WOULD JESUS SUPPORT GAYISM?

If you have ever watched the President of the United States of America deliver the State of the Union address in recent years, you know that at some point in his speech he will point to the balcony and introduce an ordinary citizen as a real hero in that country. On one such occasion President Ronald Reagan introduced a man named Lenny Skutnik as the hero of the year.

Lenny Skutnik was a federal worker or a civil servant walking down the street minding his own business, until the day that Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the Potomac River. The flight had just taken off from Washington bound for Florida. It had developed ice on its wings and it brought the plane down as it tried to clear Washington's 14th Street bridge.

In the next moment several passengers were thrown into the icy river. A helicopter soon came by dropping down ropes, but it could only save one person at a time. There was one lady who was struggling to grab the ladder. But she was so cold and so frozen she couldn't lift her arms out of the water, and it looked like she was going to drown.

Everyone else on that bridge was shouting encouragement to her. Not Lenny Skutnik. He broke through the police barricade, jumped into the river, risking his own life, and pulled that lady to shore, who otherwise would have surely drowned. To President Reagan, Lenny was a hero. But to the lady who was saved by the heroics of Lenny, he was a good neighbor.

The story of Lenny Skutnik reminds me of one of the seminal sermons, Jesus Christ, the father of Christianity shared in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10 vs. 25-37.

The story begins with a lawyer asking a good question but with a bad motive.

“And behold a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him saying, Master what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v25)

Interestingly Jesus did not answer the question but rather asked this lawyer a question.

“What is written in the law? What is your interpretation of this law?” (v26)

“And he answering said, Thou shall love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; AND THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF.” (v27)

“And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shall live.” (v28)

“But he seeking to justify himself, said unto Jesus, AND WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?” (v29)

“In reply Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of all his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him for dead.” (v30)

“A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.” (v31)

“So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.” (v32)

“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.” (v33)

“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” (v34)

“The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and instructed him to take care of him until I return and I would re-imburse you for any extra expense you may have.” (v35)

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (v36)

“The expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do likewise.” (v37)

What is good neighbourliness? Good neighbourliness is a disposition to be friendly and helpful to your neighbours. It connotes love, care for the needy, vulnerable and all groups who are disadvantaged in society.

Jesus used the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate the need for mankind to uphold good neighbourliness, by embracing our diversity and celebrating our differences be they cultural, political, tribal and racial, leveraging on it to build a communal spirit that focuses on helping people in need. Juxtaposing this against the posturing of some leaders of the church on the issue of homosexuality and lesbianism in the country, sends out very confusing signals.

Recently the sensibilities of Christians and people of faith have been offended by the alarming surge of gayism, homosexuality and lesbianism in this country. If Jesus were present today what would be his expectation of us in terms of our reaction to this phenomenon especially in the light of the story about the Good Samaritan, which accentuates the need for good neighbourliness? Would he approve of us if we choose to condemn the perpetrators of this culturally offensive and morally repugnant act? Or would he expect our posturing to be more accommodating and understanding?

Answering this can't be easy pickings at all especially in a country such as ours where majority of the population frown upon the practice. Already in Ghana, Christian leaders have been joined by leaders of other religions to mount a concerted chorus of condemnation of homosexuals and lesbians. What broke the camel's back were the recent comments by Prime Minister David Cameron to withdraw aid to countries that have anti-gay legislation on their statuette books like Ghana. President Mills threw down the gauntlet and rightly called off his bluff.

The question that rankles though is whether our outright condemnation of homosexuals and their abhorrent practice is the right approach in light of the lessons inherent in the story of the Good Samaritan. Are we too condemning and judgmental as a society? Or we are just expressing our candid opinions as forcefully as we can and as the saying goes let the chips fall where they may?

It is instructive to note that in the Bible, Jesus never condemned any individual who had committed an infraction of the law or those who have sinned. He came because of the “sinner” according to John 3:16. “Sinners” who encountered Jesus left better off than when they came into contact with him. Jesus according to the Bible is the quintessence of righteousness, yet he never let those around him feel bad around him. Today our self-righteousness is driving several people away from the Lord. Self-righteousness manifests itself when we fail to see the speck in our eyes but rather want to remove the mole in another's eye.

LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE

In bringing my article to an end I want to refer to another classic story recorded in John 8:7-8. In this story an angry crowd was about to lynch a prostitute caught in the act of adultery. They approached Jesus ostensibly to obtain his assent before carrying out the execution. According to the scriptures, Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking he lifted up himself and said to himself “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

By the time he got up all those who had gathered to stone the “sinner” had abandoned their stones and had quietly filed away from the scene. Jesus then brought some closure to the day's dramatic event by saying to the woman, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more.” In using this reassuring phrase, Jesus was telling the woman to go back and obey the law. It would have been a contradiction of immense proportions if Jesus had just allowed the woman to go without administering a holistic therapy to her condition. After all he came to “fulfill the law and not to destroy it.” Truth be told, the woman had broken the law and according to the law she had to be stoned to death. But the people who had caught her in the act of adultery and were about to summarily execute her were themselves not without sin.

Our reaction to the issue of homosexuality and lesbianism is a remarkable throwback to the story of the woman and her accusers. Just as the crowd in those biblical times, we as a society have already judged these individuals and have almost set the stage for their public lynching. There is no gainsaying the fact that these people have issues and so do us all living in our sinful Adamic nature.

As much as we bay for their blood, can we claim immunity to human challenges such as lying, stealing, fornication, adultery, gossip, murder, slander and the other sins that define our humanity? The scourge of homosexuality and lesbianism has been with us for a long time. Their mention alone evokes a kaleidoscope of emotion among Ghanaians and that is understandable. We are a people who are proud of our culture and traditions. We have been socialized over centuries to accept a relationship as that which is between a man and a woman. Any other representation is unacceptable and reprehensible so far as we are concerned.

However going by the moral in the story of the Good Samaritan, a good neighbor is one who reaches out to others in love, accepts their idiosyncrasies and leaves an indelible imprint on them. The love of God is unconditional. It does not discriminate at all. Christians and people of faith are stewards of this love. We are bound to show love to all manner of persons, their unconventional behavior notwithstanding. According to Rom.3:23, we are all sinners deserving of God's love. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We are free to speak against homosexuality and lesbianism but let us remember that the practitioners are also God's children deserving of his love. The least we can do as people who profess this love is to extend it to those who are in need of it.

*The writer is a Freelance Journalist and the Executive Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting Ghana.