person’s beliefs must be defined through this issue of being for or against gays?

In the days when Jesus Christ walked the Earth, many religious people accused him of being a liberal.  Such accusations of disregard for the tradition of the Elders, drinking and feasting, and associating with unsavory company, were just some of the list of things ‘conservative’ people disliked about Jesus.  It is also interesting to note that some of Jesus’ teachings did not sit well with ‘liberal’ minded religious people either. Instead of going with the flow concerning the concept that he was merely a man just like any other, he specifically revealed and identified himself as being God, using the famed ‘I AM, that I AM’ which God, the Father, used in Old Testament times. Moses had given bills of divorcement to the children of Israel in an effort to resolve their marital conflicts.  Jesus came down hard against this practice when he preached that marriage was for life and unbreakable, when two people were actually joined by God.  He also strongly taught his disciples, that he came to fulfill all the Law and prophetic writings of Scripture. He advised his followers to do all that the religious leaders of that day admonished them to do.

Somehow, Jesus managed to be accused by both camps of being either too conservative or too liberal, without ever mentioning during his entire ministry anything about gay people or homosexual attraction or sexual acts.