When I was in college I was invited to preach for “Time Out,” a midweek student led worship service. I gave a compelling message about God’s unfailing love. I did the math and I’ve probably listened to like 2500 sermons. I don’t know if I could tell you much about any of them, including the ones I preached myself. But I remember this one really well.
I was retelling the story of Hosea who married a prostitute. I told about the summer I worked for the City Attorney’s Office in Reno, NV. I was responsible for archiving court documents and came across arrest records for prostitution. I was surprised that women sold their bodies for as little as $50. Deep in the illustration I blurted out, “I would never sell myself for so little…” The room burst in awkward laughter. I was confused but kept going.
I was mortified a little later when I realized that I had implied I was a high priced hooker. That sermon I’ll remember forever. The faux pas must have been endearing because they invited me to speak in chapel a few weeks later.
I’ve been asked this question a lot: how can you believe the Bible and also believe that homosexuality is not sin? Sometimes it’s an accusation, but for most, it’s sincere curiosity.
We’ve listened to a lot of sermons where this kind of thing was very clearly not ok. None that I remember specifically, but we definitely got the message loud and clear, right?
Like many Christians, my mind has changed on this issue and I’ll try to explain how I got here. More than the exegesis of any particular verse in the Bible, my journey involves a shift in perspective on how I read scripture, life experience and my understanding of God’s character.
The most common case against same sex relationships or being transgender is based on the creation story in Genesis. There’s no condemnation of same sex attraction. Rather, the union of Adam and Even is considered an architype for biblical marriage.
Here’s where things get sticky… the Bible portrays lots of kids of marriages, most of which involve a man, several women and the occasional eunuch. Many times the relationship was not consensual, like when Jacob married his wives’ slaves or when soldiers were instructed to take women as spoils of war. The standard of biblical marriage as restricted to one man and one woman might need to be revised to one man and at least one woman.
Actually, now that I think about it, these kids and their polyamorous relationships might be closer to “biblical marriage” than I realized.
Consider this question: Is it possible that the Bible wasn’t meant to be a prescriptive handbook for sexual relationships?
In recent years, some of the narratives around sex in the Bible have changed. An example of this would be the story of Hagar in Genesis 16. When I was a kid this was preached as an illustration of Abraham’s lack of faith in God. Abraham’s problem was that he didn’t believe God’s promise and tried to make it happen with a servant instead of believing that his wife, Sarah, would be able to conceive. The application is to trust God in the midst of what might seem like impossible circumstances.
For many pastors, conversations around power dynamics and consent have given new light to Hagar’s struggle. She was forced the have sex with her mistress’ husband so she would get pregnant and then mistreated until she finally ran away. In her despair she was visited by an angel. God meets her in the desert and gives her a promise that her son will also be great. She calls God “the one who sees me.” The story shows that God sees and has compassion for the suffering and abuse of women like Hagar.
Same passage. Two different perspectives. Is one right and the other wrong? One better or worse?
There are only a handful of verses in the Bible that mention same sex intercourse specifically. One of those is Leviticus 18.22, “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” The chapter is a long list of people you shouldn’t have sex with—like your mother, animals and women on their period.
I bet you’ve never heard a sermon or faith statement on Leviticus 18.20, “Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.” I hope I’d remember that one! What would the conclusion be? Did Moses think it was gross to have sex with a woman on her period or was it part of God’s will for humanity?
There has been an epic amount of social change around human sexuality in the past 50 years, and it isn’t surprising that topics like abortion, gay marriage and gender identity have made it into the pulpits of American churches. It’s easy to mix the social dialogue and political rhetoric with the messages we find in the Bible. Good preachers draw applications to our modern day lives. Except it can be confusing, even for pastors, to try to figure out where the one ends and the other begins.
The thing is, the sermons we preach say more about us than they do the Bible. Sunday morning becomes a reflection of what’s on our minds, what people are talking about and sometimes it even feels like a confession of the pastor’s own struggle with a particular sin.
I learned that in seminary when my professors made the case for following the lectionary. It’s a three year outline of the Bible that follows the rhythms of the church year starting with Advent, then Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time. Each week includes four complimentary passages, each selected from Psalms, Old Testament, gospels and epistles.
Most evangelical pastors, once myself included, follow a less structured approach of prayer and discernment, typically first choosing a topic and finding a Bible verse or passage to match. The exercise allows for divine inspiration and looks to comment on topics that people find interesting.
I don’t want to discredit this method entirely because I do believe in divine inspiration and strongly prefer interesting sermons. On the other hand, I think it’s safe to say that when pastors sit down and pray about what to preach, we tend to be moved more forcefully by media and cultural commentary than the Holy Spirit.
Groups who almost always use the lectionary include Roman Catholics and Episcopalians. Sometimes Methodist, Lutherans and Presbyterians follow the lectionary. You know who rarely use the lectionary? Evangelicals.
Isn’t it ironic that groups who claim the Bible as the highest authority on earth prefer to start with their own ideas rather than the actual text?
Let that ruminate for a minute…
There’s a technique that many call “proof texting” where you use a verse or two to make your case or prove a point. Sometimes preachers throw out these stand-alone verses from all over the Bible like buck shot and call it “Bible-based” preaching.
Let me give you an illustration. In their Faith and Message Statement, The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) lists roman numeral one (I.) as The Scriptures.[1] It comes before God, Salvation, Grace and the Church. The statement begins, “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction…” and so on.
Below Section I is a list of 29 Bible verse in support of the statement. Let’s look at one from the New Testament—2 Timothy 3.15-17 “and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the [servant] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
I love this passage. It speaks to me because I grew up learning from the Bible and I am grateful for the wisdom I’ve gained. I also love the idea of being equipped to do good work! But that’s different than the point the Southern Baptists are trying to make here.
Most of the others verses follow a similar vein and reference the authority of God’s word or importance of following the law. What the SBC leaves out is the question of context. Traditionally Christians have thought that 2 Timothy was the last letter written by the Apostle Paul or one of his students—likely toward the end of the first century CE.
If you look up “When was the Bible written,” the internet will say between 1000 BCE and 100 CE. But if you want to know when the Bible became The Bible, you’ll need ask a different question—"When was the Bible canonized?” The answer to that is a little more complicated.
Starting around the 4th century CE, there were several groups of men who got together and came up with different lists of writings to include with their scriptures. Every few years another group would get together and reconsider which texts most closely aligned with their group’s ideas. The version of the Bible that most evangelicals use today didn’t come together until the 16th century when Martin Luther decided to take some books out. The Catholic church responding by forming another council to state, [paraphrased] “No, heretic, this one is the real Bible!” The Eastern Orthodox tradition also had a meeting and decided which Scriptures were the Scriptures.
The author of second Timothy couldn’t have had a copy of the Bible because it simply didn’t exist. So what does he mean when he says “Scripture?” He was probably talking about the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. But that book also had several iterations, evolving over time. Different translators created multiple versions. Some teachers included passages that others left out or may never have seen. We can only guess what version Timothy’s writer would have been referring to.
Today, mainstream Jews have rejected the Septuagint altogether because they found it differs from earlier source texts and the translation isn’t great. One notable example is Isaiah 7.14 the Septuagint uses the Greek word for “virgin,” while the original Hebrew would be more accurately translated as “young woman.”[2]
Over time the Hebrew Bible has changed. The collection of works that Christians recognize today as the Old Testament, called the Masoretic Text, was compiled in the 10th century CE.[3]
So what changed? You have this collection of sacred texts that were reviewed, re-edited and translated from like 500 BCE until King James publishes his version (KJV) in 1611. The KJV was the first modern English translation and was widely used until the middle of the 20th century. Suddenly this book that evolved over 2000 years was set in stone. Fast forward to the 21st century and the Bible is not only canonized but deified as the highest authority on earth.
What changed is the printing press and colonialism. Before Guttenberg published the first printed Bible in Latin around 1440, the text was being copied by hand. There were copies of the Bible, but not very many. The pastor couldn’t tell you to go home and read the scriptures because he might be the only one who had a copy and maybe the only one who knew enough Latin to even read it.
The printing press transformed books from a resource only available to wealthy elites to information available to the masses. It became the catalyst for the Scientific Revolution, the Renaissance and the Reformation. And that’s when the Bible became the Word of God.[4]
Point Number 1: The Bible has evolved.
If I were preaching a sermon, this would be point number one. If the Bible evolved over the span of two thousand years, why the insistence that this particular version is the inerrant Word of God?
To be clear, the Bible isn’t a radically different book now than it was around the 3rd century CE, but it has changed. Over time religious leaders have gotten together and decided this part doesn’t reflect the practice and belief of the faith. Sometimes the decisions were made for good reason, other times history has shown changes were made to reinforce political power.
There have always been debates and disagreements. In the 16th century, Martin Luther removed 7 books and marked Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation and “disputed books.” He really pushed back on the book of James, considering it contradictory to the works of Paul. He thought that James talked too much about doing good works and not enough about grace.
I wouldn’t be so bold as to suggest we throw out books of the bible or even remove verses. But if I did, I’d probably start with that one about women learning in silence. The point is that the text is not the unchanging dictated words of God. Rather, I believe the Bible is inspired by God and reflects the testimony of the people of God.
Point Number Two: Context is Everything.
We live in a world of sound bites and sensational headlines. Everything becomes truncated into 60 second Instagram Reels—roughly twice the amount of time most of us are able to pay attention. So I suppose it’s not surprising that we cut up the Bible into bite size pieces.
While verse markers and section headers are helpful reference designators, the original works of the Bible weren’t written one sentence at a time. No author writes a book or letter and thinks, gosh I hope they pick this one sentence right here in the middle and uses it to prove a point about something completely unrelated.
Every passage of scripture was written in a specific time and place to a particular audience. Guess what, the author wasn’t thinking of 2024 midwestern white folk like me. They were thinking of their own congregation and the first century struggles of their faith community.
A few months ago I heard a sermon on the book of Daniel. The preacher compared the exile and near genocide of the Hebrew people to the current struggle of Evangelicals to maintain cultural dominance in the US. OK, he didn’t say it exactly like that, but comparisons were definitely made.
As I listened, I thought to myself that a more careful reading of the text from another perspective might yield different parallels to modern day Babylonian oppressors who force marginalized people to bow down and worship false gods.
My point is that you have to start with understanding, as best you can, the people and places that the Bible was first written to. Only then can we start to understand what the story might be telling us today.
Point Number Three: Conflating God with the Bible is idolatry.
Looking at a thing, worshipping an item is easier than the internal work of connecting with the divine. Just like it’s easier to say “God said it, I believe it and that settles it,” rather than grappling with difficult and nuanced questions of morality.
The problem with making a “graven image” (Commandment 2 from the KJV) is that if we put God in a thing we can control and manipulate the thing. Whoever holds the thing holds all the power.
That’s how the Bible has been used in our current evangelical context. Men in power have proclaimed the Bible as the highest authority on earth and then proceeded to tell churchgoers, especially women, what it means, without context or nuance. We shouldn’t be surprised to find that the conclusions are often self-serving. I’m looking at you, Purity Culture and obligation sex messaging.
Most Christians today recognize that verses like 1 Peter 2.18, “Household slaves, submit by accepting the authority of your masters with all respect. Do this not only to good and kind masters but also to those who are harsh,” were written to a particular time, place and person. Churches today recognize that slavery is wrong despite many passages in the Bible that would suggest otherwise.
That wasn’t true of slave owners in the American south. I still remember my great-aunt in the 80s asking my dad about the curse on the descendants of Ham in Genesis 9—looking for a Biblical explanations for why black folks should be subservient to white. They pointed to these passages as divine endorsements of the practice of slavery.
Pre-Civil War plantation owners were prosperous because of slave trade. They were financially invested in the status quo. We shouldn’t be surprised that they would favor 1 Timothy 6.1, “Those who are under the bondage of slavery should consider their own masters as worthy of full respect so that God’s name and our teaching won’t get a bad reputation,” over verses like Galatians 5.1, “Christ has set us free for freedom. Therefore, stand firm and don’t submit to the bondage of slavery again.”
I’d like you to think about why anti-abortion, anti-gay and anti-trans sermons have become so dogmatic in recent years. For evangelicals, these issues have become the litmus test of true believers—the non-negotiable stand for Christian values. Think about who benefits from the rhetoric of child molestation based bathroom bans, baby murders and most recently, south of the border immigrants that will rape and murder your white women.
Fear is extremely unifying. Pair that with God’s almighty unquestionable authority and you have all the makings for a political movement.
We shouldn’t be afraid to reconsider our ideas. I know that your pastor might have told you that if one verse in the Bible is in error the whole thing falls apart, but that’s not true. We can find out that Jesus was born of a young woman rather than a virgin and still recognize him as the promised Messiah. We can recognize that the universe is really really old and still believe that God created the heavens and the earth.
Not to veer overly much into evangelical territory, but our faith isn’t based entirely on a book. It’s based on a relationship, a community and our understanding of who God is (AKA theology). As people of faith, we have a long history of coming together, disagreeing and deciding if we should stick together or go our separate ways. We also have a habit of condemning anyone outside of our group to hell, of course “in Jesus name.”
But that isn’t necessarily the message of God’s salvation. As 1 Timothy 4.10 says, “We work and struggle for this: ‘Our hope is set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially those who believe.’” (Apparently I can proof text too!)
True story, there are a few verses in the Bible that, usually in passing, condemn homosexual behavior. But there are far more passages that speak to God’s overwhelming love for humanity and intention to bring salvation to the whole world.
What I’d like us to recognize is that understanding scripture is less figuring out right and wrong and more of a conversation. We come together as a faith community and talk about what the Bible says and work together to understand what it means.
When I’m asked to reconcile what the Bible says about sex with my own sexual ethic, I’m not inclined to
dissect each verse, although many have done so. I’ll concede the point. I can see how some folks read the same scriptures and come to different conclusions than I do.
Instead of hashing out the precise New Testament definition of “sexual immorality,” I’d rather talk about the character of God. How do we use that lens to interpret scripture and refocus our attention on things that I believe actually matter? Things like caring for the poor, advocating for the oppressed, helping immigrants and learning to be better human beings.
Which would you rather make a pillar of the faith? In a few decades or centuries what will our spiritual legacy reflect? Will we be proud of the stand we made against cultural change or will we celebrate that we extended God’s love to everyone without reservation?
[1] Baptist Faith & Message 2000 https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#i
[2] Wikipedia article on the Septuigent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint
[3] More about the Masoretic Text and the evolution of the Bible https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/what-are-the-earliest-versions-and-translations-of-the-bible/
[4] Article that outlines the history of how the Bible came to be. https://baptistnews.com/article/crash-course-in-bible-history-how-the-bible-came-to-be/
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