The Great Divide: The LGBTQ & Christian Colleges
I attend Malone University, a private Christian school in Canton, OH. The community comprises of students and faculty of various backgrounds. I’ve met students from different religious backgrounds and some who are non-religious, of different ethnic backgrounds, and so on. As a Christian school, Malone is affiliated with Evangelical Friends Church. Their community guidelines adhere to the church’s guidelines. Faculty members are expected to follow the guidelines more than students. One of the guidelines is that sex must be intimate between a man and a woman– same-sex relationships aren’t allowed. As you can imagine many people would be irked by this, and this is exactly what happened six months ago on October 11th. Malone’s president announced in an email that one of the female science professors is having a relationship with another woman and intends to get married this summer. When she approached the leadership she hoped for a compromise. Instead, she was asked to resign. Many students and alumni shared their grievances on Facebook and Instagram showing their support for the professor; most of whom were members of the LBGTQ+ community and supporters.
One student mobilized a protest that took place at Community Worship, Malone’s weekly worship service a few weeks later. That same student also wrote an article in a magazine called The Advocate titled “Malone Is Rightfully On Worst Colleges for LBGT Youth List. That list she mentioned was first posted on “Campus Pride.” It put Malone on the list as of 2021.
The professor identifies as a Christian. As a fellow Christian I felt bad for her. I still do. I also understand it is difficult comprehending how we should treat members of the LGBTQ+ community as Christians, especially fellow Christians who identify. It’s easy to get sidetracked because many are afraid of being called homophobic. Disapproval and hate are often associated with one another. You can respect a person’s sexuality without agreeing with it or supporting the person’s lifestyle.
I believe marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman. I believe that’s what God envisioned in Genesis 1:27. When he created Adam, he said it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him' ' (Genesis 2:18 NIV) and created a woman. This is where mariage first comes in. God ordained marriage for man and woman.
I’m aware that there are many Christians who believe we should be accepting of same-sex marriages. If you’re reading this and you are a Christian who believes this please don’t be alarmed by this post. I’m not here to slander anyone. That’s not the goal. My goal is to simply bring up that it is possible to respect members of the LGBTQ+ community and disagree with their lifestyle. It’s similar to respecting those who celebrate Halloween while refusing to celebrate it yourself. It’s a common thing for people who are on the community or support it to call Christians homophobic because of their disagreements.
One common argument is that Jesus commands us to “love one another.” Love is love and Jesus wouldn’t push homosexuals away. We are all made in God’s image and should be respected as human beings. This is a common one I’ve seen on my Instagram feed. My friends responded by saying as a Christian university that preaches inclusivity and loving one another, they should be living up to what they stand for and aren’t doing that by having a professor resign because of his/her sexuality.
Another common argument is that the word “homosexual” isn’t in the Bible. Most of the scriptures Christians use to combat homosexuality are used as an excuse for their homophobia. Scriptures like Romans 1:27-28 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 are specifically talking about men who are having sex with boys. Looking at these verses on the NET Bible where it shows the Greek translation, the Greek word that appears in both texts is the word arsenokoitai, meaning “men who lie with men.”
Here is what Romans 1:27-28 NIV says
In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Here’s what 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIV
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Some Bible translations are better than others. The New International Version says men have sex with other men. The New American Standard Bible uses the word “homosexuals.” People may interpret those verses as older men having sex with boys, others will say it’s about two men having sexual relations with each other. Since many Christians read the Bible for answers to questions addressing homosexuality supporters of the LGBT community along with progressive Christians say that Christians shouldn’t use the Bible to excuse homophobia. Leviticus 18: 22 which says “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman.”
On a last note, a common argument against homosexuality is the Soddom and Gommorah story in Genesis 19. Verse 4 and 5 caught my eye:
“Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
I understand why people might use this story, but I don’t think that this was necessarily talking about homosexuality because Lot talking about having sexual relations with the men in the city. This may be interpreted in different ways. People may interpret it that way and others may suggest the same thing, that it’s about older men having sex with boys. However, I don’t think that the Bible has to explicitly use the word “homosexual” for it to be wrong. My stance on homosexuality comes from Genesis 1:27 which says God created us male and female. That’s how he intended marriage to be in his perfect world. Sin has distorted marriages and has even led to homosexual marriages. I understand that this isn’t an easy topic to discuss and many Christians may just agree with everyone else or avoid the topic altogether to avoid hurting anyone.
If you’re a Christian who believes the same as me but don’t know how to approach this issue, here are three things you can do: pray, read your Bible, and listen. If you know someone in that position, pray for them, read your Bible, and listen to their concerns. Listening is something I still need to work on myself. If you try that and are still disrespected then keep praying. Keep in mind we can’t change people’s hearts. People will think what they want about us. It won’t be pretty, unfortunately. Yet that’s how the Christian life is.