When
leaving the church building Sunday afternoon I noticed a small bit of
graffiti on the courtyard steps. It is little, neat, and shiny gold, and
proclaims: “Trans lives matter.” While I’m all about not writing on stuff,
I wanted to bend down and write, “Agreed! ~ God (and Pastor Amy).” But that
seemed a little controversial for my first month with you all! Although,
given that I preached on money this past Sunday, talking about sex and
gender identity is only about a tip-toe further down the road of
hard-to-talk-about subjects.
Later
that day another church member asked, “I wonder why they did that?” My
response: probably because they think we don’t care about and we judge
trans-people. Prior to this graffiti discovery, during the church cook-in,
I was asked whether someone’s married gay friends and child would be
welcomed here at Phillips. I assured them that while I’m sure there are a
variety of views on human sexuality here, that the pastor welcomes all who
seek to follow Christ - whatever their sexual orientation or gender
identity.
Funny
how that is such a scary thing to put out in public! Meanwhile, while the
church discerns how best to be Christ’s presence, experts
estimate that over 50% of trans and nonbinary youth have attempted
suicide and over 80% have had suicidal ideation. The Trevor Project reports
that:
·
Many
LGBTQ youth lack access to affirming spaces, with only 55% of LGBTQ youth
reporting that their school is LGBTQ-affirming and only 37% saying that
their home is LGBTQ-affirming. Fewer than 1 in 3 transgender and nonbinary
youth found their home to be gender-affirming and a little more than half
(51%) found their school to be affirming. The Trevor Project’s research consistently finds that LGBTQ young people report lower rates
of attempting suicide when they have access to LGBTQ-affirming
spaces.
What
they found is that microaggressions and
lack of safe spaces to belong and be loved exponentially drive up these
suicide numbers. This breaks my heart. These are precious children of God,
created imago Dei (in the image of God), and called to be
co-creators with God (Gen. 1:26-30). We the church have a powerful message
of a God who so loved the world (John 3:16) - including trans and nonbinary
youth - that God lived a human life and suffered an inhumane death to break
the cycle of death for us all. This calls us to live together in a way that
(quite literally) brings life.
The
Pew research center estimates that 87% of
Americans know someone who is LGBTQ+
Meanwhile 44% of LGBTQ+ folks perceive or experience non-evangelical
Protestantism as unwelcoming (this category would include American
Baptists). In short, this means that most of us know, and probably love
LGBTQ+ persons - but many of those people we know and love do not feel
welcome in most churches. As the body of Christ, Christ who makes visible
to us a God of love, we can be safe spaces and do our very best to use
language that heals and does not harm. The Holy Spirit can empower us to
live in Christ’s image like this. Much more than “being politically
correct,” using someone’s preferred pronouns can be a prophetic act by
which we stand up against the powers of death that would destroy God’s
beloved creation.
This
past week I preached about the economy of death vs. the economy of life,
using the parable of the rich man and his barns from Luke 12:13-21. In that
story, a rich man built bigger barns to store up his windfall crop, with
the intention of hoarding all of the financial benefits to himself so he
could “eat, drink, and be merry!” When I think of the church standing
between LGBTQ folks and the profound Gospel truth that they are loved and
called by God, I wonder if this is one way that the church has built bigger
barns to store up its abundant gifts from God: we keep this good news to
ourselves rather than proclaim it to the folks who literally need it to
stay alive. Loving folks can be hard work, it can be uncomfortable - but it
can also be a joy when we get to know the presence of God in another
person.
I
wonder how you might respond to the graffiti on the church steps? Is your
first thought to wash off the steps or complain about vandalism? What
if we go with the Gospel news that all are created in God’s image and
called by Christ? In Romans, the Apostle Paul writes that God’s wrath is
revealed against all ungodliness (1:18), but then he says WE ARE ALL
UNGODLY (2:1) and when we judge other folks we are “despising the riches of
[God’s] kindness and forbearance and patience” (2:4). The Gospel is the
good news that God has dealt mercy to us all and brought us all into life,
let us not keep that message to ourselves but let us steward that well.
Yes,
anonymous graffiti artists, trans lives do matter for God is a God of love.
God loves trans folks. Let us discern together how we can be a space that
brings life, loving those whom God loves. If you would like to meet with me
to discuss my views, your views, or how you think the church can/should
respond to issues of human sexuality, feel free to come meet with me. This,
friends is a discussion worth having - and it just might help save lives.
Blessings,
Rev.
Dr. Amy L. Chilton
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