The crisis in our public discourse is hard to deny. A staggering 93% of Americans feel incivility is a problem and more than two-thirds feel it is a major problem. Moreover, incivility is not just a matter of how we talk to one another, but at a foundational level it often keeps us from talking to one another.
This is true especially when it comes to the church’s debate on sexuality and gender. Dialogue can break down into merely talking past each other, forgetting we have much in common. Our biblical interpretations can easily succumb to myopic dissection of prooftexts, thereby losing the overall message of a scriptural passage.
Ronald W. Pierce
Karen Keen
But in a new anthology, Christlike Acceptance Across Deep Difference, we bring together more than 20 contributors, both traditionalist (nonaffirming) and reformist (affirming) to share a meaningful word across theological divides. In every section of this anthology, the goal is to demonstrate the principle of Christlike acceptance, whether it’s in the way we read the Bible, in the way we talk with one another or in the way we do ministry as Christ’s church. Our diverse community of contributors provides a wide range of substantive-yet-accessible essays that confound the enemy’s attempts to divide us.
This anthology was birthed out of a real friendship across difference. Christlike acceptance is not theoretical for us. We have lived it out together. We both saw a significant need, even hunger, within the church for resources beyond tired divisions. We believe there is more to say on sexuality and gender that both traditionalists and reformists can affirm with a hearty “Amen.”
“We believe there is more to say on sexuality and gender that both traditionalists and reformists can affirm.”
As 21st-century followers of Jesus, we must consider our role more seriously in healing the divisions that are tearing our churches apart and destroying our witness to the world around us. As Rick Langer, Tim Muehlhoff and Robert Woods put it in 2019, “We want to offer hope for a more peaceful and productive discourse among Christians that engages honest questions without assuming a single outcome or identical personal convictions. Surely, this kind of engagement is difficult and perilous, but biblical faithfulness demands that we be less concerned with pleasing our echo-chamber audiences than provoking thoughtful, albeit uncomfortable, reflection. If we cannot find a way to speak the truth in love to each other, we will have failed to serve God’s purposes in our own generation both within and outside of the church.”
So, who needs to read this book? Those who long for a better way of being Jesus’ church in our ever-changing world in the 21st century and beyond. Those who have a family member and/or loved one who is part of the LGBTQ community. Those within that community who struggle daily to maintain faith in God — or perhaps already have given up on God’s people. Those in leadership positions — like pastors, elders, teachers, counselors and, yes, parents — who exert a great deal of influence and also need resources for guiding God’s people. And finally, those who long as we do for a better way, a way of peace and reconciliation amid the current culture war that is destroying the church’s witness in this divisive world.
The Apostle Paul famously concluded in his first letter to the church at Corinth, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” If faith represents what we believe to be true from Scripture and hope represents where we would like to see the people of God go, then love speaks to how we can best work together to get there. And yes, Paul insists love is the most important of these three.
Elsewhere he declares, “The entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Love today is not merely a nice sentiment in an overly sentimental age. It is the greatest of virtues by which we fulfill the second greatest commandment next to loving God.
Yes, the challenges of practicing Christlike acceptance within the current climate of Christian discourse are significant, but the rewards can be even greater. Here we can find the reconciliatory middle ground for a better understanding of Scripture, a more respectful dialogue and a way of ministering together for a better future. The polarized world around us is watching — although it is no longer waiting — for a consistent and convincing Christian witness regarding this, as is the next generation of LGBTQ youth who want to follow Jesus yet experience the church as a deterrent to doing so.
“We want to demonstrate … that ‘Christlike acceptance’ is possible among biblical scholars and pastors.”
In the end, we want to demonstrate by the very fact that we are writing this anthology together that “Christlike acceptance” is possible among biblical scholars and pastors — as well as all of Jesus’ followers — without the contentious quarreling that currently divides the church and hinders our witness to those around us. We have joined together here as spiritual siblings in Christ with the hope and prayer that the church can find a better way of being Jesus’ body in a harshly divided world.
And so, we invite you to join hands and hearts with us in exploring the theological meeting ground of acceptance — Christlike acceptance — so we can carry forward the work of Jesus peacefully, simply and together; so that we can obey the final instructions our Lord gave to the “12 disciples” shortly before Jesus’ time of suffering and death on the Cross: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
We invite you to join us in practicing Christlike acceptance in your sphere of ministry — whether it is formal or informal — so we can make a difference for the common good of Christ’s church in the 21st century. We invite you to join us in bringing a balance among Christ’s followers that reflects the character of Jesus, who was “full of grace and truth.”
The debate over sexuality and gender so far has been 90% about clarity and 10% about charity. Our book seeks to bring greater balance by focusing on charity without sacrificing clarity. The quest for truth has dominated this landscape for decades. Now as the church continues to pursue truth (as best we understand it with our human limitations), we invite you to join us in embracing Christlike acceptance so that we can continue to mature in Christ our Lord in love.
Ronald W. Pierce taught theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, for 40 years. He is the author of Partners in Marriage and Ministry and coeditor of Discovering Biblical Equality. Karen R. Keen is a biblical scholar and spiritual care provider at the Redwood Center for Spiritual Care and Education. Her books include Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships and The Word of a Humble God.
This article is adapted from Christlike Acceptance across Deep Difference, edited by Ronald W. Pierce and Karen R. Keen ©2025 and is used by permission of Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.