Local Flavor

As a Christian leader in this community, I want to publicly apologize for the words and behavior of the evangelical Christian pastors who published an open letter in June aimed at the City of Mobile and the LGBTQ+ community. This letter in no way represents the thoughts and ideologies of every representative of the life and teachings of Jesus in our area. It shows a misrepresentation and appropriation of Jewish and Christian scripture for the purpose of supporting personal beliefs and convictions. In the letter, these pastors also regretfully assume that they are representatives of the whole of Christian faith and practice. In reality, what the letter represents is the the hijacking of faith and religious belief to promote personal moral convictions. It’s a practice that has been around for as long as anyone has believed in anything that is important to them.

Science tells us that modern humans have existed on the earth for around 300k years. There’s archeological evidence of spiritual and religious practice some 70k years ago. Written history began about 6k years ago. Judaism began with the biblical patriarch Abraham around 4k years ago. Christianity began a little under 2k years ago. All of the great religious traditions of the world that we know of, have come along within the past 6 thousand years. Historically and anthropologically speaking, that is YESTERDAY. For Christians to behave and respond to others as though we have stumbled upon the only true and right way to relate and interface with divinity or to live life in general, is either misguided ignorance or purposeful arrogance.

The letter these pastors wrote is full of the swagger that comes from being absolutely certain you are right about something, which has absolutely nothing to do with faith. In fact, it’s the antithesis of faith. Ironically, the letter is also an attempt to suggest that there is any room in public society for legislative processes that gives special consideration to one religion over the other…or to any religion at all, for that matter. Considering the fact that I personally know some of the signees, I can honestly say that at least some of the intention behind the communication is based in an honest belief that they are doing the right and loving thing. This letter is not surprising, and it does not deserve special attention. Unfortunately, controversy and division get lots of press. The majority of the evangelical Christian Church has lost its integrity, relevance, and ability to speak into the public sphere with any kind of authority, much less the claimed authority of Jesus Christ.

If you want authority in the lives of people, get to know them, do life with them, and love them. Don’t write a letter. Don’t call it tough love and hide it behind moral absolutes and prooftexting. Jesus himself didn’t consider his authority as something to grasp and use to further a political and ideological agenda. He emptied himself and took the form of a servant, even to the point of giving up his life for the betterment of others, many of whom were demonized by the religious institution of his day. Drop the arrogance, drop the assumptions, stop banging your gongs of sin and evil, and join the human race. We’ve been here a lot longer than any of this childishness, and we’ve got a long way yet to go. Wouldn’t it be nice if the only division we experienced in this life was because people were pissed that God’s love and welcome were too wide, too generous, and too unconditional. Oh wait…