Prayers for Bobby

Homophobia kills.  I saw this movie recently.  It is based on the true story of Bobby Griffith, who killed himself when he was 20.  His diaries revealed that this was because of the pain of being gay and Christian, in a family where he was rejected for being gay.


Following Bobby's death, his mother began searching for answers.  Was her son in hell?  She eventually came looking for answers at the Metropolitan Community Church (my denomination) and also at PFLAG.  It took the tragedy of her son's suicide before she realised that her understanding of the Bible was wrong.  She said:

"I deeply regret my lack of knowledge concerning gay and lesbian people.  Had I allowed myself to investigate what I now see as Bible bigotry and diabolical dehumanizing slander against our fellow human beings, I would not be looking back with regret for having relinquished my ability to think and reason with other people... people I trust for truth and guidance in my life and in the life of our gay son.

God did not heal or cure Bobby as he, our family and Clergy believed He should.  It is obvious to us now why He did not.  God has never been encumbered by His child's genetically-determined sexual orientation.  God is pleased that Bobby has a kind and loving heart.  In God's eyes, kindness and love are what life is about.  I did not know that each time I echoed 'Amen' to the eternal damnation, referring to Bobby as sick, perverted and a danger to our children, [I did not know] that his spirit was [being] broken until he could no longer rise above the injustice of it all.  Bobby ended his life at age twenty.

It was not God's will that Bobby jump over the side of a freeway overpass into the path of an eighteen-wheel truck, killing him instantly.  Bobby's death was the direct result of his parent's ignorance and fear of the word gay.

An injustice has been done not only to Bobby but to his family as well.  God knows it isn't right that Bobby is not here with loved ones.  Correct education about homosexuality would have prevented this tragedy.  There are no words to express the pain and emptiness remaining in the hearts of Bobby's family members, relatives, and friends.  We miss Bobby's kind and gentle ways, his fun-loving spirit, his laughter.  Bobby's hopes and dreams should not have been taken from him, but they were. 

There are children like Bobby sitting in your congregations. Unknown to you they will be listening as you echo Amen, and that will soon silence their prayers.  Their prayers to God for understanding, and acceptance, and for your love.  But your hatred and fear and ignorance of the word gay will silence those prayers.  So, before you echo Amen in your home and place of worship.  Think, think and remember a child is listening."

Amen to that.

Acceptance

Rev Jeff Bert from the Metropolitan Community Church
joins a vigil for same sex marriage.

Over the last few weeks I have heard religious authorities describe me as (among other things) immoral, intrinsically disordered and sinful.  I have heard my relationship with my partner described as wrong, of no value, and as something that can produce no good spiritual fruit.  We hear pro-marriage groups starting campaign groups with titles such as "...for marriage", as if I'm somehow against marriage!


When we hear prominent religious leaders saying these things, it's hard.  It's painful.  And it makes me angry.  


I know Jesus calls me to love these people, who are my brothers in Christ.  He asks me to accept them - even if they will not love and accept me.  That's a hard teaching.  My human instinct is to react, to fight back.  But God calls us to a higher standard.


I'm praying for marriage equality, and I am asking the Holy Spirit to give me the love to love these men.  

Image: http://www.chicagoreporter.com/news/2010/03/gay-marriage-numbers

Is MCC a Cult?

I was watching one of Rev. Troy Perry's sermons online when another video caught my eye. It was called Queering Christ and the subtitle included the words "Metropolitan Community Cult". The video was published by Battling Christian and is also linked to a blog site (Journal of a Battling Christian).

Erik, the man behind Battling Christian admits to struggling with sexuality himself. He says, interestingly in the past tense, "At the time I was going to either deny my faith and pursue homosexuality, attempt to accommodate my faith to meet my desires or end my life". This is a struggle.  I and many other gay Christians know what he is going through.

Erik has studied gay theology (the study of what the Bible says on same-sex relationships). He concluded that people who say a man can have a relationship with Jesus and another man, are wrong. That's fair enough. I have no issue with people who (having thought it through) disagree with same-sex relationships. But Erik goes one step further and asserts that the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) is a cult. Why?

Erik says that there are 3 things cults have in common.

1. They claim a link to the Biblical Jesus
2. They twist Scripture
3. They have secret beliefs

Erik claims that MCC meets these criteria and therefore is a cult. Really?

Like Erik I come from a conservative Evangelical background. I have not abandoned that - I still think of myself in those terms. I was brought up in a Presbyterian Church (Erik's denomination) but switched to the Baptist Church over the issue of baptising babies. Later I started attending an MCC, and now MCC is my main Church though I still frequently go to a Baptist Church. So I know something of what MCC believes, and how this compares to other mainstream Christian Churches. So I would like to challenge Erik's view that MCC is a cult. I would also like to challenge his criteria for a cult as I think he is missing one important factor - which most people recognise as being "cultish". Specifically to "avoid independent thinking" (to borrow the Jehovah's Witnesses terminology). He also discusses MCC in the same breath as JW's and Mormons so I will be making references to them as well (see also other posts on my blog about them)

His first criteria is only half true. Not only do cults claim a link to the Jesus of the Bible, so do all legitimate Christian Churches. So we can ask if a Church is Trinitarian, does it accept Jesus claims to be the one true God, equal to the Father and Holy Spirit? MCC's statement of faith says, "Christianity is the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and is the religion set forth in the Scriptures... We believe in In one triune God, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, of one substance and of three persons: God, our Parent-Creator; Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, God in flesh, human; and the Holy Spirit, God as our Sustainer". So, MCC maintains the same view of Jesus as Christians have held for 2,000 years.

Secondly he says that cults twist Scripture. I agree with that one, but this raises the question - how do we know who is twisting Scripture? It is telling that the JW's made their own version of the Bible, and the Mormons read the Bible through "Modern Scripture" - and both through what their organisations teach. If a JW or Mormon sees a verse, he is told what it means. "Independent thinking" is discouraged. MCC does not do this. Our Churches have Christians from a variety of backgrounds in our congregations. We hold varying beliefs on issues like creation/evolution, the end of the world etc. But on the core doctrines (Jesus, God, the Bible, salvation by grace through faith, etc) we agree. But we all hold to the Bible as our standard. MCC's statement of faith says, "the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, showing forth God to every person through the law and the prophets, and finally, completely and ultimately on earth in the being of Jesus Christ."

Differing opinions on side issues (divorce, women in ministry, same-sex relationships) do not mean a person has joined a cult. It is worth noting that the Church of Scotland (which is Presbyterian) has recently agreed that gay men currently in training can be ordained, and is considering opening this to all future ordinations as well. Has the Church of Scotland become a cult, too?

Finally Erik maintains that MCC must have secret beliefs. It's hard to argue with this one, since it's impossible to prove the non-existence of a non existent belief! All I can do is to give you my testimony, MCC is very up front about what it believes. Specifically that God loves us all, that he came here in the person of Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins so that we don't have to. Jesus died and rose again, and now intercedes for us before the Father. The Holy Spirit indwells all who trust Jesus for forgiveness. We try to follow God by seeking his will (through study of the Bible and through prayer). God calls us to a life of personal holiness, prayer and outreach. There are no "insider secret beliefs" in MCC.

Where MCC diverges (though many other Churches agree with this, and many Christians within Churches that officially don't also accept this) is that we not only believe that faithful monogamous relationships are fine (whether straight, gay, lesbian), we campaign for it. We also campaign for social justice across the board.  We do reject much of what the gay community stands for in terms of promiscuity, just as we reject heterosexual promiscuity.

It is true that there are some liberal elements in MCC, but that is true of every Church. But for Erik to brand MCC a cult because he disagrees with what some people in MCC say is wrong. I would encourage Erik to cease slandering MCC, and to have an open honest dialogue about what the Bible says, because that is what matters. Churches make mistakes, people make mistakes, but we always need to go back to the Bible. It alone is our standard.

My final point is simple. I encountered the Holy Spirit in the Presbyterian Church and in the Baptist Church. The same Holy Spirit is active in the Metropolitan Community Church as well. How could that be so unless the people there are also the Body of Christ?

Image: MCC Logo, from Google Images, Logo (c) Metropolitan Community Church www.mccchurch.org