GLBTs, Christians and the College Campus

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If you’re a regular reader of this blog you probably know that I serve on a Christian university campus.

While our university, over its’ short history, has had its ups and downs in trying to be faithfully Christian, it has also made significant strides over the past decade towards better living out its Christian mission and identity… and a big part of that has come through the intentional choice to focus on Christ, and that which unites us, above all else.

But this has also led to some challenges.

One of those challenges comes in the area of GLBTs on campus.  The traditional and historical view held by the Church is that the GLBT lifestyle is not one that is deemed appropriate or exceptable by God.

However, as we venture further into the 21st Century — and are increasingly influenced by a culture that is increasingly open to GLBT individuals and lifestyles — it should not surprise us that this conversation is coming to our campuses and ministries.  On an increasingly spiritually diverse campus like ours, the views on the GLBT lifestyle, and its’ compatibility with Christian life, continue to spread across the spectrum (which is fairly new territory for those of us on Christian campuses).

Many of our GLBT students, as well as their strait friends, proclaim, “Jesus said to love one another… without exception, so you should except me for who I am!”

Others students, in all honesty and sincerity, will counter with, “but what about what the Bible says about homosexuality?  I want to love you without loving this part of your life that doesn’t seem to fit with my understanding of what God desires.”

And as you might imagine, unless you’re a part of the large percentage of campus ministers that work on state campuses that  have already experienced it first-hand, the conversation begins to repeat itself.

Round and round…

Each side waiting…

expecting the other to yield.

These kinds of conversations are SO important… but hard.

We’re trying on our campus.

Honestly, we are.

But hard conversations don’t often come easily.

I know that on most of your campuses, this is a conversation that might only take place in your ministry space — because the exceptance of the GLBT lifestyle is a forgone conclusion for an increasing percentage of the campus population.

I also know that there are other campuses where this conversation could not happen.  Although it probably is… someplace secret.

The truth is — if we’re not having this conversations on our campuses — we need to be!

I’m trying to learn as we move further into this conversation:

  1. How I can be available to students on both sides of this conversation?
  2. How we can, as a ministry, model radical inclusion and love for all?
  3. How we can uphold the word of God, even the passages that push against what our culture has found to be exceptable?

I know that I’ve got a lot to learn — but I would really love to hear from you about how your ministry is approaching this conversation on the campus you serve.

  • What are the major challenges you find?
  • What have you found to yield success?
  • How are you seeing God in your midst?
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About the Author

Guy Chmieleski

Guy is the Founder of FaithONCampus.com. He is also the University Minister, at Belmont University, located in Nashville, TN. FaithONCampus.com is designed with campus and college ministers in mind, and is here to serve as: a resource, catalyst for conversations and encouragement for our shared work with today’s college students.

  • http://twitter.com/DanielARitter Daniel Ritter

    Great post. I appreciate your honesty with how campus ministries should work toward dealing with this issue. I also think that blind acceptance is not the answer and that the struggle is part of the process of Christian growth. Thanks for opening the conversation up a little wider.

  • http://www.ournewchapter.com Ian Clark

    Whoa! You speak the truth. This is a conversation we need to be having. For most of us it’s much easier to stick our heads in the sand when it comes to this issue. I would love to hear from college ministers across the country on this one.

  • Anonymous

    Guy,
    I don’t have a lot to add to this conversation, but I am thankful for the post. I appreciate you being bold enough to post this as well as vulnerable about the uncertainties. I’ll be curious to hear responses. Thanks!

  • Derek_roe

    I think you’re totally right that campus ministries and campus ministers need to model inclusion and love toward all people. On an intentionally diverse campus (as most American colleges and universities are nowadays), various parties will advance their own theological and political agendas. At the end of the day, however, we are commanded not to judge, but to love. As someone working toward becoming a campus minister/chaplain, I can say that I do not see erring on the side of love as ever wrong, especially since that is what Jesus commanded of us.

    Is my ministry a safe zone? I hope so, because I whole-heartedly believe that if I turn away or harm any marginalized person, that I will be judged for it.

  • Bob Henry

    A former student and friend of mine wrote this article for Relevant Magazine online called “Christian and Gay?” It was from a larger study he did (and I helped with) regarding LGBT students on Christian college campuses. I think it helps see things from that perspective as well. Here is the link to the article: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/features/22976-christian-a-gay

    I appreciate this post and our willingness to address these issues as they are very important to the body of Christ.

  • Happydog1234

    True, we cannot judge the man’s heart, but we must judge his behavior (1 Cor. 5:12). “Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). In those verses the apostle Paul was describing sins of chronic behavior, sins that color one’s whole character. A predilection for such sins reflects an unregenerate heart. Paul reminded the Corinthians, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God” (v. 12, emphasis added). Seems pretty clear to me…

  • Justin Wallace

    I have so much to say about this and I’m not sure you would want me to fill up your comments with just my thoughts. Nathan and I just had a 2 1/2 conversation with a student leader about this issue. It was intense.

    I’m not sure that the issue is about one life style/sin. I think it’s an issue of all sin. When I started in campus ministry there was a conversation about whether or not oral sex was sinful/unhealthy. Now, that is totally acceptable in Christian circles and now sex outside of marriage is mostly acceptable. There’s a complete disregard for sin and our sinfulness. The only thing that is accepted as sin in the majority of circles is how we treat the poor. If you treat the poor with contempt and you ignore them then you are sinning. I think we can thank the social gospel for this transition.

    I don’t know what the answer is. I do know that we must be well schooled in Scripture, we must be willing to speak truth with love and we must believe that the Holy Spirit is the one that will convict and change hearts. My plan is to speak truth with love and pray like crazy that people will begin to see the way of Jesus and the way of Scripture as the best possible way to live.

    Like I said I have so much more to say but I’ll stop there. Great conversation Guy…I asked this same question over at HOCM. It’s a conversation that must happen!

  • http://twitter.com/danwboles Dan W. Boles

    Guy: as always, thanks for pushing us to be better campus ministers. I’m happy to say that our ministry (www.celticcross-ksu.org) is a registered “safe space” but sadly, we haven’t done much with it. This is the nudge I needed to think forward (and probably all of us needed) about how we can be more intentional about reaching this, and many other marginalized communities on the college/university campus.

  • Anonymous

    All! Thanks for your comments and thoughts on this!

    I’m curious… do we collectively know of any good, constructive conversations happening on campuses that we can learn from? Any good models for ministry that we should hope to emulate? One where we live in the tension of radical love/inclusion and sound, biblical truth and authority?

    Thanks for sharing!

  • http://twitter.com/JustSchneider Justin

    Just saw this article in Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bishop-gene-robinson/how-religion-is-killing-o_b_764568.html

    Regarding our interpretation of homosexuality as a sin, I can honestly say, I’m at odds with the interpretation that being homosexual is a sin. In our interpretation of scripture, we must remember that, though inspired, it is not infallible. In addition, we bring our own interpretation without context each day. Finally, how can we say something that has been shown to be biological is a sin? I think that sex outside of marriage is a sin. I think lust is a sin. These are not homosexual or heterosexual. The fact that Paul points it out individually doesn’t make a state of being a sin. I won’t go into Pauline worship, but we have to be very careful that we NEVER cause a person to feel unloved because of who they are.

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  • Agathos Zoe

    Difficult topic. I work at a large state university. All of this makes me long for Eternity with God – that way, all the hard topics are dealt with! However, since we are still here and are called to be salt and light, we do need to be kind, gentle, but honest. Today, I was slightly mean – not to a GLBT person but to a Jehovah’s Witness. It was wrong, I know, and I will try harder next time. It showed me just how difficult it is to show genuine love and concern to people who I strongly differ with.

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  • Guest

    I am a Freshman in college. I am a child of God, and every day, I am learning more and more what that means. Upon arriving to my new dorm, I found out that – gasp! – the top floor of my small building was the “Rainbow House.” Therefore, my RA’s were both part of the LGBT community. 

    I prayed and prayed and prayed. I tried to rationalize God’s position all I could. Yet, exhausted one night, all I could think, over and over again, is, “You’re more than your lust. Please, please know that, my dear friends. You are more, so don’t define yourself by it.” 

    Some LBGT have sought “freedom” through the idea that God is love, so why wouldn’t God let them “love” whomever? Some LBGT have sought freedom through the idea of disregarding the truth about God that they have heard. Some LBGT don’t feel freedom at all, despising their own emotions within. And all of us are the same as them; we have rationalized our actions, we have ignored God’s decrees, and we have despised ourselves. **And none of us have been any more “free” by it.*** We may have had happiness from time to time, and we may have minimalized conflict, but we still haven’t truly lived the way God intended us to in the FULLNESS of his plan. (Hear me out – I’m not just talking specifics like sexuality. I’m talking life in general. Do the men of the Bible really seem the same as lukewarm Christians?) At the end of eternity, none of our “freedoms” have left any sort of impact for God’s glory. We are not free.

    Unless, of course, we cast off our human reasoning, and we are freed through Christ.

    We don’t need to compromise God’s plan. We don’t have to tell them that they are particularly troubling. Because anyone who hasn’t given God ALL of their life is sinning! Any of us who slap on the word “Christian” and do not live a life characterized by communicating with God and seeking after God – our religion is fake. I am not God, you are not God, and no other Christian is God. Therefore, if we want to help anyone to live a radical life for Christ, we cannot go around prescribing silly remedies, such as, “Just pray that you’ll be straight.” That’s seeking God in a time of crisis with no regard to who he is, or what plans he holds for the entirety of our lives. That’s asking for a bandaid to fix our weary souls. We must encourage people to seek God’s heart out of their own desire, all the while offering to walk alongside them. 

    I’m in the midst of a lot of crazy conflicting perspectives right now. LBGT, Darwinism, watered down Christianity. But a few things become clear. Pray honestly, frequently, and sincerely with our Lord. Read his word, seeking after his heart and the true themes of his Word. And remember that human rationalization can’t hold a candle to our God’s light. He is the only true freedom this world has ever seen!

    • Guest… again :P

      I don’t even know how I ended up on this page… last post was 11 months ago sheesh… but I did. lol :)

      All very current to me, so I guess I had to post something…

    • http://faithoncampus.com Guy Chmieleski

      Hey there! Thanks for sharing from your heart.

      It sounds like you’re thinking about a lot right now… and I want to encourage you to continue to seek the heart of God as you pursue truth and learn to live out our call to love our neighbor as our self. 

      That can be hard in the context of your first term at college, in an environment that isn’t necessarily of your choosing, and you’re having to discern how your faith is going to impact who you are and how you live… especially towards people who are different from you.

      I’d love to hear updates as you continue to live out your ever-changing faith on a daily basis.

      Grace and peace to you.

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