Megachurch leader and author T.D. Jakes has come out in support of “gay equality” and congregations that affirm the homosexual lifestyle, adding that his position on homosexuality is both “evolved and evolving.”
During an interview with the Huffington Post on Monday, Jakes was asked by a viewer if he believes that homosexuals and the black church can co-exist.
“Absolutely… I think it is going to be diverse from church to church. Every church has a different opinion on the issue and every gay person is different,” he replied. “And I think that to speak that the church—the black church, the White church or any kind of church you wanna call it—are all the same, is totally not true.”
Jakes said that he thinks homosexuals should find “gay-friendly” churches to attend that affirm the lifestyle.
“LGBT’s of different types and sorts have to find a place of worship that reflects what your views are and what you believe like anyone else,” he outlined.
“The church should have the right to have its own convictions and values; if you don’t like those convictions and values [and] you totally disagree with it, don’t try to change my house, move into your own … and find somebody who gets what you get about faith,” Jakes added.
He said that the issue of homosexuality is “complex.”
“Paul spends a lot of time wrestling back and forth, trying to understand should a woman wear a head covering, should you cut your hair,” Jakes stated. “I mean, they grappled back then and we’re grappling now because we’re humans and we are flawed and we’re not God.”
“Once you understand you’re not God, you leave yourself an ‘out’ clause to grow,” he said.
When asked if his position on homosexuality has “evolved,” Jakes agreed that it has.
“Evolved and evolving,” he replied. “I think that where I am is to better understand we, the church, bought into the myth that this is a Christian nation.”
Jakes stated that he believes homosexuals should have equality under the law.
“[O]nce you get past [thinking America is a Christian nation] … Once you begin to understand that democracy, that a republic actually, is designed to be an overarching system to protect our unique nuances, then we no longer look to public policy to reflect biblical ethics.”
“If we can divide—or what you would call separation of church and state—then we can dwell together more effectively because atheists, agnostics, Jews, all types of people, Muslims, pay into the government. The government then cannot reflect one particular view over another just because we’re the dominant group of religious people in [this] country because those numbers are changing every day,” Jakes asserted. “We need a neutralized government that protects our right to disagree with one another and agree with one another.” Source :Christian News
