Meet Matthew Vines

Let me encourage you to watch this video on homosexuality and faith.

 

It is long (67 minutes), but let me offer a few reasons to watch and listen to this young man.

Watch it for the courage it takes to lay bare your soul in a very public forum. While this presentation was given to a sympathetic audience in a church, posting on YouTube exposes him to a larger and much more hostile audience. You don't have to wade very far into the comments to witness the anger, contempt, and disgust aimed at him and all in the LGBT community.

Watch it for the powerful witness of his personal faith. It is sad that someone so committed to their faith must plead for acceptance among others that supposedly share that faith. He is not asking for special status. He is merely making the case that he should be allowed to participate fully in the church and enjoy all the benefits of a committed, monogamous relationship.

I think of it as the perfect test for people who call themselves Christians. Christ spelled out the commandments to his followers in the simplest possible terms - love God and love others (even those that hate you). Matthew makes it clear that he is committed to the teachings of Jesus and presents himself as a fellow sinner on the road of life. It is the perfect cognitive dissonance paradigm. On the one hand, he clearly and proudly professes his faith, which should have fellow Christians cheering with approval and acceptance. Evangelism accomplished in every possible sense. On the other hand, some members of the Christian community have elevated homosexuals to a special class of sinner deemed less worthy of love and respect. Instead of "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), we are told to treat homosexuals as pariahs.

For me, the conflict is easy to resolve. I am moved by Matthew's humanity, see him as a brother in Christ, and focus on the log in my eye rather than spend time and energy trying to remove any dust in his eye. My challenge is to love those that teach Christians to judge others rather than love others. On my good days, I call these people ________. For those who have fallen under the spell of the culture warriors, the choice is much more difficult. Embracing Matthew as someone worthy of love and respect means rejecting the guidance from these religious leaders they chose to follow. My advice to them is to remember what Jesus said about the religious leaders of his day. Everything he said about the Pharisees and Sadducees is doubly true of the Christian culture warriors of today.

Another reason I like this video is that it highlights the perversity of many Church leaders. Here is a young man who desperately wants to be in a committed loving relationship and rejects promiscuity. As Matthew notes, the biblical references to homosexuality all focus on acts of hedonism or coercion, not on sexuality within the context of a committed relationship. The irony is that the Christian culture warriors are demanding that homosexuals either be celibate or keep their attraction to members of the same sex a secret. The culture warriors reject sex within the context of a loving relationship as an option for LGBT people, most especially those that want to be part of the larger Christian community. It is clear that the culture warriors are the ultimate perverts.

One thing Matthew fails to mention is that the culture warriors perversely believe in collective rewards and punishment. Never mind that Jesus focused on personal responsibility, teaching that you are only accountable for your own beliefs and actions. There is no injustice to fight. Consensual same sex relationships do not involve harm or coercion so there is no one to protect from victimization. Likewise, heterosexual relationships are not harmed in any way, shape, or form by same sex relationships. So why the obsession? Culture warriors want you to believe our nation will be showered with prosperity if we condemn homosexuality and showered with fire if we don't.

As a heterosexual, why does all this matter to me? After all, I do not seem to have any skin in the game if the cultural warriors win. But I do have friends, neighbors, fellow congregants, and fellow Americans who will be harmed by the culture warriors. Silence is complicity and I refuse to be silent when my brothers and sisters are being mistreated.

I am posting this video and commentary on May 8 as a reminder of how disgraceful and toxic the culture warriors have become in our society. Today in North Carolina, the culture warriors have successfully put an initiative on the ballot that invalidates all same sex unions, including civil domestic partnerships.

NC Same Sex Amendment 1 Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.

Like Matthew Vines, I am a member of a United Methodist congregation. I am posting this video in protest and disappointment that the denomination has voted to continue discrimination against LGBT members of the community.

I would call culture warriors monsters if it did not demean monsters. Monsters, after all, are only figments of our imagination. Culture warriors are very real and prove the existence of evil. Some would say there are reasons to hope the reign of terror by cultural warriors is coming to an end. For example, recent surveys have shown that younger members of the evangelical community are abandoning the culture wars. I never underestimate the ability of money and power to corrupt, coerce, and turn well-meaning idiots into instruments of injustice.

I am proud to call Matthew my brother in Christ and deeply ashamed of the deadly culture war pox infecting the body of Christ.