We must be careful of those that claim to have a monopoly on God, the Bible and Christianity.
I have a
very small platform compared to Franklin Graham, but as a follower of Jesus,
and an ordained minister, I cannot remain silent. I must add my voice in support of Rev. Dr. William Barber and his response to Franklin Graham's call for Mayor Buttigieg to repent for being gay. For far too long there has been this
platform for people declaring Christianity as their faith to make claims about
the Bible and the Christian faith. These sins that Franklin Graham and others
like to talk about are often abortion, homosexuality, extramarital affairs and women
having power. The loud platforms of these claims have caused a misunderstanding
of the Christian faith to be a faith that is hypocritical, homophobic, sexist, and
controlling.
There are some denominations that declare Christianity as their faith, that claim
the Bible says homosexuality is a sin and that marriage is between one man and
one woman when it clearly does not. These beliefs are in fact biblical interpretations
that theologians of the past have written to explain the meaning of some biblical
passages. These theological interpretations that are then adopted by a church or
denomination are often called a doctrine.
In
opposition to these claims of “Authentic Christianity” there are other Christian
denominations that do not agree with Franklin Graham. My denomination, the United Church of Christ, believes that we take the Bible seriously, not literally. In
order to be able to fully understand the Bible one must know Greek and Hebrew,
read it from the original scrolls and study the history of which the Bible was
written. Therefore, we use the Bible as a resource that points to the direction
of God, but we do not need to apply every part of the Bible literally
to our lives today.
As a Christian denomination, we do,
however, rely heavily on the life of Jesus as a model to how we must live in
community with others. Therefore, I understand that sin is anything unloving; anything
that does not meet the requirement of loving your neighbor. And we all sin
because loving your neighbor is by far much harder than it sounds.
So, in opposition of Franklin
Graham, as long as Mayor Buttigieg and his husband are loving their neighbors,
there is nothing they need to repent of. And I suggest that Franklin Graham should focus less on what he claims to be the sins of others and instead follow Jesus: care for the poor, the hungry, the widows, the
children, the strangers, the immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities and people of other faiths. Jesus asked us to do one thing and that was to love our neighbors.
I cannot let
Franklin Graham’s voice be THE voice of Christianity. My Christian voice is in support of loving one another, taking care of all our neighbors, doing
justice, and walking humbly with God.
