Texas Church Betrayed by Sexual Fascination

The story of a Texas megachurch canceling the funeral service of their janitor’s brother when they learned he was gay (the deceased brother, not the janitor), reminds me of an old joke about a son who comes home from school and asks his Dad to clarify a science lesson on the difference between fact and theory. Since the joke is sexual in nature I won’t tell it here, but the punch line ends with the word “whores.” You may have heard it.
No one is a whore in the Arlington, Texas incident involving High Point Church and its pastor Gary Simons. But there’s much confusion between fact and theory when it comes to understanding what it means to follow Jesus. The church’s theory, according to Simon, was that because the dead man was a homosexual, he was a sinner and therefore not worthy of a Christian burial: “… not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Pastor Simon explained. Well, the fact is, according to universally accepted Christian teaching, we’re all sinners unable to redeem ourselves and therefore in need of God’s grace. If High Point uniformly applied that fact to its theory, the Arlington church could do away with funerals in their entirety. I also wonder if the church would have acted as it did if the dead man’s brother had been their leading contributor rather than their janitor. But I’ll let that one go since it risks making me as petty as they are.
Why the American church has chosen to focus its attention so exclusively on sexual matters is a mystery to me, but my leading theories are male sexual insecurity, augmented by a desperate desire to avoid the real issues Jesus described, which unfortunately, are more difficult to address and would call more “respectable” Christians to task.
When the religious professionals of Jesus’ day demanded his take on one of the little “principles” they deemed important, Jesus shook his head with great sadness and replied, “you obviously know nothing of God or the scriptures.” I’m not sure whether it’s ironic or predictable that those today who belie Jesus and his teachings, who so clearly “know nothing of God or the scriptures,” are the same ones who so proudly claim his name.