A BLOG BY ALAN CHAMBERS

COME OUT!

I am thankful for the climate of openness that has been created by those in the gay community who have and do advocate being honest over living in secrecy with regards to one's sexuality.  Lest you misunderstand me, I am not saying that I believe people should identify as gay or lesbian or that either labels are congruent with biblical standards.  However, I do firmly believe that the gay community has upstaged the Christian community on the moral value of honesty where "coming out" is concerned.

I did an interview this morning with a major Christian magazine and made the comment, "It is time for the leaders within the Christian community who are struggling with any type of sexual, chemical or emotional temptation to be honest about that." The reporter responded by asking, "What if the pastor is struggling with something that is taboo, like homosexuality?"

In my opinion there shouldn't be anything that we can't talk about or confess in church and among other believers.  A pastor who struggles with unwanted same-sex attractions shouldn't be shamed by us into secrecy.  Neither should such a pastor fall prey to that shame and decide to be secretive.  Where there is no honesty sin thrives!

Pastors are spiritual and moral leaders.  Many times they are the living breathing examples of how their parishioners should deal with their own weaknesses and temptations.  Of course Pastors are human and our ultimate standard is Christ. But, a pastor who admits that he has struggles and is tempted is the type of pastor that I can follow and trust.

Certainly any pastor that is giving into temptation and failing to live up to the biblical standards of holiness needs to step down and deal with those things head on. But simply being vulnerable and transparent about human weakness all the while abstaining from giving into them is an example that desperately needs to be modeled to the worldwide church that is suffering from a lack of this kind of bold leadership. 

Currently, most of our churches are places where people wear masks and pretend to be more than they are--following the example of the leaders they serve under.  Christ doesn't call us to be more than we are---He calls us to be honest about our potential for failure and to deny our humanity daily while picking up our cross and following Him. (Matt. 16:24)

So often we in Christendom hijack II Corinthians 5:17, which says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We use it to mean that anyone who comes to Jesus is automatically transformed into a perfect being---or darn near close.  The truth of that scripture is that "newness" refers to quality unrelated to time. We are all a work in progress and only through daily submission to the Lordship of Christ can we make any progress at all.

I believe that pastors and anyone in leadership needs to be vulnerable and transparent about their lives.  I am not saying that such a leader needs to be accountable to the public for every thought or deed, but they do need to be accountable to someone for that.  Publicly, pastors and leaders simply need to be open about the fact that they are human in need of a Savior.  If a pastor battles same sex attraction issues or opposite sex attraction issues there should be no need for that to be hidden. 

I used to tell the kids that I counseled, "Never trust a leader that doesn't walk with a limp."  The world is looking for authenticity and the church should be the place that they find that quality most.

America is So Blue!

The biblical saying, "you reap what you sow" is ringing loud and clear in our nation as people wake up to the news that the Democrats have won control of the House and possibly the Senate.  I think Republicans got too comfortable over the last few years and failed to convince voters that their style of leadership was working.

I also think that people have separated the war in Iraq from the war on terror.  While I believe there are direct ties, I think our leaders became overconfident there, as well.  The people have spoken and their displeasure is unmistakeable.

My friend Phil Burress was quoted in the Wall Street Journal last weekend as he talked about being disappointed in Republicans, even in the President.  But his good advice was to go to the polls, hold your nose and vote Republican anyway.  I took his advice because I agreed that it was the right thing to do overall, not because of the people that we were having to vote for.

I do think the Foley scandal, Ted Haggard's fall and other moral issues had an effect on the elections, but I believe the war was the prevailing factor.

Once again, however, people came out and voted for marriage.  7 out of the 8 states with marriage amendments on the ballots voted for their passage sending a loud message to our newly elected Democrats and the others they will join in Congress come January.

Being the minority party again will re-energize the leaders within the GOP and those that work to keep them in power.  I think this is good for the Church---we need to realize that politics won't save us and that the people need more attention than our elected officials.