Woke Pastor Tells Church: ‘My LGBTQ friends are MORE important to me than what the bible says’
Josh Hilburn is the lead pastor of Gather Houston. Founded in 2019, they are a “Christian community of healing passionate about inclusion, justice, and practicing the way of Jesus” with a wild confession of faith.
At a recent Q & A, he was asked about the church’s beliefs on homosexuality. In a refreshingly honest take, Hilburn explained that he cares more about what his LGBTQ friends and family think and feel than what the bible says:
It’s important to me what the Bible says about it. It is. I love the Bible. I preach from it every week. It’s very important to me what the Bible says about it.
But
We say every week that we want the kind of faith that the people in front of us are more important than our beliefs. And the people I know and love, my LGBTQ friends and family members, more important to me. They’re more important to me than what the Bible says.
…And so for me, if we stand here and say every week that the people in front of us are more important than our beliefs, there’s a big group of people that are really struggling and I want to be affirming adults for them no matter what.
So you can disagree with me about what the Bible says, but there’s a whole big group of people that for me are not up for debate.”
