You may have heard of this so-called “Nashville Statement,” released by a group of conservative evangelicals on Tuesday. If you haven’t, you’re either too busy paying attention to stupid stuff like the shoes Melania Trump wore to visit ravaged Texas, or really important things like, say the PEOPLE of ravaged Texas.
In any case, if you haven’t heard of the Nashville Statement, you certainly don’t live in Nashville.
But I do.
Basically, this group of old white men who call themselves The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood got together at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and drafted up a manifesto outlining 14 beliefs.
You don’t need to read it.
Here’s the short form: gay people are an abomination to God and transgender people don’t exist. On Tuesday, in the spirit of Martin Luther and his 95 Theses, these same old white men metaphorically nailed their proclamation to the church door.
That’s not a shocker. After all, The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood was founded in 1987 to “help the church defend against the accommodation of secular feminism.”
What the hell is “secular feminism” anyway?
According to Merriam-Webster, feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” So, you know, things like allowing women to vote (gasp), or own property instead of being property; the idea that women are as important as men and deserve the same protection under the law.
But what’s “secular” about that? It’s in the freaking Bible for God’s sake:
Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
I guess “secular” is a dog whistle for “Here comes something we don’t like. Watch out!” Otherwise, we’d talk about secular laundry, secular mortgages, secular health insurance.
I digress.
So, The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood created this manifesto and published it….
But here’s the thing, instead of calling it something descriptive like 14 Reasons We’re Scared of Gay People or 14 Things We Talked About When We Should Have Been Feeding the Poor or Clothing the Naked, they called it The Nashville Statement.
Um. No.
This is Nashville:
Nashville may be the buckle of the Bible belt, with more churches per capita than any other city in the nation, but the vast majority of those churches are committed to giving comfort, building community, and serving the underserved. You know, like Jesus did.
Nashville is hot chicken and hot tracks; Thistle Farms and The Purpose Hotel; the nation’s largest Kurdish community; the Parthenon and university students. Nashville is welcome-to-the-neighborhood-cookies and Is-there-anything-else-I-can-do-casseroles.
Nashville is not a group of small-minded tourists sitting in a hotel conference room thinking up ways to exclude people in the name of religion.
The mayor of Nashville, Megan Barry (yes, a WOMAN, cue collective gasp) tweeted this on Wednesday morning:
The president of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Denny Burk, replied, “The name simply indicates where the statements were drawn up. Whether The Nashville Statement will prove to be as enduring as those others remains to be seen. But that is the reason for the name. We were simply following a precedent set by many before us.”
To which, I say this:
I’m tired of you loud-mouthed entitled old white boys co-opting the name of Christ and embarrassing the hell out of the rest of us who are just doing our best to love our neighbor and maybe even ourselves if we can manage it. It’s bad enough that you’ve ruined the word “Christian,” so that now we must preface every mention of our faith with the phrase “not that kind of…” but you CANNOT have our city too.
You want to write some backward, thinly veiled hate document? Do it somewhere else.
Nashville doesn’t want you.
Marianne Latham
I love this – thank you.
Mel
Longish time reader, first time commenter. Thank you for this. Thank you for all your articles that express exactly what I connect with and for all the others that give me something to think about. And thank you for your personal stories on motherhood and marriage – they make me laugh and I’m grateful to know I’m not the only one who feels like she is living in a circus!
I want you to keep writing and to know that it positively impacts at least one more person on the planet, even if it is only little old me 🙂
Jen
Thanks Mel! You made my morning.
pam hinkle
Perfect, Jen!
Shannon
I love the Nashville Statement. And I even read it. You make lots of false statements based on fear, prejudice, and misunderstanding about it and even encourage people to not read it themselves and just trust your interpretation. You are showing your pride dramatically. Are you a Christian? And if so, do you follow the Bible? Or do you lump the Bible into the same category as this statement? Which is, don’t you bother reading it for yourself, I have it figured out. Your pride! Please check it.
Bobby
WOW! Do YOU follow the Bible? I bet you 10,000 dollars you don’t but like to pretend you do.
Shannon Ferguson
Thanks for the question, Bobby. Follow the Bible…yes, that is an unclear statement that I made. If you mean that I don’t follow idealized righteous behavior like Jesus, who was perfect, then yes, I am far from that example as I sin on a daily basis. But I meant follow in the sense of accepting a Biblical worldview/ perspective in how one sees things. I see the world (or try to increasingly) through a lens of how God, as He has revealed Himself to humanity in the Bible, sees things. And I am always trying to study the Bible and other sources so that I know better God’s view of things and thus FOLLOW that view rather than making it up on my own. Some people don’t value a Bible based view but are instead prejudiced towards it although they really haven’t spent much time trying to understand. That is what I read into Jen’s response to the Nashville Statement.
Jen, you know, I don’t want to fight with you. You can believe what you want …obviously. I prob shldn’t have said anything. But I just hate to see people think awful things abt the Bible bec of misunderstanding it. There is nothing in this world I recommend more highly than discovering Jesus through His full and complete Word, not just in parts like the parables or gospels.
Plus, I am a new blogger who is just learning wordpress culture.
Sherri
I agree with Bobby’s comments. Crack the Bible and give it a read–all the way through. Either you believe God’s Word or you don’t. It’s one thing to merely claim to be a Christian, another to actually uphold the teachings found in the Book. Before everyone jumps on and calls me all sorts of names, read the Book. It is a real eye-opener.
Deb
Yes!!!! Great post!!
Dana Robinson
So sorry Shannon that you feel this way. I get to see Jen and Family at our church Eastwood Christian Church and know personally that you’re way off base. I’ve realized in my almost midlife that I’m in that when you put yourself on a pedestal above others(no matter who they are) you end up breaking your heinie. I know by personal experience that it hurts.
Here is Eastwood Christian Church’s revised statement:
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/21192982_1453519638035431_7418557075731460542_n.jpg?oh=8a1198323e01b7b68bb03826a939d09a&oe=5A28E489
I, Jen( I know) and ECC the wish you all the best.
Jen
Thanks Dana!
Shannon Ferguson
Thanks Jen and Dana. It is nice to read ECC’s statement. The Nashville Statement actually says the same thing as your church! Believe it or not. I can see that clearly and you could too if you read it without prejudice and apply Biblical knowledge to it. The NS clearly says that NO ONE, no matter your sin profile, is beyond the grace of God. See the following articles in the statement: 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, and 14! In a nutshell, we are ALL sinners and are welcome in church.
Unfortunately every (Bible based) Christian churchgoer doesn’t understand that and I will admit that gay and transgender people might not feel welcome or embraced in many churches. So this statement is good for those churchgoers (i.e. Christians who wrongly think LGBT is worse than their own sin) to hear too! However if you are looking at *this* statement, the people behind the NS “get” it. They have an advanced and mature understanding of Christian theology and know that God and His church is for ALL of us and the same journey towards Christ-likeness is available to us all.
I do take issue with your misleading people, Jen. You say the authors are old white men multiple times. But that is blatantly wrong. Take the time to look at the signatories. Lots of women. And I know Francis Chan isn’t white. Hard to tell race by a name but I suspect there are black as well as other races represented.
BTW, I live in Franklin TN and am proud to have the Nashville Statement named for where I live. Would live to do a bible study over coffee with y’all.
Bev
Oh honey. Bless your heart.
Jen
Shannon,
Thanks for reaching out.
The Nashville Statement does not represent the views of our church – here’s the big difference:
The NS supposes that homosexuality and transgenderism are a sin. And though you are correct that the writers of the Nashville Statement “affirm” that these sins do not fall outside the grace of God, my church and I do not see them as a sin at all.
“Sin” technically means anything that separates you from God. Speaking for myself, and I believe also Eastwood Christian Church, a loving relationship that enriches both partners, enabling them to go into the world overflowing with love and serve that world with compassion CANNOT be a sin.
We believe that we are all created in the image of God; that we are, in fact, through the power of the Holy Spirit that infuses all living things, little God containers walking around in mortal bodies. Some of our bodies are beautiful, some are not. Some work perfectly, some barely work at all. Some came with girl parts, some with boy parts, and some with a combination of the two. We do not believe that the parts, working or not, complete or correct or not, define who we are.
Who we are is children of God. All of us. Even the ones who were born in places we’ve never heard of and worship deities we can’t pronounce in languages we don’t understand. Even the ones who find love, connection, and the power to do good in the world through relationships (sexual and otherwise) with people who have the same parts as we do.
If the problem with homosexuality and transgenderism is that sexual relationships should not exist outside of marriage (I’m not debating that here – that’s another conversation for another day) and that those groups cannot be married – there is an easy fix. Allow and sanctify all marriage.
That’s what our church does – in principal and in practice.
So, no, from the first article to the last, our church’s position is not in alignment with the Nashville Statement.
As far as simplifying the Nashville Statement and making over-reaching comments about the drafters of the document, you are right. That’s what I did.
Despite the fancy “affirm/deny” language, the Nashville Statement still clearly states that homosexuality and transgenderism is at best a faulty “self-conception,” and at root a sin. Furthermore, it goes on to say this is a topic on which Christians should not “agree to disagree.” Yes, it does offer some grace for these “sinners,” assuming they “walk in purity of life.” I think we can all assume that this means not engaging in any sexual behavior outside of marriage (a marriage which is of course, impermissible due to Article #1).
Essentially, the Nashville Statement is just a rewording of the familiar “Love the sinner; hate the sin,” doctrine. All this does is place millions of people is a no-man’s-land where they cannot win. They can be “faithful” to God while living a life of quiet desperation – lonely, shamed, and “pure,” or they can resign themselves to being unrepentant sinners despite doing the work of God – feeding the poor, clothing the naked, comforting the afflicted. If God, in fact, created sexuality and has a perfect plan, I don’t think this was what s/he meant.
The “old white men” statement was intended to convey the idea that this “Nashville Statement” was drafted by a few privileged men sitting in a room. They may not all have been white, but regardless, their commitment to drafting a document telling other churches what to believe about people’s sexuality assures that they are lacking (or ignoring) real issues to handle. Though women may have signed it, I assure you that no women were privy to writing it – after all, this group was established to provide a defense against secular feminism. I seriously doubt that any of the churches represented even allow female pastors, let alone allow women to serve on leadership committees to draft statements of the committee’s position.
As far as the Bible study is concerned – I’d love to come. A couple caveats though – I recognize that the Bible was written by men, not by God, as a way to describe their personal experiences of the Divine. In the same way that I do not ascribe infallibility to the drafters of The Constitution of the United States, I do not ascribe it to the various councils responsible for our present day Protestant Bible either. It is critical in any reading of the Bible to understand the history, the context, and the intended audience of the authors. I love to participate in discussions of the Bible that include these considerations. However, I have nothing to contribute to discussions that confuse the writings of Paul (and others) with the parables of Jesus.
Paige
Amen.
Dana Robinson
Thanks Jen!
Shannon Ferguson
Interesting. That makes sense. You don’t really believe the Bible! That is where I and the authors of the NS diverge from you. For sure. I am sorry that you hold the Bible in such low regard. It is such an amazing privilege that God allows us to know Him and understand Him through His Word. But I suppose you don’t see it that way. You prob think of it as some sort of dangerous, oppressive, obselete text of the patriarchy.
If you have never read the whole Bible and instead just focus on Jesus’s parables, I would urge you to read through it. It really shows you beautiful truths about God and not just how to serve the poor better. Start with a humility before our Holy Father and pray that He would have His way with you. That He would lead you, and open your mind and heart to who He is. Submit to Him and Him alone. Pray that He would teach you through your reading every day!
I can see that you have a lot to offer to Kingdom, more than working in a soup kitchen and telling everyone they are okay just the way they are. I would happily study the Gospels with you or we could start in Genesis.
Do you read books of the Bible and meditate on what they say? I assume you must do that but maybe not.
My main objective in life and in Christian ministry is to (try to) love (respect and honor) God more than anything or anyone else. Because He is so worthy! I am sure that is the heart behind those who penned the NS. What is your main objective in life?
Julie F
Oh my goodness. Is this a parody?
Shannon Ferguson
?
Anonymous
Jen, you are amazing! Thank you for this post!
-Rev. Christy Jo Harber
Jen
I couldn’t possibly be prouder that you are our Associate Pastor! Eastwood is blessed to have you. ?
Joyce Lang
Sorry I live in Knoxville I think I’d like your church, Jen.
Brad B
So if the statement is merely where it was drawn up…Let’s go to Denny Burk’s house, or close by, say in the street where you aren’t trespassing. And then we can draw up “The Denny Burk front porch rebuttal to the Nashville Statement”. Or the “Denny Burk closet response” (That one might be trespassing, but I am sure he has an interesting closet).
Jen
??
Lisa Mingrone
There needs to be another statement that is inclusive and welcoming written and called simply the Nashville Statement. Publicise it like crazy. Nullify the previous one by making the bigots have to qualify theirs from the better one. I’m not a writer but someone who is should do this.