Christianity and Homosexual Unions

I was listening to a Rabbi on the radio the other day speaking of gay marriage. He was pretty insightful. Speaking about homosexual marriage, he said (something like), "I speak to Jews. If a person is not a Jew, then the rules I am talking about don't apply." The radio host then said something completely modern: "Yeah, I like that. And isn't Judaism not so much about following the rules, but about loving your neighbor?" The Rabbi responded, "No, there are lots of rules and they need to be followed. Part of being a Jew is following the rules." The host was a little stunned, not sure what to say.

The Rabbi was able to capture an important distinction between the centripetal nature of Judaism and the centrifugal nature of Christianity. Namely, while Judaism is about bringing people in, Christianity is about going out to the people. Once in, the Rabbi expected people to follow the rules; if out, the rules don't apply.

But what about the rules of Christianity? Traditional Christianity agrees with Judaism that homosexual relations are sinful. But if Christianity is centrifugal--moving out from the center which is Jesus--how does the church respond? Can the church tell people to follow rules that are not their own?

I think this is a question for political theology because it centers around the community/ies Christians belong. If Christians only belong to the church, then most of them are not fighting this battle. (Some Christians, of course, are having the discussion about homosexuality and marriage for their church.) If Christians belong to their culture, then they may worry that their culture is at stake, but wish to preserve the freedom of religion of their culture. (The fact that government thinks it capable of redefining institutions it didn't invent is troublesome, but most people don't seem to care about that argument.)

The best posture, in my opinion, is one described by my brother's minister, Dr David Widdicombe, when he was giving a lecture on Oliver O'Donovan, specifically concerning O'Donovan's thought on some forms of reproductive techhology. The posture is that of a prophet. Widdicombe described O'Donovan's position as saying, "It's not that we can't do it, it's that we'll pay a price for it." I think the Christian has to remind its culture from his/her place as a Christian that the price to be paid for entering into this practice will be high.