My memory is not perfect and even though I sometimes feel my age, I know that my living memory is short – just the blink of an eye when you think of the scope of history. Despite having a short, imperfect memory, it seems like I can remember the moment when church turned mean. I first noticed it in 1977 when Anita Bryant became a political activist, opposing a Dade County ordinance that made discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation illegal. At the time, I didn’t know any openly gay people. I was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of homosexuality, but I was a lot more uncomfortable with using the Bible as a justification to treat any group of people as legally inferior to others.
My purpose is not to castigate Anita Bryant posthumously. I don’t want to single her out; she had lots of company, notably the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Ralph Reed, Rev. Pat Robertson and countless lesser known figures. My purpose for bringing up this sad history is that it was in the late ‘70s that I first noticed religious people using their leadership roles to cast aspersions on whole classes of people. The Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition represent a pretty narrow sliver of Christian thought, but they have a megaphone that speaks much louder than the actual number of their membership. One result of their disproportionate voice in the culture is that we have raised a couple generations of young people who associate Christianity with judgmental attitudes and political activism focused on imposing a particular religious viewpoint on their fellow citizens.
Sometimes Christians get John 3:17 perfectly backwards. Jesus tells Nicodemus: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” All too often, pulpits and public ministries are used to condemn and denounce instead of bearing witness to the inclusive love of God.
Christians differ in their understanding of scripture and the ethical and political implications of their interpretation of God’s word. I get that. People feel passionately about some of these issues. Our moral and ethical commitments should make us passionate. Speaking out as citizens who are informed by our values is not only our right, but our obligation. However, I don’t believe that even the strongest personal convictions justify advocating for the unequal treatment of others. How can we oppose sin while sinning against Jesus’ great commandment to love one another? Condemnation, vilification, and discrimination are opposed to love and are therefore opposed to Christ.
Prayer: Holy God, keep us from all sin and evil today. Forgive us for every instance in which we have condemned and rejected those for whom your Son gave his life. Amen.