Only by Grace
The USA brand of evangelical Christianity is not renowned for its generosity of spirit or tolerance of any views which diverge from their own somewhat narrow outlook, so the following article came as a breath of fresh air.
A devout member of a congregation which held to the view that marriage was exclusively between a man and a woman and that any other ‘marriage’ was against God’s word and so was sinful, posed this question to her pastor, “My grandson is about to be married to a transgender person, and I don’t know what to do about this, and I’m calling to ask you to tell me what to do,”
The pastor answered: ‘Does your grandson understand your belief in Jesus?’ “. “Yes.” she replied. “Does your grandson understand that your belief in Jesus makes it such that you can’t countenance in any affirming way the choices that he has made in life?’ “Yes.”
He went on to say, “Well then, OK. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you do go to the ceremony. And I suggest that you buy them a gift.”
The pastor went on to explain that Christians not attending such a ceremony could reinforce “judgemental” stereotypes the culture holds about the Church.
He said: “Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.” And it is a fine line, isn’t it? It really is. And people need to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. But I think we’re going to take that risk. We’re going to have to take that risk a lot more if we want to build bridges into the hearts and lives of those who don’t understand Jesus and don’t understand that he is a King.”
The conversation was recounted on a podcast ‘Truth for Life’ . Within days American Family Radio took the decision to stop airing ‘Truth for Life’ after a 10 year association.
The Pastor had not compromised the views that he and his church held regarding marriage, but he gave a graceful and compassionate response to a lady who was clearly torn between the love for her grandson and her beliefs. Beyond that, his reasoning was sound and indeed scriptural. It would seem that this did not go down well with at least one Christian broadcaster!
Exactly what version of the Gospels do they read? Jesus associated with; adulterers, prostitutes, tax collectors (those collecting taxes for an occupying power and making themselves rich by overcharging), society’s outcasts, Samaritans (a people with what Jews considered to be heretical beliefs), the list goes on.
Christians are called to follow Jesus in every way. This most certainly means showing grace and compassion to those who don’t share our beliefs and above all, not putting barriers in the way of anyone coming to faith.
