This is how you handle it

2011-05-06T17:57:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I heard about the recent kerfuffle at Wheaton College over the formation of OneWheaton by a group of alumni turned LGBTQS hobbyists. As someone who resides at an obstensibly "Methodist" university whose faculty and staff cower in fear of gay rage, I found the message from Wheaton's newish president to be quite refreshing.

To: Students, Faculty and Staff

From: Dr. Philip Ryken, President

Subject: Message from President Ryken Regarding OneWheaton

This morning, a group of Wheaton College alumni distributed a letter on campus to announce the formation of OneWheaton, an advocacy group of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and questioning alumni and allies. According to the group's website, its intent is to counter "prevailing ideas about homosexuality in the Wheaton community."

Wheaton College agrees with OneWheaton's stated desire to "affirm the full humanity and dignity of every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity." Our Community Covenant upholds the commitment of every Christian to loving God, and to loving our neighbors as ourselves. We see each member of the human family as created in the image of God himself, and thus each of immeasurable value. This includes our neighbors and alumni who identify as LGBTQ.

We recognize that the needs of LGBTQ individuals present a particular challenge for institutions like Wheaton. Many have experienced insensitive or callous responses in this community, for which we repent and seek forgiveness. We repudiate and condemn violence and injustice directed toward LGBTQ people.

We also remain committed to following Christ as faithful disciples, which entails conforming our lives to God's truth revealed in the Scriptures, and specifically to a biblically-based stance on sexual ethics. In this, we seek to prepare our students to maintain fidelity with the historic stance of the Church on these issues. Our Community Covenant again speaks for the College on this matter:

We understand that our calling includes . . .[t]he call to pursue holiness in every aspect of our thought and behavior (2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Thess. 4:7; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:15-16)... Scripture condemns… sexual immorality, such as the use of pornography (Matt. 5:27-28), pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexual behavior and all other sexual relations outside the bounds of marriage between a man and woman (Rom. 1:21-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31).
We stand with LGBTQ persons before God as persons created in God's own image, and also as sinful persons in need of God's forgiveness and love through Jesus Christ, God's Son. We carry a burden for our students, faculty, staff and alumni who experience same-sex attraction because of the pain they so often experience, and pray that we can be a community that loves those who identify as LGBTQ. While we recognize that Wheaton's stance may be unsatisfying to some of our alumni, we remain resolved to respond with truth and grace.

Excellent work President Ryken. Today, on WheatonPatch, there was a matter-of-fact article reporting that the kerfuffle had risen to HuffPo status. For hilarious non-sequiturs and novel uses of syntax, I highly recommend reading several dozen of the approaching 500 comments on the HuffPo article. There are some real gems in there. I'm starting to wonder if "Generation Me" might be more appropriately described "Generation F**k Me."

Since Charlotte Eriksen had yet to draw a single one of these scribblers to her own article, I decided to make a comment myself:

A teacher once told me, "a noble slave has more freedom than his wicked king for the slave has but one master, while the king is slave to his many vices." Wheaton's first president was a staunch abolitionist, offering the College as a stop on the Underground Railroad. President Ryken has now inherited this mantle by speaking truth in the face of expediency.

To those who felt "alienated, ashamed, and afraid," these are the healthy responses of a functioning and well-ordered conscience. Be thankful for this evidence that you are still far enough under the wing of common grace that your heart is troubled by a simple chapel message. Should you elect to crush these pangs, and establish your own version of morality, as you are entitled, perhaps Wheaton is not the best venue for your experiment. After all, Paul's proverb, "bad company ruins good morals," can go both ways depending on your definition of "good."

I hope I get some quality hate mail.

Helixfreak

This is how you handle it