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It was just before the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras one year. I was driving in my car listening to talkback radio.

I listened as a spokesman for the Mardi Gras said, "It's a celebration of love, creativity and human sexuality. Being gay is just another way to be human, to be a family, to be together". He spoke with the voice of commonsense, the voice of reason.

Then the lines were opened to those who wished to comment.

The callers fell into two categories. One group agreed with the spokesman, and also spoke with the same voice of reason. As for the other group - it was rabid, bigoted, angry, aggressive, simply embarrassing, often misinformed.

And often claiming to be Christian.

I reached over and turned off the radio with a deep sense of despair. I seemed to have only two options - to affirm homosexuality as a lifestyle choice, as acceptable as any other, or to be narrow-minded and hateful. It doesn't seem like much of a choice to me.

The part of Scripture that has shaped my view on homosexuality is the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). A bit surprising, perhaps, because it doesn't mention homosexuality at all.

Jesus addresses the story to "some who were confident of their own righteousness, and looked down on everyone else". As so often in the hands of Jesus, the parable is an attack weapon, a subversive and offensive story. Who is forgiven by God? The good man or the scumbag tax collector? To our shock, it is the sinner, the one who knows he struggles and cries out to God in humility.

If you are a fine moral upright person - watch out! You are in Pharisee country! Christ's people are sinners in search of mercy. Jesus taught forgiveness, but he also taught repentance. And we all need to repent, especially of our acts of homophobia.

I was reflecting recently on a suburban church of which I was once a member. In that church, I think it would have been impossible for an adolescent in our fellowship to come out and say "I think I'm gay". We didn't create a safe place for people to be honest about their struggles. We allowed a culture of fear, where being honest would have meant almost certain rejection and ridicule.

In that church, I think we were guilty of sin. The Bible is not homophobic. God is not a persecutor of homosexuals, and his people know only too well the depths of their failure before him. It's very hard to be violent to someone when you are looking them in the eyes with your hand around their shoulder saying, "I have sinned too".

Look at Leviticus 18. Run your eye down the passage. It's a list of sexual practices that are unacceptable to God. You will note that homosexuality is included, along with a range of other practices.

We cannot walk away from this. But let's make it clear. The Bible does not say, "Straight sex is good, gay sex is bad". Heterosexual adultery is no more and no less of a sin than homosexuality. Christians do not argue for heterosexuality, but for obedience to God. That has implications for all of us, no matter what our gender orientation.

And we must be clear about this. There is a difference between saying homosexuality is unacceptable to God and being homophobic.

When one says the Bible stands against adultery, one is not regarded as heterophobic. When one says the Bible stands against the performance of homosexual acts, that is not homophobic. It is not vilification to say that God rejects some human sexual behaviour. And it is no more homophobic than rejecting Christ and his messengers is Christophobic.

Paul condemns a range of human behaviours (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Homosexuality is on the list, alongside drunkenness and greed. Paul does not suggest one is better or worse than the other-these kinds of actions are incompatible with being the people of God.

But the part I love is verse 11 - "That is what some of you were...". From the very beginning the church of Christ has been made up of people who were substance abusers, adulterers, liars, compulsive spenders - and homosexuals. The church is made up of people who have found mercy in Christ. No matter who I am or what I have done, I am a candidate for regeneration in Christ. Praise God that he should have mercy on a sinner like me.

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Edward Vaughan is Senior Minister of Darling Street Anglican Church, in Sydney. The above is an extract from the preface Ed wrote for the bestseller "What Some of You Were", written by Chris Keane and published by Matthias Media. Used by Permission.

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