movie screening…
basement of a church…
room full of all types of people living different lifestyles–those who had come with their same-sex partner, those who had come with their opposite-gender partner, those who had come with friends, and those who had come alone…
coming to the same location to see the screening…

a rather unlikely location…
a rather unlikely mix of people…
a rather unlikely portrayal of the view of homosexuality within the church (or is it a more accurate portrayal…one we would rather turn from?).

this documentary follows the lives of five families, each involving the ‘coming out’ of one of the family members and the family’s subsequent struggle with life, family, church, faith, and the bible. each story is placed within the context of a family–a biological family and a spiritual family, the church. the stories all reflect how the church at large (and each one in particular) had an affect on their view of homosexuality and their view of what the bible had to say on this subject.

this movie grapples with some deep issues that affect faith:
is homosexuality a sin…is it even a choice…is it an abomination?
does god accept us just as we are, even if homosexual?
are christians called to be agents of violence or agents of justice?

for me, this documentary was challenging. it was a movie i could not simply walk out and leave behind, but one in which still lingers in my mind.

it was challenging sitting there next to a homosexual man, wondering how this movie was impacting him (and if it impacted him in many of the same ways in which it impacted me)–did he find it offensive, was he moved by certain stories, did he identify with the coming out stories shared?

it was challenging to some commonly held beliefs of mine…ones that i have simply heard from what i have deemed reputable sources and have adopted without analysis, ones that i have deduced from my own reasoning that were now being confronted, or ones that i thought were found in scripture.

it was challenging thinking of the many insensitive thoughts, attitudes, and words i have had, held, or spoken of others…others that i do not fully understand and so, condemn in my heart.

it was challenging reflecting on what kind of jesus do i portray…what kind of jesus do the homosexual men with whom i work see in me, what kind of jesus does the customer who irritates me at work see in my response, what kind of jesus do my friends see when i reply sarcastically to their genuineness?

it was challenging corporately to the community of believers as a whole–the church at large–in forcing us to ask ourselves, “what does the bible say?”

so, i pose some final questions that remain unanswered in my mind…

do people choose to be homosexual or are they born that way–what is the evidence supporting both?

how can the church cease to be a place where prejudice is born and misused?

why does the church fail to see the possibility of one being homosexual and christian at the same time (i wrestle with this as well but it seems much more difficult to see in dichotomous terms when sitting in a room surrounded by those who claim to be both)?

why view those prescribing to an alternate way of life with disgust, discomfort, and fear?

how can i, as a layperson, read the bible in its original context and with the original intent of the authors? how can i effectively enter into the social location of the biblical writers?

do i read the bible literally when it was never intended to be read in that manner? and if i do prescribe to a literal reading of the bible, do i do so only when it is convenient for me?

do i more readily denounce homosexual acts as sin, yet dismissing the sin of homophobia?

can i accept people as they truly are, without expecting them to change?

isn’t that what unconditional love is all about…loving without conditions?

for this, the bible tells me so.