Queer Theology

There’s so much in this passage that can related to queerness and LGBTQ+ Christians. What does it mean to be extraordinary in our service of God and the work of God? How can LGBTQ people related the bad faith questions asked by those who don’t care about it? In what ways is queerness inherently holy? We just scratch the surface of those questions and more. What does this passage bring up for you? Let us know on Twitter! You have a few more days to submit a question for our Q&A podcast about Easter and all things Holy Week. Email us at connect@queertheology.com or leave a voice message here. Submit it by midnight your local time on Sunday April 7. Transcript coming soon Referenced in this episode: Amos 5:18-21 (and also this episode) When questions aren’t asked in good faith LGBTQ Christian sexual ethics Living into & embodying the future we are trying to create (Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven! John 12:1-8 Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” Photo by Sharon McCutcheon The post Extraordinary – John 12:1-8 appeared first on Queer Theology.

We are doing a special Q&A episode about Easter & Holy Week. Submit a question! Send it as an email to connect@queertheology.com or record an audio message here (or from the sidebar of any page on our website, including this one!). What happens when we re-encounter stories that we heard with different interpretations growing up? What if we understood God as extravagantly loving instead of always waiting for us to mess up so God could smite us? How would that change how we move through the world? How does this text teach us about family acceptance and queer families? All this and more in this week’s podcast! Mentioned in this episode You don’t have to reconcile your faith and identity Fire Island as a queer sacred site Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 2For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Photo by Tim Marshall The post The Extravagant Love of God – Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 appeared first on Queer Theology.

If it feels like we’ve talked about this passage before … we haven’t! It’s just that social justice, taking care of people’s immediate needs, shows up over and over and over again in the Bible. If you’ve ever heard that you’re not really a Christian or that you’re “doing” Christianity “wrong” because of your progressive convictions, this passage is a helpful reminder that taking care of each other is constantly close to the heart of God. Isaiah 55:1-9 All of you who are thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat! Without money, at no cost, buy wine and milk! Why spend money for what isn’t food, and your earnings for what doesn’t satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest of feasts. Listen and come to me; listen, and you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful loyalty to David. Look, I made him a witness to the peoples, a prince and commander of peoples. 5Look, you will call a nation you don’t know, a nation you don’t know will run to you because of the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you. Seek the Lord when he can still be found; call him while he is yet near. Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them, to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness. My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans. Photo by Anthony DELANOIX The post All who are thirsty, come to the water – Isaiah 55:1-9 appeared first on Queer Theology.

The Church, where faith should thrive, too often kills — sometimes spiritually, sometimes literally — the very people working to keep the faith. LGBTQ, women, young people, people of color and others know this well. In this week’s episode, we explore Jesus’s thoughts on the relationship between prophets and religious centers. Referenced in this episode: Rift in the United Methodist Church the politics of Jesus Luke 13:31-35 At that time, some Pharisees approached Jesus and said, “Go! Get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you. Jesus said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Look, I’m throwing out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work. However, it’s necessary for me to travel today, tomorrow, and the next day because it’s impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you! How often I have wanted to gather your people just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you didn’t want that. Look, your house is abandoned. I tell you, you won’t see me until the time comes when you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the Lord’s name.” Photo by Gift Habeshaw The post Prophets in our midst – Luke 13:31-35 appeared first on Queer Theology.

This passage is the story of God’s people and how they relate to God. We see that they are instructed to start by remembering where they came from. It’s a reminder that all the writers of scripture had a place and a time and a family and a context. What were theirs? How is God moving among them? And then… what is ours? And how does Scripture speak to us? What does God have to say to us? Read the transcript (PDF) Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Once you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and are settled there, take some of the early produce of the fertile ground that you have harvested from the land the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket. Then go to the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. Go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him: “I am declaring right now before the Lord my God that I have indeed arrived in the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” The priest will then take the basket from you and place it before the Lord your God’s altar. Then you should solemnly state before the Lord your God: “My father was a starving Aramean. He went down to Egypt, living as an immigrant there with few family members, but that is where he became a great nation, mighty and numerous. The Egyptians treated us terribly, oppressing us and forcing hard labor on us. So we cried out for help to the Lord, our ancestors’ God. The Lord heard our call. God saw our misery, our trouble, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with awesome power, and with signs and wonders. 9He brought us to this place and gave us this land—a land full of milk and honey. So now I am bringing the early produce of the fertile ground that you, Lord, have given me.” Set the produce before the Lord your God, bowing down before the Lord your God. 1Then celebrate all the good things the Lord your God has done for you and your family—each one of you along with the Levites and the immigrants who are among you. Photo by Tyler Milligan The post Who was scripture written for? – Deuteronomy 26:1-11 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In this passage, Paul is convinced that the world is ending within his lifetime and—spoiler alert—it doesn’t. Sometimes the writers of the Bible get things completely wrong. In this episode, we explore the implications of that for our faith and lives. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed. It’s necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can’t decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can’t die. And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can’t decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can’t die, then this statement in scripture will happen: Death has been swallowed up by a victory. Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death? (Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.) Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn’t going to be for nothing in the Lord. Photo by Dean Maddocks The post Sometimes the Bible is wrong – 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 appeared first on Queer Theology.

“Turn the other cheek” is suuuch a “well known” passage but it’s so often quoted out of context. What else might Jesus be trying to teach us that we haven’t seen before? In this episode, Fr. Shay and Brian explore how this passage might inform activist work and even interpersonal dynamics. Referenced in this episode Jesus & Nonviolence: A Third Way by Walter Wink The Good Place Live episode with Sarah Ngu from Q Christian Fellowship Conference Luke 6:27-38 “But I say to you who are willing to hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other one as well. If someone takes your coat, don’t withhold your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks and don’t demand your things back from those who take them. Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you.“If you love those who love you, why should you be commended? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you be commended? Even sinners do that. If you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, why should you be commended? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be paid back in full. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. If you do, you will have a great reward. You will be acting the way children of the Most High act, for he is kind to ungrateful and wicked people. Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion—packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing—will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return.” Photo by Timothy Eberly The post Interpersonal Dynamics & Activist Strategies – Luke 6:27-38 appeared first on Queer Theology.

This passage is a reminder that God has an agenda — Jesus and the prophets proclaim a comforting message for some and a challenging message for others. In this episode, we peel back the flowery language that sometimes surrounds Jesus’s words and look at the heart of what he’s saying. Download the transcript (PDF) Luke 6:17-26 Jesus and his apostles went down from the mountain and came to some flat, level ground. Many other disciples were there to meet him. Large crowds of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon were there too.  These people had come to listen to Jesus and to be healed of their diseases. All who were troubled by evil spirits were also healed. Everyone was trying to touch Jesus, because power was going out from him and healing them all. Jesus looked at his disciples and said: God will bless you people who are poor. His kingdom belongs to you!  God will bless you hungry people. You will have plenty to eat! God will bless you people who are crying. You will laugh! God will bless you when others hate you and won’t have anything to do with you. God will bless you when people insult you and say cruel things about you, all because you are a follower of the Son of Man. 2Long ago your own people did these same things to the prophets. So when this happens to you, be happy and jump for joy! You will have a great reward in heaven. But you rich people are in for trouble. You have already had an easy life! You well-fed people are in for trouble. You will go hungry! You people who are laughing now are in for trouble. You are going to cry and weep! You are in for trouble when everyone says good things about you. That is what your own people said about those prophets who told lies. Photo by Brijesh Nirmal The post God has an agenda – Luke 6:17-26 appeared first on Queer Theology.

This week, we have a special episode of the Queer Theology podcast: our first ever live episode! Brian was at the Q Christian Fellowship Conference in Chicago, IL a few weeks ago to speak about polyamory on a panel about Christian sexual ethics (the very first openly polyamorous speaker at QCF and the first time polyamory was addressed from during an official workshop!) He was also invited to record Queer Theology live from the first-ever Brian M. Eckstein Podcast Stage. Sarah Ngu joined to discuss queerness, how we understand faith and the Bible, how we approach conversations of “is it OK to be LGBTQ?,” race and culture, implications queerness has on our faith journeys, one of Sarah’s favorite Bible passages, and so much more. Learn more about Church Clarity and their work to score churches on their clarity around actively enforced policies regarding LGBTQ people and women in leadership at churchclarity.org. If you want to connect with Sarah or Church Clarity, email sarah@churchclarity.org. Acts 17:26-27 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. The post LIVE from Q Christian Fellowship Conference with Sarah Ngu of Church Clarity – Acts 17:26-27 appeared first on Queer Theology.

This week’s passage picks up where last week’s left off. We talk about the process of learning and growing and what it can be like to people and places from our past — how they can hold us back and how we can even end up holding them back. Read the transcript (PDF) Luke 4:21-30 He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?” Then Jesus said to them, “Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’” He said, “I assure you that no prophet is welcome in the prophet’s hometown. And I can assure you that there were many widows in Israel during Elijah’s time, when it didn’t rain for three and a half years and there was a great food shortage in the land. Yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a widow in the city of Zarephath in the region of Sidon. There were also many persons with skin diseases in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them were cleansed. Instead, Naaman the Syrian was cleansed.” When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with anger. They rose up and ran him out of town. They led him to the crest of the hill on which their town had been built so that they could throw him off the cliff. But he passed through the crowd and went on his way. Photo by rawpixel The post How to be a more effective prophet – Luke 4:21-30 appeared first on Queer Theology.