The Anti Gay Tree is Producing Bad Fruit

Matthew 12:33-37

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Disclaimer: This blog is just my opinion. It doesn’t reflect any particular church or organization. I do not pretend to have all of the answers. These are just my thoughts, questions, doubts, concerns, hopes and dreams. I just want to create space for honesty and transparency on issues of faith and life.

When it comes to issues of morality, I was much more confident when I was a teenager. I felt the need to take a stance on everything and I was certain of the righteousness of my views. I was never afraid to tell other people why they were in the wrong and why they would be much better off if they followed the same moral guidelines as me.

As I get older, I have a harder time being certain about many things at all. I am frequently uncertain about my beliefs. I spend a great deal of time questioning and picking through every detail only to find myself without a conclusion. This uncertainty also flows into how I read and interpret the Bible, and how I make decisions about morality. I can no longer buy into a simple, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it. ” Even if I thought that the Bible was inspired word for word by God, unless I want to hold that there is a perfect translation and that there is no need for interpretation, then I still can’t view things with such a lack of nuance.

So, without very clear beliefs on divine instruction but still coming from a theistic worldview, how do I go about the task of making decisions about morality? I have wrestled with all of this during my deconstruction of what it is that I believe, and the answers are not simple. I tried to find systematic theologies that would help. I tried to figure out the best way of interpreting scripture and applying it to my life. At the root of all of this, was a desire to gain access to the key to understanding exactly what God wanted from humanity. It was in all of this wrestling that I figured out that the wrestling was what I was supposed to be doing all along. The story of the Hebrews is one of wrestling with God and what faith actually means. It seems odd that we should now feel that we have all of the answers and that our specific theologies are going to be the solution to the struggle of humanity and God. Again, this seems to leave more questions and answers.

Then I started looking at fruit. This passage from Matthew started to speak to me. I began to see that there was at least some base for making decisions and being faithful at the same time. This passage is also very pragmatic, it’s almost scientific. Basically, if you want to know if something is from God or not, look at the evidence. Bad trees produce bad fruit. Good trees produce good fruit. It seems overly simplified, but I think it allows for us to look at each issue of morality on a case by case basis and make a decision based on the fruit we see. For instance, in my opinion, pornography produces some really shitty fruit. For starters, it is dehumanizing. It is taking a moment that is meant for private space, that is meant to be safe and full of love, and it turns it into public entertainment. I don’t care how much you get paid, I don’t think this is good for your soul. Then there is the issue of how calloused it makes all of us to other human beings. We objectify people and turn them into nothing more than a vessel for our pleasure. I don’t know how good the science is behind it, but I know that in my life, pornography and depression go hand in hand. This is a study I’d like to see with more data.

So, clearly I am not saying, “anything goes” when it comes to my sexual ethic. Why then, would I come to such strong convictions on being affirming of LGBTQ people’s sexuality and identity? I came to this conclusion because the non-affirming tree was producing some disgusting fruit. There are plenty of places to find the statistics, but LGBTQ youth are far more likely to be depressed and commit suicide. Many of my opponents on this issue would claim that this is because their “sin” is causing their depression. If they would only surrender to God, they would be healed. However, the evidence suggests that teens in non-affirming families are far more likely to experience depression and thoughts of suicide. Many studies like THIS and THIS, start to show us a more complete picture of where the bad fruit is coming from. The issue with the idea of, “love the sinner, hate the sin” is that it is ignoring the fruit. Compare this back to the pornography issue from before. The fruit produced by pornography is still bad even though many people view it as normal and healthy. The issue with the fruit of non-affirming Christians lies with their own unwillingness to recognize their mistake. Instead of allowing new information to help us interpret our sexual ethic, we hunker down and fight tooth and nail to hold on to what we think the Bible says. The same Bible is telling us to check the fruit.

I know that many will disagree with me, but I hope that you will wrestle with this before you affirm your previous conclusions. Also, even if you think I’m dead wrong on sexuality, start looking at the fruit in other areas. I think it is a helpful way to try and live a healthy and faithful life.