A "Gay" Saint??

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy on us!

I just discovered on the web an organization called Integrity, Inc. that purports to be an organization of and supporting homosexuals within the Episcopal church. They have adopted as their patron saint one St. Aelred of Rievaulx, whom they claim was "gay".

Now, I have never heard of St. Aelred before. I know nothing about him, other than what I have read on the Integrity, Inc. web page. Yet I detect an error in logic that I must point out. That error is a redefinition of terms.

According to modern usage, the perversion of the word "gay" denotes a homosexual who identifies him or herself as such, accepts and approves that lifestyle, and practices it. According to the Integrity, Inc. web page, this does not describe St. Aelred. The site says that he had homoerotic feelings, but did his best to suppress them and never act on them. He even warned a hermitess to avoid sexual defilement with either men or women. This does not sound like someone who was comfortable with his homosexual orientation and acted on it.

This group may decry the situation that caused Aelred to repress his orientation, but in doing that, they complain about the historic doctrine and tradition of Christianity. They want to be Christian and "gay" at the same time, which flies in the face of the teaching of Scripture.

If the members of Integrity, Inc. want to honor St. Aelred, I suggest that they do as he did and remain celibate. It dishonors his memory to identify him as something that he spent his life trying not to be.

What should a pastor be like?

Being a pastor of a church is a heavy responsibility. The role is defined by its name: a pastor is a shepherd. From the very etymology of the word, this means that a pastor is to feed the flock. The pastor is to care for the spiritual well-being of those in his charge.

Jesus himself gave this instruction in a post-resurrection encounter with Peter, regarded as a key leader of the early church. As John records it (John 21:15-19), Jesus three times asks Peter to affirm his love for Jesus. In response to these affirmations, Jesus gives three responses: "Feed my lambs." "Tend my sheep." "Feed my sheep." Peter was to demonstrate his renewed love for his Lord by caring for his fellow disciples.

This evidently made a deep impression on Peter. In his instructions to his fellow-elders, recorded in 1 Peter 5:1-3 (English Standard Version), Peter says:

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

This pretty much sums it up. The pastor, and indeed all who serve God's church, are to lead the flock like a shepherd. The attitude enjoined here is worth noting: willingly, not as a mercenary, and not as a dictator, but as an example. The current term for this is "servant leadership."

Paul also, in his instructions to Timothy (however you regard them as being transmitted), says that an overseer should be "not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome". This describes part of the demeanor and character that a pastor should have. He is to lead the flock gently, not with overbearing dominance.

Unfortunately, there has been for some time among some Baptists the idea that the pastor is the boss of the church. Some pastors feel that it is their way or the highway. Those who feel this way need to seriously reconsider the words of Peter and Paul, and the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper as he washed the disciples' feet.

What can happen when a pastor ignores these warnings? It can hurt the very people for whom he is supposed to be caring. It can destroy a church. It can hinder the witness that the church is supposed to have for Jesus Christ.

The pastor is supposed to be the shepherd to all the church. This does not mean that he must accept every idea and action of everyone in the church. He should strive to persuade those whom he finds in error of their error and restore them in a spirit of meekness (Galatians 6:1). He should not seek to divide the church and alienate those who disagree with him.

The pastor needs to recognize that it is not all about him. Some pastors seem more concerned about their own power, prestige, and position than about doing the work of God. It is wrong for a pastor to seek to determine who supports him and who does not, then eliminate those who do not and either drive them from the church or ask them to leave. This betrays greed for power, insecurity, and an inability to deal with people. Unfortunately, even those who find themselves on the good side of such a pastor are not secure. They never know when one false move will cause him to turn on them.

Is this what Jesus did? He chose twelve to be his core group, and spent three years living with them and teaching them. He put up with their scheming, arguing, hot tempers, lack of faith, and their general inability to "get it." He rebuked them for their blindness and lack of faith, but he never once told any of them to leave. He even put up with Judas Iscariot, knowing that he was a thief and that he would ultimately turn traitor.

The dictatorial attitude creates an atmosphere of fear and distrust in the church. The church should be a place of love, caring, and truth. How can it maintain and support the members already there, much less welcome and grow new believers, if the people fear the pastor and spend their time trying to stay off his bad list? How are insiders and outsiders alike to see, experience, and understand, grace in such a situation?

One primary task of the church, though by no means its only task, is outreach and evangelism. Many churches struggle to find ways to reach out effectively to their communities. An evangelistic outreach demands that the church be a welcoming, nourishing community for new believers who are brought in. A church with an atmosphere of fear and distrust is no fit place for new believers. It will harm, not help, anyone whom it brings in.

Guiding a church is difficult enough under the best of circumstances. The pastor who fosters an authoritarian atmosphere of domination, backstabbing, fear, and distrust may think he is making his own job easier, but in the long run he is making it much more difficult. The church will not flourish, and will slowly, if not quickly, wither.

Lord, have mercy on us when we fail to follow your pattern for the church. Guide churches in crisis to turn to you and seek your love and your grace, so that the world can see that we have been with Jesus.