The University of Chicago’s 2023-2024 course catalog includes a religious studies course on “Queering God,” applying LGBTQ+ ideology to different religions and examining the ways gender is being reimagined in theology. The course description reads:
Can God be an ally in queer worldmaking? Is God queer? What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam? This course introduces students to foundational concepts in queer and trans studies by focusing on queer Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theologies.
It seems that the homosexual movement has fully moved into the church arena. In fact, there is now even a “gay church directory.” A group called gaychurch.org has created a church directory to help people find a gay affirming church near them. According to their website: The intent of our Affirming Church Directory™ is to provide an online resource for people to locate and visit welcoming Christian churches around the world. We list congregations that meet on a regular basis in a physical location for worship, prayer, service and fellowship. All churches in this directory have confirmed that their congregation, in some form or fashion, is an affirming Christian church.
So, if some theological schools are teaching a theology that approves of homosexual relationships, and some churches now consider themselves gay affirming (to include adopting a gay friendly theology, allowing homosexuals to participate in leadership roles, ordaining them into ministry, and performing gay marriages), does that mean that acceptance of homosexuality is now a normalized belief in Christian churches?
Well, the short answer is, “NO!” Churches that accept non-biblical beliefs have forfeited their identity as a Christian church – even if they still self-identify that way. Christian churches should, of course, welcome anyone into their worship, but that does not mean accepting their sin (any more than they would be affirming of any other sin). We love the sinner, but not the sin (thank goodness because we all have our sin issues).
False theological beliefs have a long history. In fact, much of the New Testament was written for the very purpose of countering false beliefs that were making their way into the early church. What we see happening now is absolutely nothing new.
What is new is that it is making its way into formerly mainstream Christian churches in modern America – and it is creating quite a ruckus. As this movement has moved forward, we have seen theological radicals take over the leadership of various churches and denominations resulting in huge church splits, a massive defection of faithful Christians leaving these churches, and the worst outcome of all, individuals becoming disillusioned and leaving their Christian faith behind altogether.
The question, “Is God Queer?” is truly one of the strangest questions I can imagine. On its face it can’t even be taken seriously, as God is spirit and is not a sexual being at all. But I don’t think that the advocates who promote acceptance of homosexuality are really asking that particular question. What they are trying to promote is the false and unbiblical notion that God was not really serious when he revealed in Scripture the nature of humanity. They are trying every hermeneutical trick they can muster to reinterpret Scripture in a way that promotes the idea that God is okay with immoral behavior.
But here is the truth. The Bible does not accept immoral behavior of any kind. He has revealed that every kind of sin is sin, and that “the wages of sin is death” (separation from Him).
No, God is not queer, and he doesn’t accept that kind of sin any more than he accepts any other kind. In fact, in order to solve the sin problem, He manifested Himself as the man Jesus Christ, lived a perfect life on earth, died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of mankind, then rose from the dead and ascended back into heaven as a demonstration that He had the power and authority to forgive man’s sin. Those who acknowledge their sin to Him and receive Him into their life as Savior and Lord will have their sin forgiven. The Holy Spirit then comes to live in them to guide them into truth and spiritual growth. At that point, the very thought of sinning becomes abhorrent. This doesn’t eliminate people’s sinning, but it does eliminate the notion that sinning is okay. People who have entered this transforming relationship with Christ would never even contemplate asserting the absurd notion that God is queer.