In a recent CNN Belief Blog, popular author and speaker Rachel Held Evans wrote on Why Millennials Are Leaving the Church. This is an area that I am very much interested in and so I was eager to read what she said. She is right on. She observes that churches are trying to hold on to the younger generations by being cooler and putting on a better show. That is not working because that is not what that generation wants. They want substance. It is not about changing the style, it is about getting serious about following Jesus. Rachel lists all sorts of things that people are looking for and they line up nicely with Kingdom values. What this generation wants, the Gospel is offering. I say Amen to Rachel and thank her for what she says.
But then we get to the sticky part. Rachel mentions the church’s attitude toward the LGBT community. I agree that there is need for much change. A person with same-sex attraction should be able to walk into a Christian church and not feel hated. They should feel welcomed and loved as the person created in the image of God that they are. But here is where I have a problem, not just with Rachel, but with progressive Christianity in general (note: while I self-identify as a progressive Christian, I would not be welcomed by other progressive Christians because of my views). What they are calling for is not just a welcoming of the LGBT community, but an affirming of it. This generation does not see homosexual activity as a sin, they accept that people are born this way, that it is a normal part of society and they are offended by any criticism of homosexuality. If the church is going to see large numbers of the younger generation remain in the church, they are going to have to jettison the old ideas of homosexual activity being a sin and must start affirming it as equally acceptable to God as traditional heterosexual sex within marriage.
Many progressive Christians have discovered a way to either ignore or reinterpret biblical teachings on homosexuality and therefore fully embrace the LGBT community. What about people like me, who have trouble sidestepping the biblical teachings? I’m not trying to be intolerant and I really want to and plan to welcome people from the LGBT community. But if anyone asked me, I would have to confess that I believe God’s plan for sex is in the context of a heterosexual, monogamous marriage. That might not be the right answer to attract millennials, but that is how I read the Bible.
So what am I saying? Read Rachel Held Evans’ article because she has some very helpful observations. There is much that we can learn from her. But I hope that Rachel understands that some of us hold onto unpopular beliefs, not out of a desire to be intolerant or to push away millennials, but out of biblical conviction. There may be a price to pay to hold to these convictions, but there is a higher price to pay break your convictions.
