June 17, 2020
As a Pastor you probably never thought I’d say this.
“I’d like you to watch something on Netflix….”
However, I’ve never found a more appropriate time to say this- nor have I found a show more fitting for our congregation to watch together. I think you should watch Queer Eye. Season 5, episode 1.
Growing up in my home congregation, in college, seminary, and now one of the questions I am handed the most as a pastor is, “How do Christians understand homosexuality?”
I always answer: “Well I think we approach this in a grace filled way, in my understanding of scripture and education, I do not have an issue with homosexuality.”
Granted the church is not of one mind on this issue, and we as the ELCA have decided in 2009 to respect the “conscience-bound beliefs” of persons who have different understandings regarding same-gender sexual behavior and relationships. But we do have wonderful gifted Pastors like Noah Hepler featured in this episode who serve the church and are openly gay.
If you’ve wrestled with this issue, I would encourage you to watch this episode to hear Noah’s story.
To hear a story about how church has hurt people, and yet despite the ways he was hurt he became a great pastor serving his church at great sacrifice to himself.
Spoiler alert, one of the most beautiful and pastoral moments of the show is when Noah apologizes to Bobby for all the ways church has hurt him in his life. They both want the Church to accept, and to be a place of love so that they can feel safe to bring their own children to Church.
I know we aren’t all ready or expecting to have this conversation about homosexuality, and that’s okay. I just think in this time of uncertainty, amidst a pandemic, protests, and witnessing our world being broken- it is the BEST time ever for the Church to consider how we may better embody Christ in the love we show other people- all people who are created in God’s image.
I also want to share with you a story of my own privilege as your Pastor. I went to seminary with a lot of amazingly talented and diverse people. One of them was my friend Mandy, she was a year ahead of me in school and she was absolutely brilliant. Mandy was one of the best writers and preachers on our campus, and she was the TA for my Missions class. Mandy had so many gifts for ministry, she was smart, and she gave amazing care to others and could out preach me any day. Yet Mandy (who graduated an entire year before me) only got selected by a call committee, council, and congregation to serve as their pastor a few weeks ago. That’s right-Mandy, top of her class, heavily awarded student, waited three years to be called by a congregation to serve the Church as a Pastor. Mandy- who is overqualified with a second master’s degree and who is a certified Spiritual Director, waited three times as long as I did to live out her call to serve the church. This is because Mandy is married to Chelsea, a woman.
Mandy persevered and followed her call. She persevered even when the Church hurt her by refusing to interview her, even when it seemed like they weren’t acknowledging her call, even when she with two masters’ degrees worked as a barista at Starbucks. She knew that God was faithful and that someday despite the ways church had hurt her, forgotten her, and abandoned her, that someday the church would call her to be a Pastor. And a congregation finally did. But it seems so unfair that I, with less gifts than Mandy, got a call to serve right out of seminary and she had to wait three long hard years.
We the Church, the Body of Christ, have a lot of learning to do. We need to think about how we embody the command to “love one another as I {Jesus} have loved you.” (John 13:34) as we try to recognize everyone’s identity as Child of God.
Maybe we can start to move forward towards that love by watching an episode and having a conversation about what really matters in the Church. I hope that we can have a conversation about this soon as a congregation.
If you don’t watch the Episode you can read the article below, there’s an excellent discussion guide also linked so you can talk about this in a meaningful way after watching.
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9849880/queer-eye-season-5-episodes-heroes-recap
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