A few thoughts on Bill Henson's closing Revoice session. Henson wants Christians to be missional in their approach to LGBT outreach. Cool! I've been there, done that! What deep insights will I glean from this, I wonder? /1
As it turns out, not a whole lot. Henson conflates literal violence perpetrated against LGBT people with (for example) the denial of insurance benefits through a same-sex partner. Presumably, he believes it was "hateful" to oppose gay marriage at all. /2
Henson jokes about being accused of "syncretism" and "heresy" while saying that his approach will be a "lose-lose." Implication being that anyone who would raise the concern of heresy is unconcerned about reaching gay people. /3
It becomes clear by the end that Henson's "missional" approach entails the use of preferred pronouns, including the plural "they." He illustrates this in telling a story about his colleague, Lesli (whom I've discussed in another thread). /4
The story itself highlights a sad and violent incident where Lesli was assaulted for her appearance in a McDonald's. It goes without saying that assault should be condemned across the theological spectrum. But Henson frames the story by referring to Lesli as a "they." /5
This is, in fact, a classic case of the syncretism Henson mocks people to his right for being concerned about. Further, it undercuts his stated mission to treat trans people with dignity. To "pluralize" an individual is to erase his (or her) individuality. /6
But presumably, in Henson's mind, anyone who would raise an objecting hand is a bigot, doesn't care, doesn't understand what it means to be "missional," and probably secretly wishes gay and trans people would just die. /7
Never mind that some of us have already done our own outreach and formed our own missional approach while somehow managing not to accommodate heresy along the way. It can be done, believe it or not. /8

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More from @EstherOfReilly

14 Oct
Bill Henson, 38:00: "If we don't relate to people based on how they self-identify...if we don't call people by the name they call themselves, just because we don't want to compromise something, we're not gonna have much of a gospel reach..."

"If we can't get there on their preferred pronoun and their chosen name, we have a gospel reach problem, because if we don't have relational proximity, there is no advancement of the gospel, at least through us..."
"And if there is no relational trust, then there can't be that proximity, and every missionary knows the ultimate goal is build the trust and the relationship that leads to proximity, that's how the kingdom advances from one person to another..."
Read 5 tweets
12 Oct
I'd heard this testimony before and just came across a new livestream of it. I find the story of Jim's particular journey into and eventually out of the gay lifestyle very moving, and a great testament to the power of faithful Christian community.

Jim recalls being a "Christian golden boy" through high school, headed for ministry, all while nursing the secret of his bisexuality. Eventually he left the church and took up with a male partner, in a relationship that slowly spiraled into toxic co-dependence.
Through his lover's substance abuse and mental illness, they became insolvent and lost the roof over their heads. This was the moment when Jim called his lover's parents to say "Help."
Read 5 tweets
12 Oct
So this should probably be a blog, but I have another angle on the "elite evangelicals" blowup based on my experience observing similar feuds in a different area, namely biblical studies. /1
I've seen some waving away Galli's thesis as if it's silly to imagine anyone aiming for the "elite evangelical niche" on purpose when there could be more lucrative options elsewhere, either right or left. /2
This of course completely fails to account for the fact that a certain kind of respect is worth far more than money to many, many people.

I've also seen a false dichotomy that if we say people in this category long for respect, they can't also be sincere. /3
Read 12 tweets
12 Oct
This past weekend I've been reporting on the sessions from Revoice21, which a number of people have found helpful. It's no secret that I have long had deep concerns about the Revoice brand. However, it was brought to my attention that I misread a particular panelist's remark. /1
In the panel of gender minorities, Leslie Hudson-Reynolds described her certainty that she "was" a boy at age 4, then said this was "language that's important to hear when a young person is coming out." I took this to mean it was language important for the child to hear. /2
Subsequently @bekahmason and @WendyAlsup said Lesli was in fact saying it was important for the adults to hear the child's language. I realized they were correct about this and promised to thread a correction, so this is that correction. However... /3
Read 10 tweets
12 Oct
From Greg Piken's Revoice session: Greg shares stories from his experience as a counselor and spotlights a woman who'd been inappropriately approached by men, then had some other authority voices suggest maybe the blame was shared. /1
Piken doesn't give details, but in their sessions he emphatically assured the woman blame wasn't shared and there was no excuse for the men's inappropriate behavior. She became emotional and said no man had ever said that to her. /2
I don't have reason to distrust Piken's judgment, but after sharing this story he pauses and says in that moment, he was thankful to be gay because it made him "uniquely safe" for this woman. /3
Read 9 tweets
11 Oct
Hi to all new followers who found me through Revoice tweets. I've spent a little time thinking about this whole issue (and by a little, I mean a lot). Since it's "gay history month," here's a link to maybe my most personal bit of writing on the topic:

estheroreilly.substack.com/p/its-a-sin-pa…
It's a convenient line (and a convenient lie) that Christians refusing to board the "Side B" train are doing so because they're ignorant, stupid, bigoted, or all of the above.

Voices like me are inconvenient for this narrative.
Towards the end of this piece I have an exchange with a friend of mine. I talk about this friend very rarely because our friendship is really not the stuff of Twitter, etc. But he's shared a lot with me, and he's very dear to me.
Read 5 tweets

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