Welcome to the journey

Like turning over stones and finding things you didn’t expect, studying God’s world is rich, layered and full of treasures. There are also thorns and mud, but amidst it all, we find hope, beauty, wonder, we find Jesus.

We just need curiosity, patience, and a willingness to think carefully.

But where to start?

1. Hear Their Stories

I suggest starting with listening to them first.

It is easy to form conclusions when we do not know someone’s story.

It is also easy to get it wrong.

We are not discussing abstract ideas. We are talking about real people, real faith, real longing, and real struggle.

Listening slows us down. It prevents caricature. It reminds us that theology touches lives.

Jesus consistently moved toward the people religious leaders wrote off. He listened. He saw them. He loved them.

Compassion is not compromise. It is the posture of Christ.

3. Understand the Issue

Before we ask whether something is sinful, we need to understand what we are actually talking about.

Learn about church history
Learn about LGBTQ history
Learn about how different cultures have understood sexuality and gender
Learn what science has found

Consider
Has this teaching brought healing, or harm?
Has it helped people run toward Jesus, or away from him?

Moral judgments should not be formed apart from reality. Careful discernment requires clarity. Understanding is not compromise. It is intellectual and spiritual responsibility.

3. Ask the right question

The Fork in the Road

Clarity rarely begins with an answer.

It begins with a question.

And our questions guide the way.

A child struggling at school could face two different kinds of people:

those who ask “Why is my child lazy?”
or those who ask “What does my child need?”

One question assumes moral failure. The other assumes complexity and care.

Our assumptions determine our questions.

Often, the deepest disagreement is not about the debate, but with the questions behind it.

So before we argue about conclusions, we need to agree on the question. That is where clarity begins.

My suggestion for our question at hand:

First, understanding the words in our question. When someone asks “does the Bible condemn homosexuality?” or “is being gay a sin?”, these terms mean different things to different people. The terms must be clarified and understood before continuing.
Second, I am not asking “is sin ok?”. Instead, I am asking “what does the Bible call sin”. One of the oldest errors in religious history, one that Jesus himself confronted, was the addition of human rules to divine commands.

4. Go Back to the Bible

After we have heard their stories, understood the issue, and clarified the question we are asking, we can return to Scripture with humility and seriousness. We then can examine the Scriptures with eagerness to see whether what we have been taught is true (Acts 17:11). And we seek to rightly handle the word of truth ( 2 Timothy 2:15).

This is not a new idea. It is an ancient pattern.

Throughout history, God’s people have repeatedly been called back to the text.

After the exile, when the law had been neglected and misunderstood, leaders like Ezra gathered the people and read it publicly, explaining its meaning so they could understand what was written. They were called to move from inherited practice back to the written Word.

In the time of Jesus, religious leaders had layered tradition upon tradition. Jesus did not dismiss Scripture. He asked, “Have you not read?” and redirected people to what was actually written, exposing where human interpretations had obscured God’s heart.

The apostles continued this pattern. They urged believers to test teachings, examine claims carefully, and measure doctrine against the message they had received.

Returning to Scripture is not rebellion. It is faithfulness.

Only then do we ask:

What is this passage actually addressing?
What is the theological vision behind the command?
What framework did Jesus model for interpreting the law?

Study the original language of the passages in question.

Study the author’s intent and the historical context of the audience.

Study how the church has interpreted these passages across time.

Learn how Jesus approached Scripture, especially how he emphasized mercy, justice, and the weightier matters of the law.

Faithful study seeks meaning before it seeks confirmation. It is not searching for verses to defend a position. It is seeking truth, even when that truth challenges what we have long assumed.

5. Examine Your Conclusion

After you arrive at a conclusion, pause again.

Whatever your conclusion may be, test it.

Comfort can quietly guide us the wrong direction. Comfort is not always truthful. Peer pressure is powerful. And our minds do not easily adjust when long-held beliefs are challenged.

But serious faith invites serious examination.

Pause and ask yourself:

Have I allowed the text to speak in its own context, or did I read my assumptions into it?

Can I fairly represent the strongest opposing view?

Does my conclusion align with the character of God revealed in Christ?

Am I pursuing truth, or merely confirmation?

The hardest question of all may be this: If I am wrong, would I want to know?

And if I discovered I was wrong, would I be willing to change?

Faith that refuses examination is fragile.

But faith that endures examination grows stronger, clearer, and more anchored in truth.