Jen Hatmaker and LifeWay Breakup

You’ve probably heard by now that LifeWay pulled all of Jen Hatmaker’s books from their shelves and will not be selling any more of her books.

I’m sharing this post because I feel like there are probably some confused Christians right now on this topic perhaps. I’ve had several people ask me about it in the last 4 days. I want to challenge us all to be careful to the voices we listen to. In googling and reading articles by pastors and Christian leaders about this or anything else for that matter – just always remember the grid in which we must filter information. It must always start and end with God’s Truth. Always. So with that said let me share some things I’ve run across the “internet webs” about this recent controversy.

In an interview published last week, Jen Hatmaker told Religion News Service columnist Jonathan Merritt that she supports same-sex marriage and believes that LGBT relationships can be holy.

Jen states the following:

“From a civil rights and civil liberties side and from just a human being side, any two adults have the right to choose who they want to love. And they should be afforded the same legal protections as any of us. I would never wish anything less for my gay friends.

From a spiritual perspective, since gay marriage is legal in all 50 states, our communities have plenty of gay couples who, just like the rest of us, need marriage support and parenting help and Christian community. They are either going to find those resources in the church or they are not.

Not only are these our neighbors and friends, but they are brothers and sisters in Christ. They are adopted into the same family as the rest of us, and the church hasn’t treated the LGBT community like family. We have to do better.”

And Lifeway said this:

“In the past, LifeWay Christian Resources published several resources with Jen Hatmaker. In a recent interview, she voiced significant changes in her theology of human sexuality and the meaning and definition of marriage—changes which contradict LifeWay’s doctrinal guidelines.”

A pastor of a very large church in a nearby town said this in support of Jen’s views and in dismay at LifeWay:

“The damage the Church has done and continues to do to the LGBTQ community by trying to claim the writers of the Bible understood things they simply couldn’t have understood about sexuality, is one of our greatest shared sins.”

He goes on to say, “If we don’t see and consider the Bible’s limitations regarding the complexities of gender identity and sexual orientation, we will continue to try to use God to reinforce our fear and sanction our prejudices, and we will continue to engage in behavior toward the LGBTQ community that makes our violence and mistreatment feel righteous, while not at all reflecting the love of Jesus.”

I hope you see the danger in this pastor’s statements. Does your discerning spirit pick up immediately that he doesn’t believe in the inerrancy of scripture? So yeah, when reading up on Jen Hatmaker and what Christian leaders are saying about this subject let’s put this one in the “stinkin’ thinkin'” file. And then move on.

How about this Christian leader, Jennie Allen. Jennie Allen is founder of IF Gathering which is an awesome women’s Christian conference/movement.  I like what she says about this. And the spirit in which she says it.

“This is so much more than a statement for me. This is not about some “Christian celebrity” out there, this is my friend whom I have logged a lot of life with—including hours over the past many months about this very topic. While we disagree on this important issue, Jen and I love each other and agree on so many things. Jen speaking at IF:Gathering isn’t even on the table, because she took herself out of IF many months ago for reasons that are her own.

Concerning where IF and I land here: Nothing has changed. I lean on 2,000 years of Church history and we continue to hold an orthodox view of marriage. Our commitment to Scripture is a guiding value: We believe the God of the Universe reveals and defines Himself through His Word. We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, are verbally inspired by God, fully trustworthy and of supreme and final authority in what they say. (Including in regards to sexual ethics.)”

Here’s what I want to say about this personally.

I don’t agree that gay marriage can be holy. God is too clear about this in scripture. I do not support or condone gay marriage based on scripture.

I do agree that men and women in homosexual relationships need to receive the love of Christ and from Christ followers just like all of us do. We cannot withhold extending love to our gay neighbors and fulfill the law of Christ in loving our neighbors as ourselves. We can’t let fear or akwardness keep us from talking to, caring for and being around gay people.

What this looks like in the context of church, attending weddings, etc. I’m still grappling with personally.

Here’s what I think about a lot…. what if one of my children chooses a gay lifestyle. As a Christian parent I would be crushed. But you better believe I would be praying for my child to feel the love of Jesus in their life and a conviction that comes from hearing truth spoken in love. I would be praying for my child to find a community of Christ followers that would love them enough to welcome them into their church and love them enough to speak truth to them. I would hope they would be welcomed at that church but also hear a pastor speaking truth. That fellow small group attendees would not be “afraid” of them but would talk to them like a normal person and when sexuality comes up to not be “afraid” to say what God says about marriage and sexuality. And the point of speaking truth is out of  love for that person. God’s truth sets us free.

By God’s grace may I never experience this as a parent but do you know what? I have very good Christian friends that are. I have pastors that are friends who have family that are in this situation right now. They have kids that are gay. And more than anything they would love for their kids to be in a Bible believing church where the Word of God is central and God’s grace flows freely.

I applaud LifeWay for sticking to their commitment of upholding their fundamentals of faith. You don’t have to agree with them. You can still purchase Jen’s books at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I don’t agree with Jen and while it does impact my reading of her books and choosing her curriculum to teach and train within our church (girls sunday school, etc), I will extend grace to her and recognize that she really does aim to love people well. But I think she’s shifting too far and it’s dangerous because she has a very powerful voice.

Friends, be careful who you listen to. Keep seeking God on all these matters. We will come to different conclusions and sometimes those conclusions cause us to just smile and settle to disagree. Other times we pull books from shelves. And then sometimes we have to flat out call people out in their misguided ways for the sake of the Body of Christ. Some would consider that judgmental but we see this is a spiritual practice God sets up in the local church. It’s not designed to condemn rather it’s designed to help each other stay the course according to God’s ways.