by: Randall Hartman
The feeling was surreal as I entered the room. In the center of the room a series of tables resembled one large table. Around those tables sat “jurors”, many who were ministerial colleagues. Their task was to decide if I was guilty of the formal charge of teaching doctrine contrary to the Church of the Nazarene. If found guilty, my ordination credentials would be stripped away. My specific crime? I had placed a link on Facebook to an article on my website entitled, “I’ve Changed My Mind.”
As a 67 year old minister, raised in the church, I had grown up believing that homosexuality was a sin resulting in an immediate hellhound ticket. But after serving as a minister in the Church of the Nazarene for more than 35 years I realized my error. I decided members of the LGBTQ+ community were also worthy of God’s full and uncompromising love.
There were four stepping stones which brought me to that dramatic change of position.
My first step in becoming affirming was giving myself permission to examine the subject intently. As a good Nazarene, I had accepted any edict handed down from the Nazarene leadership and educational system as truth. In seminary I read the books which told me what to believe. But through the years, I had lingering doubt about the Nazarene stand against homosexuality. I rolled up my sleeves and started to study the subject for the first time.
Second, my study of the Bible verses condemning homosexuality revealed these verses were misappropriated. It is not my intent to address the six or seven passages mentioning homosexuality. You can find that information easily enough on the internet. But using my seminary and doctoral training in biblical interpretation, I discovered those verses lacked the strength to condemn the homosexual community to hell. If this seems unreasonable, please realize the Bible has been used to justify slavery. Do you approve of women preachers or teachers? The Bible has been used to view women as second class citizens who must be silent in church. Do you eat pork even though prohibited by the Bible? One more example. Jesus taught that unless a divorce happens due to marital unfaithfulness, divorcees who remarry are committing adultery. Do you see why the Bible cannot be the final and sole arbiter of the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality? Please stop and realize that if we take the “plain meaning” of Scripture you could be a slave or own one.
This led me to my third stepping stone towards fully affirming members of the gay community. I rejected the phrase, “But the Bible says…” Can we be honest? The Bible says LOTS of things we either ignore or misinterpret. And when someone raises their voice to those who dare think of loving the LGBTQ+ people you will hear this phrase often. If you dare disagree with them you are branded as sinful, heretical, and bound for hell. What these people are saying, and this is important, is that if you disagree with their interpretation you are out of step with the Bible. No, you are out of step with their interpretation. Please be brave enough to think for yourself!
This final stepping stone that helped me change my mind builds on the previous three but is the most important. I decided to ask God what He thought about the debate. A study of Bible verses was inconclusive. The clamoring from people on both sides was deafening. Why not ask God? I realized that the final word on this subject was NOT someone’s understanding of a few verses. The final word on the subject was the living breathing WORD of God Himself and not my, or your, understanding of the written Word. The final word is the gentle whispering of the Holy Spirit coming to us wrapped in the assurance that God IS love. In the deep moments of prayer and reflection the Holy Spirit assured me that, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28) And to that verse the Holy Spirit whispered, “And there is neither gay nor straight.”
It’s no wonder I changed my mind!
Going through that journey of discovery prompted me to speak up. It emboldened me to reject the offer presented by my District Superintendent to publicly “recant” my position to make the charges go away. It gave me the courage to face a trial of my peers. Once God shows you the truth there’s no going back. Not yesterday, not today, and never in any tomorrow.