Jul13
Vicky Gene Robinson Quote
I came across this quote today from Vicky Gene Robinson - the US’ first openly gay bishop. I think he makes a good point. Referring to the right wing Evangelical hoo-ha over his appointment, Robinson comments:
To raise the issue of homosexuality above the Nicene Creed and belief in the Trinity seems to me to border on idolatry… If this is all about the authority of scripture why haven’t people threatened to leave over the church not obeying Christ’s commandment to reach out to the poor? A third of the parables and a sixth of Christ’s words in the Gospels are about wealth possession, but we don’t hear too much about that.1
5 Responses to “Vicky Gene Robinson Quote”
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Mark
Said this on July 14th, 2008 at 4:02am:A few years ago I was probably one of those people that thought this was nearly the worst thing in the world. Then someone did something that has forever transformed my thinking. They had me read an article about a gay minister. This man showed gave more of himself to the cause of the gospel than anyone I knew. After reading the article my non-Christian friend said something that has stuck with me.
He said, “I’ve read the Bible and I can tell you that this man is more like Jesus than any other Christian I have ever met.”
That conversation changed me. I’m not saying I have reached a point that I am just completely cool with the idea of homosexual ministers, but at the same time I am no where close to condemning the idea either. I think I will just leave that to God, and I will do my best to present myself as an example of Christ to those around me.
AJ
Said this on July 14th, 2008 at 7:21am:Hey Mark, thanks for sharing your thoughts (I would be interested to know what the article was your read).
I, too, have been on a journey in connection with this subject. For me, my thoughts changed when I came to the realization that God judges the quality of any relationship on a completely different set of criteria other than, say, what we do with our bits.
Saint Peter
Said this on July 23rd, 2008 at 12:40pm:I think Gene Robinson is unfair to say that the right-wing Evangelicals are raising ‘the issue of homosexuality above the Nicene Creed and belief in the Trinity’. They are just addressing the issue he presents. He needs to recognise that the only reason he has the platform he does in the media and church is because he is homosexual. He’s not known for reaching out to the poor or using his position to preach about wealth and possessions. It would have been nice if during the Lambeth conference he could have kept away from media. It got rather tedious having him on breakfast TV, Newsnight, and the broadsheets commenting on his humble position as the sacrificial lamb. He would have been more use feeding the poor than looking down from his moral high ground claiming that he’s challenging the church to think. There are a lot of people who have done his journey and now disagree with him but are too busy feeding the poor to visit the media stations.
AJ
Said this on July 24th, 2008 at 5:18pm:Hey Saint Peter, I disagree with you here. I think Robinson’s point is valid. These evangelicals get in an uproar over homosexual vicars and woman bishops but when it comes to other matters which I would reckon to be of prime theological importance, when measured against their own tradition, they seem to remain silent – see my latest blog post. It is not purely objective theological reasoning motivating this debate.
Saint Peter
Said this on July 28th, 2008 at 10:59am:I still disagree we you here too.
On what authority does Robinson speak? Does he really know what is taught in evangelical churches? How can he say that evangelicals go on and on about homosexuality when he is not part of that community and only really listens to a few vocal extremists. I went to evangelical churches for decades and we never got sermons on homosexuality or anything similar. The weekly homegroups constantly looked at doctrine. The Alpha course, and others like it, don’t go near the subject of homosexuality. It wasn’t that long ago that the evangelical were being accused of not being relevant and looking at today’s issues.
Robinson plays the part of the poor victim and demonises anyone who disagrees with him. How he has the nerve to say that others should be focusing on the poor and trinity and then do neither is beyond me. By his criteria this blogsite is wrong as it certainly goes on more about homosexuality than the poor or wealth and possessions.
He says ‘why haven’t people threatened to leave over the church not obeying Christ’s commandment to reach out to the poor?’ They do leave the church, all the time. Evangelical churches are constantly splitting over what to do with the finances or tithes (over which they then get told that they are being legalistic and money grabbing). Most evangelical give a lot to the poor. Many meet in school halls so that they can free up money to give away.
The people leaving the church over the issue of homosexuality are also the liberals. Despite how much work a church may do in the community or monies raised for charity the liberals are the ones turning the back on the church. Do they then set up projects to help with inner-city poverty? Of course not. They so knowledgably look down on those out-of-date Salvation Army families (bless their hearts) giving out the leaflets about ‘the blood of the Lamb’ and text a friend over a glass of wine about their freedom in Christ.
What would be nice is if Robinson could be a little more tolerant of others. Less judgmental. And go out and unity the church on issues such as feeding the poor, the trinity, and speak a little less about homosexuality.