Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 03:1 (Spring 1999)
Article: Ministering in the Gay 90’s
Author: Donald W. Holdridge, Sr.

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JMAT 3:1 (Spr 99) p. 58

Ministering in the Gay 90’s

Donald W. Holdridge, Sr.

Associate Professor Of Greek And Bible
Baptist Bible College
Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania

A 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student died on October 12^th, 1998, from a brutal beating that occurred five days earlier. Two high-school dropouts, pretending to be gay, lured Matthew Shepard out of a Laramie bar and into their pick-up truck. They initially wanted to rough him up a bit to teach him a lesson, but ended up smashing in his skull with a pistol.1 They lashed him to a fence post and left him there to die. Matthew Shepard’s death came as a shock to most Americans. But some members from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, used this tragedy as an opportunity to picket another gay funeral. These protesters carried signs which read, “No Tears for Queers,” “God Hates Fags,” and “No Fags in Heaven.”2 The reaction from the pro-gay groups was equally as strong. They blamed this “hate crime” on the teachings of the nation’s conservative preachers and leaders for family values. It seems as though they want to make it illegal in America for anyone to teach that the homosexual lifestyle is morally wrong. The freedom of speech that they have used to further their agenda is the very thing they want to take away from conservative Christians3

JMAT 3:1 (Spr 99) p. 59

Biblical Balance

How are believers in Christ to respond to these issues of the nineties? The homosexual lifestyle is clearly condemned in Scripture.4 Does this fact then make it right to openly oppose the pro-gay agenda on the political front? If so, how should it be done? What is the Church saint’s responsibility in this matter?

The first thing to remember is that we are in a different dispensation than the Old Testament saints. The United States, great as she is, is not a theocracy. She is not the Israel of old. America’s citizens are not bound to keep the Mosaic Covenant. Some believers today tend to assume the roles of the Old Testament prophets. They try to force the moral boundaries of the old covenant upon this nation’s political stage. But the USA is a democracy, in which all her citizens are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now we may disagree with the way some of our fellow citizens pursue their happiness, and they would disagree with us. But people have rights to make choices within the laws of the land, and we must respect those rights and those hu...

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