Bob on Broadway

This summer has been a significant one for controversy and debate regarding the issue of homosexuality within several mainline denominations.  The Southern Baptist Denomination is no exception.  In June, the Executive Committee recommended that the denomination cease relationship with Broadway Baptist Church in Forth Worth, Texas for “affirming, approving or endorsing homosexual behavior.”  The church has five open homosexual members, including two male couples, with some serving on church committees.   Bob Stith, a former pastor and the National Strategist for Gender Issues at the Southern Baptist Convention, gives insight on this situation and his perspective on what the Church must do to respond to this controversial issue.

1. As a former pastor, what do you make of the situation at Broadway Baptist Church?

When the reports from the meeting Broadway had with the SBC Executive Committee in February first came out, I was hopeful that this would have a good resolution for all concerned. At that time Broadway stated: “Broadway has never taken any church action to affirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior. Broadway Baptist Church considers itself to be in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention and has every intention of remaining so.” It further stated, “While we extend Christian hospitality to everyone—including homosexuals—we do not endorse, approve, or affirm homosexual behavior.”

The reality is that Broadway not only had openly gay men and women accepted for full membership, they served on various church committees. This clearly seemed to be in contradiction to their statements to the Convention. David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canyon, Texas and current president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said Broadway “needed to express those convictions in a practical way.” Since the BGCT is generally considered to be more “moderate” than the SBC, this was a telling statement.

As a former pastor, I know how hard many pastors work at being grace filled and loving while holding fast to the authority of scripture. It is very easy to drift to one side or the other. In this case, Broadway’s desire to be loving and accepting caused them to drift away from biblical authority. I believe their intent was good. But the end result put them in conflict with their own stated beliefs.

2. How should a church respond when it finds itself dealing with the unrepentant gay man or woman?

The bottom line is that it should be the same as dealing with unrepentant adulterers or alcoholics, etc.  When we put this in a separate category it is an indication that we aren’t where we should be on either side of the equation.

The ultimate goal should always be restoration. Both Paul and Jesus make that clear.  Jesus called for a pattern of ongoing intervention (Matthew 18:15-17). But whether it is homosexuality or something else, an unwillingness to repent leaves the church with no alternative. It should also be clear that even in the ultimate action of dis-fellowshipping the hope is that this would bring the person back into full fellowship.

3. What have you learned as a pastor from dealing with men and women who struggle with same-sex attraction?

I had worked with alcohol and drug addicts for some time before getting involved with same sex strugglers. I’m reminded of something I heard Brad Sargent say once: “same root, different fruit.” I see many of the same principles in dealing with bondages of any type. With same sex strugglers however, there are often more intricately involved root issues.

In the early days I recognized that I knew very little about this particular struggle. But the director of Living Hope ministries told me that if I would just show up and love the people it would make a difference. I was skeptical but as time passed I saw the effectiveness of that advice. Same sex strugglers have often been wounded by the church. But as they saw me take time to come to meetings, talk with them by phone, e-mail, meet for lunch or in my office they quickly responded.

It is basically loving people like Jesus does. And I still remember something Bill Consiglio told me at my first Exodus conference. When I told him I didn’t really know                                           why I was there or what God wanted me to do, he said “Well, pastor, I’ll tell you this. When you see what God is doing in the lives of these men and women you will know that no problem is too hard for Him.”

4. What concerns you most about the future of the global Christian church when you see instances like this one as well as the ELCA’s recent decision to allow gay clergy?

Actually I have two major concerns about these actions. The first is that in attempting to be loving and accepting, these churches are, although perhaps unwittingly, causing many to lose hope. A friend who speaks around the globe on this issue bought into this for some years and in his words it very nearly killed him. I don’t know of any churches that proclaim this message who also offer ministries for those who want to leave homosexuality. They are usually told just to learn to accept themselves as they are. Those who buy into this message are also being given a false sense of security about something on which God is very clear.

The second concern is that these actions actually undermine the authority of scripture. This is true even when these churches attempt to reinterpret the relevant scriptures rather than simply dismissing them. One of the things that caught my attention in the various articles about Ray Boltz was this quote: “I guess I felt that the church, that they had it wrong about how I felt with being gay all these years, so maybe they had it wrong about a lot of other things.”

The undermining of scripture radically weakens evangelism. We have no power or urgency to evangelize if we aren’t sure about what the Bible says. We’ve also sacrificed our ability to harness the power of Christ to restore all those who are hurting and in bondage. So my concern is that ultimately these actions threaten to erode the very foundation of the Church.
5. What is the one thing you wish churches would understand about this subject?

We must understand that what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked. Many parents and strugglers have aligned themselves with pro-gay groups either because the church wasn’t there for them or they were further wounded by the church’s actions when the struggle became known. I wish they really understood the power and authority of the Church to help men and women find freedom if we would just be the church. And I wish they were more open to having those ministries with proven track records come alongside them and show them how to make this happen.