Moratorium Blues
On Sunday, Archbishop Rowan Williams pleaded with the members of the Anglican communion to establish a moratorium (official or otherwise) on ordaining gay bishops. He is trying desperately to hold together two wings of a church which seem so desperate to rip themselves apart from one another.
The fact that his time as Archbishop has been utterly consumed by the question of gay bishops is a sign that his request will not be met. He is trying to hold together a monster that will probably not hold anymore.
The Anglican communion is forced in to pick between two options, both of which seem to be fundamentally good and true. On the one hand, all good Christians are commanded by God to not cause their brethren to stumble. This being the case, it makes sense not to ordain gay bishops, since not all the brethren have realized the truth that we are all God’s children and no qualified and called person should be deprived of the right to serve.
On the other hand, there are numerous Biblical injunctions which would indicate that homosexuality is against the will of God for human beings. While these passages are highly disputed by Christians of the right and left, there is no question that one can legitimately construe them to speak against any form of homosexuality.
So, both parts stand on the side of Biblical witness and the command of God against one who would oppose both. And there is the rub. This is one of those questions that will only be solved through the prayer of the people of God over a generation or two. As long as the people of God are committed to not putting in this time of reflection and meditation on the will of God (and there is every reason to believe many of the loudest Christians are not), we will err and err grievously.
Archbishop Williams ought not to have called for a moratorium on gay bishops. He should have called for the silence of know-it-all Christians and for an engagement with the loving Christ in prayer seeking guidance.
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