Question One: Can Christians Just Say No?

Policy paper by David Paul Henry, October 27, 2005

On November 8, Question 1 on the ballot will be: Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?

My answer to Question One is No. Thoughtful Christians support the new law that says that homosexuals should be treated fairly as human beings.

We as Christians should want to follow the example and teaching of Jesus.

In marked contrast to the culture of his times, Jesus made a point of treating people fairly, especially those who were considered outcasts because of disease, ethnic heritage or lifestyles.

He didn't stop with just treating outcasts fairly. He taught and practiced a ministry of compassion to people who were oppressed or marginalized for whatever reason. He became known as the friend of sinners.

Jesus welcomed sinners and ate meals with them. He befriended a crooked tax collector, Zacchaeus. He allowed a prostitute to approach him in public and wash his feet with her hair.

He did not condone their conduct. But he didnt reject them either. Far from it: he sought them out as the good shepherd; the great physician.

Jesus once encountered a woman at a public well. Not only was she a woman; she was a member of a despised ethnic group, the Samaritans, and her conduct was so immoral it was likely she was an outcast in her home town.

Jesus spoke to her and asked her for a drink. He even engaged her in conversation by offering her a drink of living water, breaking multiple social taboos, as was often his deliberate practice.

He reached this Samaritan woman with the gospel, and she became one of the first Christian witnesses.

Yes, many Christians (but not all) believe that the practice of homosexuality is wrong. Even if it is wrong, and especially if it is, the challenge to Christians is to demonstrate the same compassion for homosexuals that Jesus showed to people of all lifestyles and circumstances.

I believe that a ministry of compassion includes defending homosexuals from discrimination.

If anyone wanted to deny the Samaritan woman access to the well, Jesus would say, No.

Do we want to reject a law that protects homosexuals from discrimination? The example of Jesus leads us to say, No.

Why then is the YES on One effort being supported primarily by Christians?

Here is a summary of their position: Homosexual behavior is not only wrong; it is harmful to those who engage in it and to society as well. The inclusion of sexual orientation in civil rights laws gives standing to distorted and harmful sexual practices as normal and legitimate. This affects how sexuality is taught in the schools and how home and family are presented on our TV screens. And it could lead to legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Voting Yes to reject the law that adds sexual orientation to the civil rights protection list will hold back the cultural and legal acceptance of homosexual behavior.

Christians should be concerned about these matters. But the campaign to reject Maine's anti-discrimination law dishonors God in three ways:

• It abandons the ministry of compassion taught and practiced by Jesus Christ. Certainly, Jesus understood the harm caused by immoral behavior. Yet he never seemed concerned that being a friend of sinners might lead to legitimizing sinful behavior.

• It damages the integrity of our proclamation of the gospel. When Christians mount campaigns to overturn anti-discrimination laws, their message is, We support ostracizing sinners. That message can only harm the witness of the church.

• It indicates lack of trust in God. Christians have a choice: Follow the example and teaching of Jesus and trust God to direct the results, or stray from the shepherd out of fear of where following Jesus might lead. In faith, we acknowledge with the Apostle Pauls letter in 1 Corinthians 15, that the victory has been won. Therefore our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Cast the first stone

A group of religious leaders once brought to Jesus a woman they claimed had been caught in the act of adultery. They challenged him, In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such a women. Now what do you say?

Jesus reply sent them away in silence. Let anyone among you who is without sin cast the first stone.

Perhaps these leaders wished to present themselves as champions of righteousness and portray Jesus as soft on condemning sin and sinners.

Jesus stopped the stoning. Yes, he told the woman to go and sin no more, but he did not condemn her. He replaced condemnation with compassion and revealed that his critics needed Gods grace just as much as did the woman.

Of course, the YES on One proponents are not suggesting that homosexuals be killed by stoning.

But by campaigning to reject civil rights protections, they are implying that homosexuals may be denied the basic rights of living: holding a job, finding a place to live, obtaining health care services, drinking water from a well.

To those who believe they should vote Yes on Question One, one can only say: Let anyone among you who is without sin cast the first ballot.

David Paul Henry received his undergraduate degree from Wheaton (IL) College, a bachelor of divinity degree from University of London and a Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia. He and his wife, Mary, have two daughters, Kelly and Robyn. Dr. Henry was founder and first board president of Hancock County Habitat for Humanity and is the author of several papers on Christian responses to the social issues of our day. He is contributing partner of the Christian Policy Institute. He has been pastor of Lamoine Baptist Church in Lamoine, Maine since 1984. In good Baptist tradition, the people of Lamoine Baptist Church are free to form their own views, and they do not always agree with the opinions of their pastor.