Hello, friends!

In our last issue in this series, “Why Some Younger Adult Christians Have Left Churches of Christ,” we continued to explore what we heard from those who took the time to respond to our survey. Many shared that their decision to leave came down to disagreement with a particular teaching, position, or policy. Among the reasons they gave, one came up more often than any other: the role of women in the church.

➡️ This time, we want to sit with the next most-mentioned issue: how some churches respond to the gay and LGBTQ community.

Several respondents saw this issue as connected to the treatment of women, describing the church’s approach to LGBTQ individuals as part of a larger pattern of exclusion they had experienced or witnessed.

Some pointed to specific policies that felt unwelcoming or judgmental toward gay individuals.

A few noticed a contrast: as the wider culture has grown more accepting of diverse lifestyles, the church, in their experience, felt like a place of rejection.

Throughout this series we’ve tried to offer a word of care to everyone involved, both to those who have stayed in Churches of Christ and to those who have left. For us, that means holding two questions together on this subject: 1) How should the church interact with and respond to those in the gay and lesbian community? and 2) What does the Bible teach on this issue?

For a more in-depth discussion of this topic, tune in to this week’s Church Things podcast, “Why They Left: The Church’s Response to the LGBTQ Community.”

*You can listen on Spotify, too!

For those of us who have stayed in Churches of Christ, this may be a good moment to ask ourselves again how well we’re treating everyone, including those in the LGBTQ community. Are we treating people the way Jesus did and would? He showed respect, kindness, and compassion to everyone he met, even to those whose conduct he could not endorse.

For those who have left, it may help to know that many who feel they cannot affirm the homosexual lifestyle are doing so out of deep moral conviction, not indifference or hostility. They believe the Bible speaks clearly against homosexual sexual activity, and for them, affirming that behavior would mean going against what they understand scripture to teach.

We go into greater depth on these points in this week’s podcast, “Why They Left: The Church’s Response to the LGBTQ Community.” We would be pleased for you to join this conversation. Feel free to share your views with us. Send them to hello@kerryandbecky.com, and thank you!

From the sacred writings:

“Owe nothing to anyone — except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

— Romans 13:8 (NLT)

“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

— Genesis 1:26-27

A prayer:

Gracious God,

Thank You for the honesty of those who have shared their stories with us, even when those stories are hard to hear.

Give us all the humility to examine ourselves, as well as our words, our attitudes, and our actions.

Give us all a love and understanding of your truth — and the will to practice it in our lives. Help us hold fast to it without ever losing sight of your love and kindness.

We ask these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.

May God richly bless you!

Kerry and Becky

🤔 What’s on your mind?

Just a reminder: if you would like a sounding board for some “church thing”—a situation, question, problem, or concern—we’d be happy to reflect on it with you. Let us know what it is, and we’ll be honored to respond!