No room for neutrality

Each week, The World and Everything in It features a “Culture Friday” segment, in which Executive Producer Nick Eicher discusses the latest cultural news with John Stonestreet, president of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Here is a summary of this week’s conversation.

Christian colleges in California dodged a bullet earlier this month when a gay state senator amended legislation that would have penalized faith-based universities for having codes of student conduct that promote a biblical view of sexuality. This week, John Stonestreet and I discussed the differing views on when and how Christians should take a stand for biblical marriage.

Alan Noble, a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, has argued for finding middle ground with LGBT college students.

“I think that, by and large, [Christian colleges] do a pretty good job, but he was calling them to do a better job, and that’s fine,” Stonestreet said.

A week after The Atlantic published an essay by Noble, Religion News Service posted an editorial by David Gushee, a professor at Mercer University who argues there is no middle ground.

“Neutrality is not an option. Neither is polite half-acceptance. Nor is avoiding the subject. Hide as you might, the issue will come and find you,” wrote Gushee, a supporter of same-sex marriage. Stonestreet agreed with Gushee’s analysis, but not its application.

“You may think that this issue won’t affect you, but it will, and it will in your place of employment and it may even, at some point, in a house of worship,” Stonestreet said. He called on Christians to prepare to be called to stand on the truth.

“We’re required to live out of truth,” he said. “We’re required to live lives of courage, even while we speak lovingly and winsomely but under no illusions that we’re going to be able to wordsmith our way out of this.”

The developments in California, where supporters of Christian colleges pressured Sen. Ricardo Lara to change his proposal, should help believers take courage.

“I do hope it encouraged those individuals who were starting to think that activism or speaking out won’t make a difference,” Stonestreet said. “It clearly made a difference in this case.”

Listen to “Culture Friday” on the Aug. 27 episode of The World and Everything in It.