"Open and Affirming"

The headline in the paper reads, “A Message of Inclusiveness.”  The article highlighted a decision made by a local church in Grand Junction regarding their status as an “Open and Affirming” congregation.  According to the article, by adopting this policy, the church has agreed to be “open, affirming and accessible…[striving] to follow the teachings of Jesus…[which includes] welcoming, honoring, and respecting all people.”

Part of my response to this decision is to say, “Well, of course.  That’s what we’re called to do and be for the sake of Christ.”  The church across the world is called to welcome all people into our midst with grace and hospitality, which is not a trait other institutions are necessarily responsible for carrying.  When I worked for a gym, one of the taglines we used to pose in our marketing material is that our gym is “a place for everyone.”  That wasn't completely true.  Because our gym took care of hundreds of children through day care and other efforts, we had to be very careful about screening membership applications for one particular group of people: registered sex offenders.  So in reality, anyone can join that gym – except registered sex offenders, for obvious reasons.

Even thought the church cares for children as well and desires to protect our kids from harm, we actually cannot make a stipulation like the gym did.  As a church, we abide by clearly-stated policies regarding people whose past includes sexual crimes.  If anyone wants to volunteer here, we ask them to disclose those details and complete a thorough background check.  But that’s a volitional decision – we can’t force people to disclose that information.  We welcome people into our midst every week in our worship services and other ministries without any background check or Google search.  In one sense of the world, the church mentioned in the newspaper article is simply re-stating the obvious.

However, the moniker of “Open and Affirming” doesn’t usually cultivate that kind of attitude in real life – at least not in my experience.  The article went on to explain that the focus of their efforts is primarily concerned with groups of people who, historically, have not felt very welcomed in the church: the gay community, people with varying concerns about gender identity, and other hot-button issues.  And let me again be clear: people of any background should be welcomed in a church.

But here’s the problem with the title chosen by this particular church in Grand Junction.  People are most fully welcomed and embraced through one avenue: the gospel of Jesus Christ.  All sinners.  All backgrounds.  Everybody.  The central connecting point of any church is and must always be Jesus Christ and the gospel he still proclaims.  By simply saying, “We are an open and affirming church,” using the terminology and criteria chosen by this particular church, many people will not actually feel welcomed, embraced, and accepted.  People who are uncomfortable around such terms and implications as “open and affirming” will not feel welcome or affirmed in your congregation.  And frankly, most of the congregations I know who have chosen to take a stance like this do not demonstrate a high level of inclusiveness or tolerance for diverse viewpoints about hot-button issues.  Sexuality, for example, is OK to discuss in these settings if one agrees with mainline culture.  But if someone tries to follow the witness of Scripture regarding human sexuality and go against the viewpoint of their church’s culture or our culture at-large, those views are unwelcome and dismissed.  The effectual meaning of something like “Open and Affirming” actually becomes “Open and Affirming – if you agree with us.”

That’s not what the church is called to be.  I believe this local church and any church has the right to make statements like they’ve chosen to do.  But let’s be clear about what is actually meant by our statements.  Let’s not simply assume that everyone will feel welcome because we take a stance on a complex and difficult issue, or that individual feelings about that issue (which are important) are somehow the most important thing the church is called to bless and encourage.

This is an ongoing conversation.  If you’d like to hear a civil, clear message about some of the root issues of this discussion, please listen to the following message from Dan Baumgartner, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Hollywood CA.  Click the link for the sermon from July 24 called “Core Identity.”

http://www.fpch.org/media-a-resources/listen-online?start=180

To this day, I have yet to encounter a message quite as gracious and clear as what Dan preached several years ago.  I hope you find it helpful, even if you disagree with what he has to say.

Solo Dei gloria,

Travis