Just at the point of exhaustion and irritability, when we think the debate on homosexuality in the church has reached its end\u201d\u201dwith every position articulated, every line drawn in the sand, every constituency ghettoized\u201d\u201dother voices emerge to remind us that the conversation must proceed. Despite anxiety for ourselves and the church, the conversation must proceed because God has called us to this annoyance as he has called previous generations of Christians to other annoyances; the interpretation of Scripture requires us to think deeply and wait patiently upon God; the shalom of the church is at risk if we close down the search for agreement; and, lest we forget, some of God\u2019s precious children live upon the rack.<\/p>\n
Three fresh and challenging voices aid us in their books: Wesley Hill\u2019s Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality (Zondervan), Jenell Williams Paris\u2019s The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is Too Important to Define Who We Are (IVP), and Oliver O\u2019Donovan\u2019s Church in Crisis: The Gay Controversy and the Anglican Communion (Cascade). Here\u2019s a \u201cgay Christian\u201d\u009d and burgeoning New Testament scholar who pursues the vocation of celibacy (Hill), an anthropologist who questions our unexamined appropriation of sexual identity categories (Paris), and a British theologian who reflects on the troubles in his church without entanglement in America\u2019s culture wars (O\u2019Donovan). Two big ideas emerge from their writing. They who have ears, let them hear.<\/p>\n