Hermeneutical Questions

As Baptists have affirmed and practiced our classic “freedoms”—soul freedom, Bible freedom and congregational freedom—shifting cultural contexts and newly affirmed personal experiences have pushed our conversations forward, as they should. But as “people of the Book,” we continue to seek truth and guidance in scripture, trusting the Spirit to lead. That brings us to hermeneutics.

Hermeneutics refers to the process of interpreting texts, such as the Bible. In my teaching and pastoral ministries, I’ve leaned on what I call a conversational hermeneutic, always shaped by a Christ-centered focus and always attentive to context.

Conversational

“Conversational” means that God has been guiding a long-running conversation through different generations and traditions, drawing out fresh perspectives and moving God’s people toward deeper understanding.

Think of the interplay between law and grace. “Keep my statutes and you shall live …” (Ezekiel 18:21). As a Jewish colleague once told me, “Torah itself is grace.” And what greater grace than the declaration, “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:1)?

Baptists hold this together with the conviction that “by grace are you saved … unto good works” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Context

Attention to context is just as important. When Paul wrote, “In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female” (Galatians 3:28), he was describing a new hermeneutical principle that opened up new possibilities for subsequent generations.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus promises that the Spirit will lead believers “into all the truth” (John 16:13). This isn’t about inventing new truth, but about recognizing dimensions of truth that can only now be fully seen in light of new situations.

Christ-Centered

A Christ-centered hermeneutic means we read Scripture through the life and witness of Jesus—the Word made flesh, God with us. What he blessed, who he welcomed, what he prioritized—all of that becomes our lens for interpreting God’s word in our own time. At the heart of his message was the dawning reign of God, a new community marked by inclusion, healing, and blessing.

Homosexuality and Scripture

When Baptists speak about homosexuality, one of the first texts often cited is First Timothy 1:8–11, where “sodomites” appear in a list of lawbreakers. But the Greek word used—arsenokoites, literally “men who lie with men”—isn’t clearly equivalent to what we mean today by homosexuality, an orientation toward same-gender attraction.

The small set of biblical passages that mention same-gender behavior—seven in total, according to True Colors (Jake Hall, ed.)—typically describe violence (as in the story of Lot’s house in Genesis 19) or tabooed sexual practice (Leviticus 18:22). Paul in Romans 1:18–32 also speaks of people giving up “natural intercourse,” but he is working from a very different set of assumptions about what “nature” entails.

What biblical authors did not have in view was the idea of someone whose orientation was toward the same sex by nature. By that logic, it could even be argued that a gay person pretending heterosexual desire would be the one “going against nature.”

Parallel Cases: Wealth and Slavery

This handful of verses is striking when compared to the extensive coverage of other matters in the Bible.

Money and wealth, for instance, appear in more than 350 passages. Sometimes, riches are considered a blessing, while at other times, they are seen as a stumbling block. 

Jesus himself modeled simplicity and generosity, teaching us to lay up “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19–20). Yet our churches often overlook these teachings while showing far greater indignation over sexual ethics.

The same is true with slavery. Nearly 400 references appear in scripture. 

Sometimes it’s metaphorical, sometimes historical, but often it is treated as simply a condition of life. Paul even counseled, “Slaves obey your masters … as you obey Christ” (Ephesians 6:5). These words were once quoted by defenders of American slavery. Others, looking to Galatians 3:28, began to draw out the liberating seed already present in the gospel.

Women in Leadership

Not far from First Timothy 1, the author describes the qualifications for church leaders, which are stated entirely in male terms (1 Timothy 3:1-11). Southern Baptists continue to use this text to oppose women in leadership. 

Yet the scriptures also give us Miriam, Deborah, Esther, Lydia, and Priscilla—women whose leadership broke through cultural norms of their time. Literary critics call such passages “subtexts,” small but significant reminders that the reality of God’s work is always more complex than the dominant narrative suggests. Galatians 3:28, once again, points forward to a broader vision.

Returning to the Question

All of this leads back to the original question. If we can set aside the Bible’s many passages about slavery, its strictures against women in leadership and its mixed messages about wealth, then why would we insist on a handful of contested texts to single out homosexuality?

Someone might ask where are the countering subtexts for homosexuality? My response is to look again at John 16:13: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all the truth.” Could the Spirit now be leading us to see that “in Christ there is no gay or straight,” just as we have already confessed that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female?

Many Baptists rightly celebrate our ethnic and gender diversity as a living expression of Galatians 3:28. Perhaps the Spirit is calling us to go further.

We’ve watched Methodists, Presbyterians, and those in the worldwide Anglican communion splinter over sexual politics, and we all know there are practices and positions we are against. But our deeper calling is to be known for what or who we are for. 

To proclaim Christ and his reign. To live and work for love, justice and inclusion.

That is not just a strategy. It is biblical. It is Christlike.