A Gay Bishop, for Heaven's Sake

A little over a year ago, this column began with an invitation to think "Christianly" about issues of importance to the life of faith. The point of the invitation was, and is, to emphasize that how we think as Christians is at least as important as what we think, and that if we keep this distinction clearly in mind, we will have a lot fewer decidedly unChristian wrangles in the church about who is and who isn't a real Christian.

There is probably no issue before church members today that needs approaching in this spirit more than the issue of this present column. Unless you've been on a space station, you probably know that bishops of the Episcopal Church recently elected their first "openly" gay colleague. ( I always find this qualifier intriguing.) The vote was 62 to 43 in favor. It would seem that the Rev. Gene Robinson had a good bit more success in his election than President Bush did in his. But then again, maybe not. To my knowledge, nobody has fled the country over the latter. More than a few Episcopalians may flee their church over the former.

With all due respect to a church in which I have no standing, I would like to express a hope that they won't pull out, that their faithfulness to the Anglican Communion will weigh more heavily than their distress over feeling that some of their leaders have compromised either the sanctity of the sexual relationship, the truth of scripture, the integrity of the Christian witness to the world, or all three. About their feelings, I have nothing but respect. About the premises upon which at least some of their feelings are based, however, I have some doubts.

The sanctity of the sexual relationship? Father Robinson, we have been told, has been in a committed relationship for 13 years. His ex-wife does not believe that it disqualifies him to be either a priest or a bishop. His daughter attended the House of Bishops meeting with him. By contrast, if television offerings these days are any indication, heterosexual marriages are beginning with contests, surviving with the help of adultery, and terminating with irreconcilable differences, permanent resentments, and uncontrollable impulses to start the sordid process all over again.

The truth of scripture? The jury of biblical scholars is still out on the extent to which the Bible as a whole (the "as a whole" here is crucial) condemns gays and lesbian behavior. The verdict has long been in on whether the Bible as a whole condemns gay and lesbian people: it doesn't. These same observations are pertinent to what the Bible also says about divorce. If being gay is incompatible with being a bishop, isn't being divorced a disqualifier also? Looking to the Bible for an easy answer to one question often makes getting any answer to another one much more difficult.

The integrity of the Christian witness? It is hard for me to see much integrity in putting the proclamation of laws and rules above the offer of grace and love. Sometimes I am more Pauline than I like to admit: laws and rules do sink us in hopelessness and spiritual death rather than raise us to joy and eternal life. Whether in the world of business or the transcendent environment of grace, Peter Principles get us nowhere.

On the gay bishop question, I have to think that our Lord's focus would have been more on what kind of a man Father Robinson is all the way around, and less on his partner of choice. What would have interested Jesus especially was the last minute set of allegations about the Reverend's knowledge of a porn site link and pattern of touching people inappropriately. I think Jesus would have been especially gratified to hear that the allegations had no merit.

I am not sure that Bishop Stanton of Dallas chose the right time to go into his closet to pray about his church. Perhaps he could have attended the next day's session and stayed in prayer there, while participating in other orders of business. But I am with him on recognizing Episcopalians' need to be in prayer over what lies ahead for their church. It will be good for other Christians to pray over it, too. Father Robinson's election to the episcopacy will have lasting consequences for all churches, not just Anglican ones.

What I will be praying for especially is that the mind of some of our churches, already made up too soon on both sides of the gay-lesbian issue in general, can still be open to the mind of Christ, as Christ continues to disclose it to us. Care to join me?