"Authentic Christianity"

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.