I have been looking around the Bayside Church website and I came across this blog from Rob Buckingham – Is Jesus Anti-Gay?

In this blog Rob shares a facebook friends status which included: “WWJD? I know what Jesus WOULDN’T DO! He wouldn’t support same-sex marriages”

Rob then goes on to say: “Now I have strong views on all of these topics, but sometimes our strong views need to be kept to ourselves in order to be effective in reaching out to others.”

Now I have only included the most relevant bits and I have no wish to take him out of context so I do encourage you to read his blog – http://www.baysidechurch.com.au/content/view/231/243/

Be warned that there are homophobic comments below the blog with people questioning Rob and others comments. One poster attacked what appeared to be the only gay person to respond with a comment. This makes me wonder if those people are church members and so makes me question the safety of glbtiq ppl if they were to attend.

I agree it is very courageous of this man to say what he is saying – he mentions being in trouble with a senior pastor over it all.

Forgive me for being wary or suspicious but the Pentecostals dont exactly have a good track record for being honest and transparent.

I have posted a comment to this blog – Is Jesus Anti-Gay? – and at the end of it I asked Rob to clarify whether he supported gay marriage. Fro me I do agree with Ann-Maree and I think there are somethings that arent explicitly stated and I think its fair for us to have clarity on those things.

I certainly dont hate him or distrust him I just feel that there are somethings that have been left open to our imagination and thats not clear communication imho.

I could be wrong – I hope I am.

Hi Deafant

Thank you for sharing this. I too was horrified by some of the hateful replies on that blog and almost reconsidered getting into this dialogue as a result.

I’m all for transparency, integrity, openness, and especially, for clear communication. As much as those homophobic comments were truly awful, at least I know where those people stand. And while I appreciate that Rob is treading carefully, I’d rather know what his strong views are than have them hidden in the hopes of falsely attracting myself or others. Now I’m not saying that Rob does have hateful or sneaky agendas himself (thankfully I don’t get that sense about him) but he was suggesting that the other person hide their’s in order to attract others! (Something very wrong there). I don’t mind if we disagree, I’d just rather know if I’m being reeled in for some other agenda.

Clarity is good. And yes, this is very much needed. Let’s face it – the church has had no problem being clear on all kinds of issues, including the homophobic one, so why not this? And yes, the pentecostal church has not been good at being honest and straight forward. In my experiences there have been a lot of sales pitches that go on instead of plain talking.

Rob is being courageous but then let’s not lose sight that everyone of us has been extremely courageous in coming out over and over again in different settings, and in standing up for others, often risking everything, including life and limb, in the process.

Anyway, good to hear your thoughts which have helped me clarify and articulate more of my own.

Ann Maree

Hi Ann Maree,

I am glad to have helped you in articulating and clarifying your thoughts 😀

I am glad you bought up the subject of being out and the courage it takes in various situations and to turn up and be out in a situation thats not clear is very important as most people have no wish to put themselves in an unsafe position. I certainly found myself thinking maybe I might be able to go to this church one day when I am ready to do so and then those awful comments – are they members of Robs church?

I do agree that something is wrong when he says to keep the strong views to themselves cos they aren’t helpful in reaching others. Perhaps we are reading it wrong – I really hope so I would like to believe that this is a safe place for glbtiq in the pentecostal arena, but for now I reserve judgement and see if Rob will answer my question on gay marriage.

I hear what you are saying that its good knowing where you stand and yet for me I dont want to throw myself into a situation whereby I would be subjected to those kind of things being said to me.

Thanks for your reply to my post 😀

Hi Sman

I just received a lovely reply from Ps. Rob to my comment on his blog. He seems to be a man of integrity and great compassion.

I reckon he’s walking in the right direction. He might be on a different point in the road to where I am, but he’s heading the same way and really, I think that’s all that we can ask of anyone.

I recall the words of Christ here: “Whoever is not against us, is for us.” Mark 9:40

Hi sman,

I hear you and you are right in that we ought to make our own enquiries of Rob rather than judge him outright. I think its fab that he uses this website to educate himself thanks for telling us that its good to know.

I hope you dont think that I was trying to discredit or attack Rob Buckingham, naturally I have issues with the Pentecostal church since they have lost my trust and respect in many areas. Thats something I am working through. I think I have been really fair – I havent attacked him in anyway I simply want clear communication as to his intentions at this point in time and I think that this is a reasonable request.

In the comments section of Rob’s blog tho I did speak against the people that wrote homophobic posts. The only thing I did direct to Rob and other churchgoers – was the need to end the “us vs them” syndrome and I encouraged the move to self assessment and seeing how they can be more accepting of glbtiq people. Apart from that I simply want to know if Rob supports gay marriage – or if he wants to get us into church so we can be “changed”. I think thats a fair call.

As I have said I really hope I am wrong and that I have simply misread/misundersstood it all. I think he is to be applauded for his bravery and courage for speaking about this vital area of Christianity. I have been in church leadership so I know what its like which is why I simply wanted to ask him the question as you suggest.

Thanks for your post 😀