McLaughlin noted that she was only familiar with the description of the book published on the Yale University Press website, but she nevertheless found what she read there “exceedingly disappointing,” particularly “the language of the widening of God’s mercy.”
McLaughlin said she has many friends and people she is discipling who formerly identified as LGBTQ+ and are now Christians. “There is no question as to whether people who identify as [LGBTQ+] have access to God’s mercy,” she said. “All of us do. And anyone has the offer of Jesus made to them, where they can repent and believe and put their trust in him. But none of us get to come to Jesus without repentance.”
If Jesus is Lord over our lives, he has the right to tell us what to do with our lives, including in the area of sexuality. “He has the right to tell us to deny ourselves,” said McLaughlin. “He has the right to tell us to not fulfill our sexual dreams and romantic desires. He has all of that right over us.”
To frame a non-affirming view of same-sex relationships as barring people from God’s mercy is “frustrating,” McLaughlin said. She also said that in her study of the Bible, she has not found a dynamic view on gay relationships, as the description of Hays’ book suggests. And interpreting Scripture in a way to make it allow for such relationships tends to lead “all sorts of other theological messes.”
Later in the interview, McLaughlin addressed some of the common claims that purport to use Scripture to support same-sex relationships. Watch the full conversation here.
This article has been updated with a response from Dr. Richard Hays.
