Ray Boltz Loves Jesus
September/23/2008 Filed in: God in the News
As I grew older and I began to follow after the way of Jesus, the messages of Boltz’s songs began to come alive to me, too. Thank You, a song depicting a dream in which a Sunday School teacher sees the impact he made on earth after he arrives in heaven, became an inspiration. I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb became a declaration of a desire to follow after Christ regardless of what hardships and persecutions may result from it.
Boltz had a lot working against him in his quest to leave an impression on my generation: his mullet/mustache combo, his musical style, and even the quality of his voice would never be considered stylish, chic, or sophisticated by most postmoderns. But what probably left an impression on many of us, regardless of whether or not we cared for his musical style (I didn’t), was his authenticity and his ability to explain Christianity through stories (an art form that desperately needs to be reclaimed by the Christian church).
Last week in an interview with The Washington Blade, Boltz announced that he is a practicing homosexual. He has ended his marriage of over 30 years.
In the midst of all this I fully expect that the Christian community, who have championed his music and awarded his excellence, will attempt to distance themselves from Boltz. They will express their shock and sorrow, they will feel a sense of betrayal, and they will likely be understood as angry and belligerent.
They will do this because they have no idea what the proper response is to homosexuality. We never have.
Make no mistake, the Bible is unwavering in its message that all sex outside of a monogamous relationship between a man and a woman falls short of God’s ideal. It is what the Bible refers to as “sin.” Practiced properly sex is beautiful and, according to Scripture, there is even something to be learned about God in the beauty of a sexual relationship.
But why has the church failed so miserably in reaching out to Ray Boltz and other homosexuals? What can we do going forward?
Our message is often that homosexuals should just come to Jesus and then become straight. This is much easier said than done. Regardless of what you believe about when someone becomes a homosexual (born that way, chooses it, or it is the result of a psychological abnormality), the feelings and desires of homosexuals are real. It’s just as difficult for most of them to be attracted to members of the opposite sex as it is for heterosexuals to be attracted to members of the same sex.
We have to be realistic and speak the truth: for many homosexuals who take Jesus seriously, the result will be a life lived in sexual abstinence because they can’t flip a switch and suddenly be attracted to members of the opposite sex. Can we please be honest as a church and say that this completely sucks for them?
If my wife, whom I love dearly, were to be tragically injured in a car accident to the degree that we could no longer have sex, I would abstain from sex. It would be difficult, it would be unfortunate, and most of you would probably understand if I got a little cranky sometimes. But because I love my wife and I take seriously the biblical mandate that sex is to be between a man and a woman in the confines of a monogamous marriage, abstinence would be my path.
In both of these situations we need to be honest that the choice of abstinence is a difficult one. We need to surround those who face these decisions with community who will show love, patience, and understanding in the midst their situation. We need to make the church a place where people can be open with their struggles and outloud with their questions. We need to help people like Ray Boltz.
A couple of quotes from Boltz paint a telling picture:
I’d denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, “I’m still gay. I know I am.” And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, “Just end this.”
And this from his website:
A few years ago I made the decision to retire from contemporary Christian music. I had won awards, performed in front of thousands of people, and sold millions of records. Still, I believed that if people knew who I really was, I would never be accepted.
Boltz faced his darkness alone because he didn’t know where to turn. He finally turned to the gay and lesbian community because they seem to have a knack for accepting everyone regardless of their past or present condition. The church could learn a lot from them.
I thought about what to title this blog article for some time. “Boltz Comes Out,” “Ray Boltz Confesses Homosexuality,” etc., etc. I decided to title it “Ray Boltz Loves Jesus” because I don’t think that homosexuality is what defines Ray Boltz. I think his love for Jesus Christ is what defines him. It saddens me that when Ray needed the church the most, he felt like he couldn’t turn to it.
Pray for Ray Boltz. Pray for the church. They are both imperfect and misguided and only Christ can change that.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians 3:12