Pastor, author and activist Brandan Robertson had no desire to write another book when he was approached by his publisher to write on being queer and Christian. However, the result surprisingly meets the unexpected moment we’re in.
In Queer & Christian, Robertson shares his own story along with advice on how others in the LGBTQ community can reclaim the Bible and their faith. Sections include “Wrestling with the Bible,””Reclaiming the Bible” and “Seeing Ourselves in Scripture,” among others. Some of the content will be highly controversial to traditionalists in the church and those who oppose same-sex relations. Others may find in his writing a refreshing honesty.
Brandan Robertson
“The reality is that I didn’t want to write this book. I’ve written three other books on the topic of LGBTQ inclusion in the church and was kind of not expecting to write anymore about it,” he explained. “However, my publisher said, ‘But there is a new moment coming up culturally and politically.’”
Although still not convinced the project was for him, he knew his publisher was right about the country and its culture.
Robertson grew up in the world of conservative evangelicalism and had to reflect on his own experiences to write in the moment.
“I feel deeply connected to the moment because I come from the white evangelical world and it’s so strange to see the fruits of the theology that I used to believe in and that I was a part of coming to full bear on our society,” he said. “This is something that is not new. This has been in the works since the 1950s, and finally white evangelicalism is kind of getting what it’s always wanted.
“They taught me about the end times theology and how Christians would sell out to a political leader.”
“They taught me about the end times theology and how Christians would sell out to a political leader and cast aside their beliefs and values for power and privilege. And it all came true. The evangelicals were right.”
Although Robertson believes the evangelicals were right, he also believes progressives should build on hopefulness.
“The beautiful part of this moment is I really think progressive faith communities have been positioned for such a time as this,” he said. “I really do think we’re on the brink of a revival of progressive faith communities but not mass people coming back to faith in Jesus per se. But people coming back to progressive communities because we are the only places that are structured for people to come weekly to hear about the values we all believe in, to find support in the pain and the anxiety we have and then to organize for justice in our communities on a local level.”
He acknowledges “we’re in a moment that’s terrifying” but says it’s in these moments “that the church flourishes and that people of faith actually have the opportunity to be the people God called us to be. I think we’re on the brink of seeing a movement of renewal and revival.”
Although Robertson could see how his writing might meet the moment, he didn’t know how the project would end up healing him.
“So, long story short is I sat down kind of begrudgingly and thought I’ll rewrite another thing about being gay and Christian. The book ended up healing me in many ways. It revealed to me how far I had moved on my own journey beyond just trying to reconcile faith and sexuality, to realizing that from where I sit, my queerness felt like a real gift to my ability to help others expand their vision of Christian faith.
“I saw queerness more than just being about sexuality and gender. It was about being transformed by the renewing of our mind and not being conformed to the image of this world. The book ended up being this process where I got to really articulate a different way of being a gay Christian than I had ever articulated before. I hope it liberates other people in that way too.”
Robertson is a New York City-based pastor who is well-known as an activist and as a “Tik-Tok pastor.” He also writes occasionally for Baptist News Global. He’s been doing this work for a decade now. “On one hand, I’ve gotten really used to telling my story, but again this book was an invitation to go deeper than I had before,” he said.
“This is the longest book I’ve written and it’s not that long. I went through the biggest questions people are always asking me. Things that I’ve never talked about, things I hope will push people to think outside the boundaries.”
That includes sexual ethics and relationships “and how we engage with people who claim to be ex-gay and all that stuff,” he said. “This book really did feel like I got to get it all out on the page.”
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