Christian Retailing

close up Michael L. Brown Print Email
Written by Leslie Santamaria   
Wednesday, 14 May 2014 10:12 AM America/New_York

MichaelBrownLatest project: Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding With Love and Truth to Questions About Homosexuality (9781621365938, $16.99, FrontLine/Charisma House).

Latest project: Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding With Love and Truth to Questions About Homosexuality (9781621365938, $16.99, FrontLine/Charisma House).

For what audience did you write Can You Be Gay and Christian?
The book is for everyone who is same-sex attracted and wants to follow the Lord—or who once wanted to follow the Lord, but could not reconcile their sexual desires and romantic attractions with the Scriptures and so walked away from the faith. The book is also for all believers who have a heart to minister to the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered] community, as well as pastors and leaders who want to be faithful to God as they stand up for what is right while reaching out with compassion—in short, as they seek to minister with grace and truth.

What compelled you to write this book?
The title of this [book] represents a question of great importance to the church today. Is it possible for someone to practice homosexuality and follow Jesus at the same time? Just a few years ago, such a question would have seemed absolutely absurd, but with more and more gays and lesbians talking about their love for the Lord and their commitment to Him—including same-sex couples—this is a question that we cannot avoid.
The first issue that confronted me was that of gay activism, beginning in 2004 in Charlotte, N.C. As the Lord began to burden me with a sense of calling to confront the activist agenda, I felt it important to do my best to understand those I was differing with, to see the world through their eyes, to hear and read their stories, especially those [who] claimed to be gay Christians.
The more I read and listened, the more my heart broke, but as a biblical scholar, I had to test the “gay Christian” arguments. This book is the fruit of a broken heart for those who identify as LGBT, combined with a love for the Lord and His Word.

What do you hope your work on this book will accomplish?
I really hope that Can You Be Gay and Christian? will accomplish a number of things, including: helping believers in general develop a greater understanding of the unique challenges experienced by those who seek to combine their Christian faith and their homosexuality; setting the record straight on what the Scriptures really say about these issues, using sound scholarship, but writing in a way that everyone can understand; dealing with difficult objections to the traditional understanding of key texts that are being raised by gay theologians (sadly, most Christians, including Christian leaders, are poorly equipped to answer these objections); and pointing the way forward for those who truly want to obey and know the Lord.

CanYouBeGayAndChristianWhat are some of the many questions you explore in the book?
We tackle questions like: Are we using the Bible to sanction anti-homosexual prejudice, just as the church in the past used the Bible to sanction slavery and segregation and the oppression of women? What does the Hebrew word abomination really mean? What did Jesus and Paul have to say about homosexuality? What did Jesus mean when He told us not to judge others? And, of course, can you be gay and Christian?

More than 500 endnotes provide documentation of your research for this book. How much time and research went into the project?
On the one hand, I’ve been studying the Word for the last 42 years, also earning a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from New York University and writing Bible commentaries and scholarly theological articles over the years. So, the book is based on decades of careful study and prayerful reflection.

Also, beginning in 2004, I started reading whatever I could on homosexuality, ranging from articles and books on the gay liberation movement to stories from gay pastors (with book titles like Holy Homosexuals), along with theological works on all sides of the issue and sociological, psychological and historical books, amassing quite a library in the process.

My book A Queer Thing Happened to America, which came out in 2011 and is 700 pages long with 1,500 endnotes, reflects my research on the issues of gay activism. Can You Be Gay and Christian?, written with a focus on practical and gracious ministry throughout, reflects years of study with the emphasis on reaching out.

What are some things Christians can do to extend God’s love to those who identify as gay?
Read this book, for one! Aside from that, the key thing is sensitivity and understanding. They should ask God for His heart for those who identify as LGBT; they should read their stories and get to know them (the book is full of relevant stories in this regard); they should separate gay activism from gay-identified individuals; and they should get to know them as fellow human beings for whom Jesus died, building loving and redemptive relationships wherever possible.

Is there anything else Christian retailers should know about this book?
I truly believe this book will fill a unique need in the body [the church] today. On a constant basis, people write to me or call my radio show with questions about homosexuality, either pertaining to their own lives or to the lives of a loved one, and this book provides the answers to their questions.

Interestingly—and providentially, it appears—my book is being released the very same time that another book on the subject is coming out, but that book is written by a young, gay activist who has launched a campaign to try to “reeducate” the church on “gay Christianity.” So, at the very moment his book comes out—I’m sure it will be celebrated by the secular media and liberal church as well—the answer to that book will be out as well.