The Theology of LGBTQIA+ Inclusion

Our staff is gearing up for Pride on Sunday!

As Tulsa Pride is coming this weekend to celebrate the queer community in our midst, Boston Avenue United Methodist Church has been involved for quite a while behind the scenes.  After The United Methodist Church went through its decades-long deliberations regarding inclusion, there are still many churches who do not support full inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community.  Some of these left our denomination and some are still part of the Oklahoma Conference.  There are individuals within Boston Avenue UMC where I serve who may not agree with inclusion or even understand why we would support it.

I will be hosting a Bible Study later this month entitled, "Clobbered: How Does an Inclusive Church Interpret 'Certain' Passages of the Bible" which will deal with a scriptural apologetic of inclusion.  It will also be available by zoom if you would like to join us by clicking the link above.

But as a Wesleyan who seeks to be consistent theologically, I also wanted to lift up the theological rationale for why Christians would support Pride.

We begin with the idea of God as Creator.  In the beginning, everything that is created, God declares to be good.  As science continues to support that people are created with their sexual identities rather than choosing them like at a buffet, we posit that if God were to create someone outside of the statistical majority, who are we to call their difference something other than good?

As Wesleyans, we also believe in God’s prevenient or preceding grace.  This is the idea that God loves all of creation and is reaching out in love to every human being on the planet.  Is there a child that God would not love?  We find the concept that God wouldn’t love someone ridiculous if not cruel.  As God seeks each person for relationship, human beings are often the most obvious vehicle for God to utilize in expressing this truth.

Jesus shares many times in the gospels that God is seeking to reach those on the outside looking in.  This includes people that the religious institutions of Jesus’ day would ostracize.  Jesus even goes on to identify himself with them in the example of the sheep and the goats.  Can you think of any groups of people that may not feel embraced in the church today?  How would this person not qualify as the stranger that Jesus lifts up for welcome?

As we support Pride this week, we do so in a way that connects us to the living Christ.  May our smiles and words of welcome be like a cup of cold water on a hot day!  We offer love because we are vessels of God’s grace, partnering with our Creator to declare, “You are a beloved child of God and you are good!”