Single gay and christian

Reader’s Corner Single Gay : Stoked to share my conversation with Greg Coles

Most of all, I hope that these readers take single gay and christian two things: that being gay in no way disqualifies us from following Jesus; and that if Jesus is real and true and worth following, then he must be worth giving up everything for.

To the degree that a lens of readership seems assumed or constructed by the author, what is that lens, and how can I do my best to adopt it in my own reading? I think that evangelical and mainline traditions tend to recognize and pursue different aspects of costliness.

So I grew up with a very high regard for the Bible, but not always with a high regard for the ways the Bible was being interpreted by people. And maybe a second book. But in cases where the text does seem to invite and expect a literal reading, I want to do my best to follow that reading, to take the Bible where the Bible asks me to take it.

But I also hope that it will speak to folks far beyond that group: church leaders, any LGBTQ folks, their family and friends, and anyone longing to have this conversation better. Single, Gay, Christian is the story of one person’s journey through these questions.

Characterizing everyone within a minority group as identical is, as I say in the book, a way of colonizing them and denying them their right to be uniquely human. But I do hope that some folks on both sides of the issue might be willing to be silent and listen to me long enough to learn how they can love me even better, in a way that will feel more like love to me.

I wrote the book imagining that I was talking to my fellow Christian millennials, all over the spectra of theology and sexuality. I want to ask everybody including myself to consider whether they might need to start acting more pro-Jesus in their pursuit of a costly faith.

Still, from a young age he remained introspective, active in church circles, and absolutely committed to his faith, all of which led him to explore what Christian life might mean for someone who was both certain of their identity and secure in it, and convinced of the truth of the gospels.

A heartfelt contribution to the growing literature on openly gay lives of fruitful obedience in the traditional churches." -- Eve Tushnet, author of Gay and Catholic "Single, Gay, Christian is a great read for anybody, but especially those interested in questions of marriage, sexuality, and relationships in general in the context of the church.

Gregory Coles: 'I don't want to tell everyone's story, but I do want to be able to tell my own. We spoke to Gay roman todd about his brave new book—necessarily at length. Mainline traditions have a much better track record in my view of taking costly stances when it comes to systemic matters of justice and social equity, whereas evangelical traditions tend to emphasize personal costliness over the societal.

Whenever I approach the biblical texts or, really, any textsmy primary hermeneutic question is this: How does this text ask to be read? " Single, Gay, Christian is a great read for anybody, but especially those interested in questions of marriage, sexuality, and relationships in general in the context of the church.

The hermeneutic that I learned from my parents and honed during those dinner table chats has been refined a bit by my academic study of rhetoric, but the heart remains much the same. It’s about acting like your own alter ego, about getting epiphanies from mosquitoes, about singing happy birthday to yourself while literally hiding in a closet.

So I hope that open and affirming LGBTQ allies will be open to recognizing that there might also be people like me—people who long for their love and support as allies but who might not fit into the most familiar narratives of LGBTQ experience. It’s about being gay, loving Jesus, and choosing singleness in a world that fears all three.

Growing up, I had a lot of theological discussions around the dinner table with my family.

Single Gay and Christian : His fiction and expository writing have been published by Penguin Random House and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; his

I hope and pray that the folks who read this book and disagree with me on either side of the theological aisle will continue to see me as someone who is committed to loving Jesus and to loving them well. And that obsession I have with language comes up in the book a bit as well, I think.

The conclusions he arrives at are neither simple nor prescriptive, and his intimate theological disclosures are certain to move inquisitive readers from all religious perspectives.

I never want to be ungrateful for people who desire to show love to me, however unhelpful their expressions of love may feel sometimes. Friends like my pastor, who still reads and responds to my angsty late-night emails, God bless him.

Certainly, following Jesus and wanting to walk with others along that journey is always going to be a big part of my life! And beyond that, God only knows! Gregory Coles grew up knowing that he was gay—and knowing that his identity was something that some Christians would not accept.