So, Meredith Baxter — known by many as Mrs. Elyse Keaton, mother to Alex P. Keaton on NBC’s Family Ties — has come out to declare to the world that she is a lesbian (news story here). Why? Why is it so relevant to us to know that Meredith Baxter considers herself to be a lesbian and has done so for the past 7 years? Do we really care so much about her business that we now feel compelled to judge her for her sexuality? Is it because she was Alex P. Keaton’s mother and now somehow her being a lesbian takes away from that memory?
One of the things about being involved in ministry is how people in the church will use this news as a reason for us Christians to rally together and pray for her to cleansed of her homosexual lifestyle. Unfortunately, this discounts some very important things:
- Only God can change someone, and it is his decision alone as to whether or not Ms. Baxter needs to be changed.
- If Ms. Baxter’s profession of homosexuality has doomed her to a life of eternal hell, then what about your viewing of internet porn, getting drunk on occasion, turning a blind eye to those in need or yelling at your husband/wife in anger?
- People are turned away from hypocritical Christians judging them, yet drawn to imperfect humans loving them through grace and kindness.
I guess Ms. Baxter felt compelled to share her lesbianism with the world, but in the end I doubt it will be what the world thinks in return that will matter to her. I sense this as a way to free herself from having to somehow hide her identity and pretend to be straight. Who is it that benefits from that perception of being straight? Obviously, those of us that choose to live in judgment and harbor prejudice. The problem here is, did we care about Ms. Baxter’s eternal salvation in Christ before she announced she was a lesbian?
Not to run away from my roots as an evangelical Christians, so for the record, I do believe that being a lesbian would prevent Ms. Baxter from knowing God–alongside him–in heaven one day. However, it is not my job to change her back to being heterosexual, if that were even possible. It’s not my job to view her as different or defective or eternally persecuted because of who she is attracted to or falls in love with. She is a person made in the image of God, just as you and I are. We all are. How he deals with each of us and our role in the eternal makeup of the universe is at his discretion. I can believe firmly in the truth as I see it, but must never move away from the truth behind the truth, which is:
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. –1 Peter 4:8
It is my sincere hope for Ms. Baxter that she one day comes to know God eternally in heaven, yet only on God’s terms and through his love for her as revealed by others. May her value and worth be in who she is–as made in the image of God–rather than who she dates or what we (personally) think of her.
