If you've ever had a bug or rodent problem in your home, you know that it does little good to get rid of the pests if that's the only step you take to resolve the problem. There are always more pests, and if the first group found cause to invade your dwelling, others will soon enough (or so I've been told ).

Extermination companies certainly don't volunteer this information (mainly because they want your repeat business), but the only way to achieve lasting freedom from household pests is to get rid of the conditions that are attracting them in the first place. Stop leaving dirty dishes in the kitchen sink... Take out the garbage on a regular basis... Those sorts of things.

Doctors who are more interested in curing their patients than in supporting pharmaceutical companies will tell you the same thing. Most medications only hide or suppress the symptoms, making the pain and discomfort a little easier to bear in the short term. But, the painlessness is only an illusion. The source of those headaches, stomach cramps, or other ailments yet remains. Only when you deal with the causes will the effects go away in any lasting way.

Recounting one of Jesus' most well-known miracles, we find that He understood this all too well...

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. [38] And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? [39] And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:37-39

Two very important principles are revealed in Jesus' approach to this crisis. We would do well to master the application of these principles, and use them in our approach to the current crisis surrounding homosexuality.
 

PRINCIPLE #1: Deal With The Source First

The wind was only a minor issue to the sailors. At best, it blew heavily against the faces of the people on deck, and possibly made it a bit more difficult to maintain balance. To the sailors, the more pressing matter was the roaring sea, its waves breaking against the sides of the ship, filling its deck with water. They ran frantically to and fro, trying to evacuate the water that was weighing down and threatening to sink the ship.

Jesus alone was wise enough to realize that what appeared more pressing was not the real problem. He knew that although they may get all of the water off of the ship, there was always more where that came from—much more than they had the manpower or the time to effectively handle. Until what was stirring up the waves in the first place was dealt with, no other efforts would provide anything but momentary illusions of resolution. So, rather than expending time and energy dealing with the symptoms, Jesus went to the source of the problem first—the wind.

Note that Jesus didn't just ignore the water. He did, indeed, command the water to be still. Yet, He was smart enough to deal with the water in the proper time. His priority—His first order of business—was to stop the source from stirring up more strife.

It would do us well to keep this principle in mind as we strive for equal rights for gays. If we only wage this war in the courtrooms and public square, we'll be no better than the boatmen, seeking to deal with what appeared more pressing, while never going to the source to achieve lasting calm.

Just what is the source of the problem? The true source of anti-gay bigotry is not the law, public opinion, or even the camp of traditional Christians who so vehemently oppose any semblence of equal treatment for gays. The true source of our dilemma is doctrine—bad theology based on face value readings of Scripture that are wholly incapable of providing the intended meaning of the holy texts.

Bad theology is the garbage that has attracted the rodents of anti-gay bigotry. It's the tumor that's causing these excruciating migranes of the heart. All the pain relievers in the world won't fix the root cause, even though they may bring temporary relief in the short term.

Remember the gay marriage "victory" in California's courts, which was soon overturned by the popular vote? We kicked out the rodents, but they came back. Until we take out the garbage, our efforts are little more than exercises in futility—noble causes, to be sure, but the wrong tack, nonetheless.

My friend, reason and appeals to social justice are not powerful enough to combat faith, neither should they be, for there are many aspects of faith that completely defy reason (1Co. 2:13-14). This is something many non-believers don't understand (and understandably so, for they are not people of faith). Those that do recognize it often consider it a weakness—a sign of foolish and backward thinking. I strongly disagree, however. Faith is the great strength and power of our Christian way. It simply must be placed in the rightly-divided word of truth, rather than in traditional doctrines and commandments of men (Matt. 15:9)!

Faith Is Not The Problem. Faith In Bad Interpretations Of Scripture Is!

So then, it's proper that a solid theological framework for gay rights be laid first and foremost. Appeals to social justice are not without merit, just as evacuating the water from the buffetted ship was not a meaningless task for the sailors. But, approaching this in a manner consistent with Jesus' approach to the raging sea is sure to produce better, and more lasting results, not just in appealing to the laws of men, but in appealing to their hearts, as well.
 

PRINCIPLE #2: Rebuke The Cause, Not The Effect

Not only do we find Jesus dealing with the wind first, but we also find that His way of dealing with the wind and the waves reflected the fact that one was the cause, and the other was the effect—a victim of the cause, almost as much as the scared sailors.

Jesus rebuked the wind, but only spoke to the waves. He recognized that although the waves were the thing wreaking havoc on board His ship, it was the wind that was the true culprit. He didn't ignore the waves, but He maintained perspective in His approach, even though the waves were more directly responsible for the distress of His shipmates.

This speaks volumes to how we should approach the number of Christians who have caused so much pain in the lives of Queer people and their families. Sure, they're more directly responsible for the tears, the broken homes, and the needless anguish endured by so many. But to a large degree, they're also victims—victims of horrible interpretations of Scripture that are based not upon thoughtful and prayerful reflection, but upon the same legalistic, face value approach that held the Pharisees of Jesus' day captive.

When we think of Jesus and the Pharisees, we often think of His many confrontations with them, times when they sought to trap Him through devious theological questions, and times He called them out as a generation of vipers, children of the devil, and other not-so-friendly labels.

We rarely remember that Jesus was on friendly terms with more than one Pharisee, including Nicodemus (to whom He spoke of the need to be born again), and an unnamed Pharisee who opened his home and provided Jesus and His entourage a meal. "Pharisees" weren't the problem. The legalistic approach that many of them subscribed to was. Jesus never failed to make this distinction, always directing his rebukes to the right people, at the right time, not to an entire group of people just because of their membership in the Pharisee sect.

It's true that some Christians are so far gone that they wouldn't consider the truth if it slapped them in the face. Their love is spent, and all that's left is a blind, empty religiosity. They've become reprobate—lost in the mire of their own bad theology and, for all intents and purposes, beyond redemption. Once we recognize that an individual is this far gone, a rebuke is certainly appropriate (as was the case with Jesus and His many Phariseean run-ins).

But, we should take care not to allow our frustrations to paint the entire anti-gay segment of the Christian community with a wide brush. Many in that camp are sincere people who only believe what they believe because they've been told all their lives that it's the right thing to believe. If and when they're shown the light, they will change, like so many have already done (myself included—and that's saying something, coming from someone who is, himself, gay).

The point: Let's not mix the symptoms with the cause. Let's keep them separate and deal with them in a manner that appreciates that distinction. Jesus taught us this in rebuking the winds and speaking to the waves. If we can employ this in our time, we will do great justice to the nobililty of our cause, and will have rightness on our side.

Let's be mindful to put the horse before the cart. Let's propagate affirming theology as much as possible, so that the stage will be set for appeals to social justice to be more effective.

If we win the hearts, we win the war!

Amen, and amen.