By David Gushee
Today is the registrationdeadline for the CBF/Mercer [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant. Several hundred people have already registered and by all accounts many are profoundly interested in this week’s event. One last time, I would like to offer brief remarks on the presuppositions that have governed this event, from my perspective:
The conference presupposes that there is such a thing as the Church, which is not the same as the State or the Culture, and that the Church is (something like) that community of human beings who loves Jesus Christ and seeks to serve him faithfully as Lord in every aspect of its life.
The conference presupposes that it is possible for the Church to have an internal conversation precisely as a community of Christ-followers about what it means for our sexuality and covenant-making to be lived out in a way pleasing to our Savior and Lord.
The conference presupposes that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is one branch of the Christian Church, and that as such it is capable of having a discerning conversation about these matters in terms reflective of the faith and piety extant within this particular part of the family of faith.
The conference presupposes that the local congregation under the Lordship of Christ is the apex of authority in Baptist life, and that a voluntary gathering of Baptists to discuss sex and covenant carries no authority but can be helpful if it aims to serve congregations in their life and ministry.
The conference presupposes that a good CBF conversation about sexuality and covenant can be enhanced by contributions both from long-time CBF-type Christians and by committed fellow Christians from outside our particular Christian fellowship.
The conference presupposes that it is possible for the Church to talk together about sexuality exclusively as an aspect of Christian discipleship, rather than as a matter of denominational policy or public law, and that is critical to remember how to have a discipleship-focused conversation before this skill disappears entirely from Christian life.
The conference presupposes that the best way to have a Church conversation about sexuality is to bring scripture, tradition, and contemporary realities into sacred conversation with each other, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Way of Jesus Christ.
The conference presupposes that a meaningful family conversation about sexuality must be open and honest and not restricted to bland platitudes and clichés.
The conference presupposes that every Christian deserves and must have a place, like a family dinner table conversation — rather than some members of the Christian family talking about other members of the family who are not allowed to pull up a chair and speak for themselves.
The conference presupposes the value of personal encounter within the life of the Church, because we believe that God is active and God’s Spirit can be met in the lives of Christ-followers earnestly seeking to do God’s will.
The conference presupposes that what the Church has for generations understood to be biblical Christian sexual morality is challenged comprehensively today both in theory and in practice, and that an adequate family conversation about sex must be just as comprehensive as the challenges we now face.
In my next column I will talk about what happened when we tested these presuppositions.