God loves gays
How Should Christians Respond to Gay Friends or Family Members?
Caleb Kaltenbach (M.A. ’07) is an alumnus of Biola’s Talbot School of Theology, lead pastor of a large church in Simi Valley, Calif., and a married father of two. He’s also an emerging voice in the discussion of how Christians should engage the LGBT community. That’s because Kaltenbach has an insider perspective, having been raised by a dad and mom who divorced and independently came out of the closet as a gay guy and a female homosexual. Raised in the midst of LGBT parties and lgbtq+ fest parades, Kaltenbach became a Christian and a pastor as a young senior. Today, he manages the tension of holding to the traditional biblical training on sexuality while loving his male lover parents.
Kaltenbach’s unique story is detailed in his new guide Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction and landed him on the front page of the New York Times in June. Biola Magazine reached out to him to talk about his book and his perspective on how Christians can greater navigate the complexities of this issue with truth and grace.
In your novel you say that it’s time for Christians to have the iss What Does The Bible Tell About Homosexuality? Introduction For the last two decades, Pew Study Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible express about attraction to someone of the same sex?” Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the phrase homosexual wasn't even coined until the late 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality. Before we can jump into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a brief but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible. What is the Bible? For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its content ALEXANDRIA, Tenn. (BP) — “Why doesn’t God love gays?” a teenager asked during our youth ministry age the other night. It was sort of out of the blue since the discussion was on the return of Jesus, but clearly it was on the heart of at least one, if not many, of the teens there that night. I appreciate this teen’s boldness to ask! It’s a ask this generation has had to wrestle with that previous generations did not. In fact, the speed with which the topic of homosexuality has approach to dominate the social and political conversation is staggering, aided by what pastor Voddie Baucham described as “a coordinated, well-funded, well-connected propaganda strategy” in a 2012 article at The Gospel Coalition. The movement has become like a snowflake that turns into an avalanche, demolishing any opposition in the widespread arena, and it’s still growing. Without a doubt, many young people are perplexed. They’re hearing in pop culture and maybe even in their schools that homosexuality is a perfectly legitimate lifestyle that not only should be tolerated but celebrated and explored. Then, however, they overhear from faith communit “God is love.” This is one of those things everybody’s heard. Sometimes you experience like it’s the most profound thing in the world; sometimes you feel like it’s a stale marshmallow, sweet at first but then dissolving on your tongue into bland nothingness. But as I’ve gotten to recognize LGBT people who were raised in Christian families, I’ve started to see how this incredibly common sentiment can damage people’s hearts and lives — because they were taught that the God of love couldn’t recognize them. If you’re an LGBT person who was raised Christian, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve never heard a head in your church welcome LGBT people, trusting that people love you were in the pews and encouraging their faith. You’ve had to try to comprehend both your sexuality and your faith in the midst of misinformation and deadly silence. I’m coming to all this as a lesbian convert to Catholicism. I didn’t grow up in the Church; I was introduced to God and to faith by people who genuinely did not act as though my sexual orientation separated me from God. I do my best to accept Catholic teaching, including in the area of sexuality. I’ve What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
Learning to Say ‘God is Love’ When You’re Gay