As much as I admire Brian McLaren, I don’t envy the kind of heat he often takes for his positions on issues. He’s become something of an evangelical whipping boy everytime he opens his mouth. Most recently, he authored a piece on homosexuality on Leadership Journal’s blog. If you read his entry, there’s nothing in it that is even remotely heretical. Now, I know that homosexuality is such a hot-button issue for so many people that it’s impossible for some people to have level-headed discussions on the topic.

Well, McLaren got a flurry of comments from readers and fellow pastors. Some positive, many negative. You can read some of the responses here and here. It has gotten so bad that McLaren had to offer a response of his own, clarifying and extending his remarks.

The tragic part of the whole debate is that the core of McLaren’s message is being lost. In his original article, he was trying to tackle the “homosexual question” from a pastor’s perspective. As a pastor, he’s been approached by parishoners who asked how his church deals with the issue of homosexuality. Obviously, there are a number of ways that a pastor can answer that question. Even if you hold a biblical, orthodox position on the issue of human sexuality, how you explain and express that opinion to an inquiring parishoner requires a certain amount of tact, sensitivity, and grace. McLaren acknowledges this and tries to explain why he believes that a certain segment of evangelicalism, while doctrinally being orthodox, have lacked the discernment and love when communicating the truth of Scripture.

A lot of people aren’t going to want to hear that. For a lot of people, this issue is very open and shut — homosexuality is sin. As such, the only way to adequately hold that position is to boldly proclaim it to anyone you encounter, regardless of their situation.

That may work for some people, but I don’t think pastors can afford to take that position. That doesn’t meant that pastors shouldn’t stand up for truth. It means that they should be given the grace to speak truth in love to those who need to hear the truth.

Evangelicals have done a terrible job in recent years of ministering to homosexuals. It may have something to do with our unhealthy hang-up over sex and sexuality. The issue of sexuality is treated differently than most other issues of sin within evangelical churches. Sins like pride, greed, anger, envy, and sloth are glossed over as both personal sins and institutional sins while homosexuality is singled out as being somehow more troubling.

As a result, churches have set up roadblocks to homosexuals who may be looking for spiritual guidance, community, and healing. It illustrates a dangerous theological tendendcy of requiring sanctification before salvation. We only want sinners in our churches who have stopped sinning. Somehow by welcoming them into community, we feel like we’re validating their behavior, while at the same time we overlook our own sinful behavior.

This spills over into the marketplace of ideas in which we conduct so much of our business. When evangelicals go to war over issues like gay marriage, it’s typically done with a certain amount fear, anger, and righteous indignation. The net effect is to draw boundaries between “us” and “them”.

I think McLaren’s suggestion to spend some time in quiet conversation, with respectful listening and open hearts is a good suggestion. I’d love to see pastors invite homosexuals of all religious persuations into their churches and homes to hear their stories and to share some of their own. It doesn’t mean giving up orthodoxy. It doesn’t mean waffling on beliefs. But it does mean approaching other people with compassion and grace.