26th SEPTEMBER 2003
'Gay Bishops: For or Against?' asked a South African current affairs programme. Reducing issues to stark polarisations may make good television, but it is not a constructive approach for the Church to take on this, or any other, disagreement. Christians must learn better ways of working through difference and diversity, in order to refine, enrich and strengthen the Church in its vocation to follow Christ and forward God's mission in the world.
The deepest consideration of human sexuality by Lambeth '98 is in the report produced by Section I which I chaired. For two weeks over 60 bishops, from arch-conservative to radical liberal, wrestled with the topic. They argued, discussed, debated. They often disagreed, deeply and painfully. But they didn't rest there. They also prayed together, opened their hearts, and listened carefully to one another and to others. They discovered ways to relate, they found considerable and significant areas of agreement, they recognised a shared, sincere desire to pursue the mind of Christ. Through walking this difficult road together they were able to produce our report. It set out areas of agreement and of disagreement. Everyone's views were respected, and no-one was asked to compromise principles. (The language of resolutions inevitably rarely allows such mutual accommodation and tolerance, and I regret that the Conference chose to pursue this path.) It concluded there was much we do not yet understand, and that the process of dialogue should continue. This report was endorsed by Section I and commended to the Lambeth Conference for ongoing discussion in the Anglican Communion.
I hope the Primates will begin where the report ended: 'The challenge to our Church is to maintain its unity while we seek, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to discern the way of Christ for the world today with respect to human sexuality. To do so will require sacrifice, trust and charity towards one another, remembering ultimately the identity of each person is defined in Christ'. We are not defined by our sexuality.
Being defined in Christ means we irrevocably belong together. That is why the process of sharing in prayer and worship and testimony is so important in revealing what binds us to one another (and why division impoverishes and weakens the body of Christ). In Southern Africa, the Anglican Church has held together despite huge diversities, not just of race, but of ecclesiology and theology, culture, language - and all under the most intensely divisive political system. Whether the issue was economic sanctions, army chaplains in Namibia, or the ordination of women, we stuck together, not unwillingly but joyfully sharing in the family of the Church, to which we knew we all belonged. (I have in mind particularly a bishop who was very much against the ordination of women but who concelebrated with a woman priest at Archbishop Desmond Tutu's farewell service.)
It is fuller exploration of koinonia that must provide the context for Anglicans to address not just human sexuality but other areas of difference and divergence and even disagreement. The Primates must set up a commission, along the lines of the Eames Commission, to promote a framework for addressing human sexuality. We must learn how to differ, while holding together and respecting the integrity of our Provinces, and to support Provinces in dealing with internal differences. We must properly address the concerns of minorities - recognising, as Theodore of Tarsus taught the English church in the 7th century, that it cannot be right unilaterally to seek alternative oversight from other bishops or Provinces.
Alongside this we need a serious study of how we handle scripture. 'Neutral' or 'plain' exegesis is no such thing! For example, we have set aside biblical assent to slavery, as indicative of a fuller understanding of the kingdom. We have also dispensed with the prohibition on lending with interest. Yet it is by no means as clear how this expresses eschatological promise, when it is the poorest countries and individuals who are most trapped by burdens of unpayable debt. Good understanding of our exegetical traditions can only enhance our ability to discern the teachings of the Bible in our complex and changing world.
Honesty and openness in dealing with difference is fundamental. I am dismayed that if Gene Robinson and Jeffrey John had been less honest, their appointments might have gone unremarked. It is no secret there are gay priests and bishops - I fear the institutional church's abiliy to turn a blind and hypocritical eye. Christian maturity requires honesty from us all.
There is another honesty I would like to see more in evidence. That is a moral honesty which gives priority to the most pressing issues of God's world. Why is it so easy to expend our energies on internal rows instead of focussing on God's mission to the needy and poor "at our gate". We cannot allow ourselves to be endlessly diverted from tackling such complexities as poverty, HIV/Aids, homelessness, international debt, fair trade, war and peace. When the sheep and goats are separated, I hardly imagine Jesus will discuss our stance on 'the gay bishops debate'.
I hope such moral honesty will help us escape the impression that the Church is obsessed with sex, and that sexual sins are the only ones that matter. I doubt that any of us can claim not to be a 'persistent sinner' either, whether it is a life-long inner struggle, or the callousness, even intrinsic theft, of buying cheaper rather than fairly traded products - not to mention the sin of factionalism! We are all called to grow into holiness and not into a holier-than-thou attitude
We need openness and honesty in listening to each other. The Episcopal Church is full of good people who are trying their best to discern God's way forward. ECUSA has one of the most transparent and democratic structures of all our Provinces. We must respect that. And we must respect the integrity of our brothers and sisters who experience themselves as gay or lesbian, and their honest attempts to grow and mature in Christ. There may be things we need to learn from their testimony about their closest human relationships, whether sexually active or not, as they try to grow in faithful, generous, reciprocally supportive, mutually enriching, love that bears marks of God's covenant commitment to us. This is a world away from the promiscuity sometimes characterising gay culture in the ancient and modern world, or the oppressive subjugation, even rape, of others, as threatened the Ugandan martyrs. And we should accept that in many countries, our practices of marriage perpetuate the inequality of women, and fall far short of biblical standards.
For or Against? Agreeing to disagree and go separate ways might sound simpler. Remaining in dialogue and wrestling together is a harder option. Our Lambeth report did not suggest it would be easy. But we can choose that path. We can do so, and must do so, because our God is not one who is for or against his children on the basis of single issues. Our God is revealed to us in Christ as Emmanuel, God with us, who remains with us and wrestles with us, through all the long journey of life.
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