Christians often say "love the sinner, hate the sin" when expressing their stance on homosexuality. But the new leader of the Southern Baptist Convention wants to offer something different.
"Why don't we love the homosexual and hate our sin?" said Georgia pastor Johnny M Hunt, with the emphasis on the 'our', as he cited Jay Strack, founder of Student Leadership University.
When the public views Southern Baptists and how they deal with the issue of homosexuality, Hunt hopes people will see how they love the homosexual.
Hunt was elected last week to lead the largest Protestant denomination in the US. His election by nearly 53 per cent of the votes of Southern Baptist messengers, or delegates, reflected a tide-turning moment for the denomination as it has begun to move away from bantering and toward encouragement.
"There seemed to be...less of what we're fighting against and more of what we all stand for," said Sam Rainer, a pastor and president of Rainer Research, in his latest blog post, as he reflected on last week's annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The 16-million member convention is growing its ministry to help those in the gay and lesbian lifestyle and train churches in how to respond to homosexuality. Bob Stith, who heads SBC's Ministry to Homosexuals Task Force, says the ministry has received "tremendous support" from the denominational leadership. But he's having some trouble with the local SBC churches.
According to Stith, less than 8 per cent of SBC churches have received training on the issue of homosexuality – training that encourages believers to reach out to those with same-sex attractions and give a compassionate yet biblical response.
Only 22 per cent of SBC pastors believe Southern Baptists are sufficiently ministering to persons with same-sex attractions, indicating that most desire to reach out.
