Let's Talk about Homophobia and Transphobia in the Church: Part 2

What the Ethiopian eunuch teaches us about God's radical inclusion

Public Theology is based on the work of Zach W. Lambert, Pastor of Restore, an inclusive church in Austin, Texas. He and his wife, Amy Lambert, contribute to and moderate this account. Zach’s first book, Better Ways to Read the Bible, will release on August 12, 2025, and is available to preorder today.

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Trigger warning

This post, which is an excerpt from a sermon I preached in 2022, contains information of a sensitive nature pertaining to the abuse and mistreatment of many within the LGBTQ+ community. If you or someone you know has been hurt by the church due to queer identity, please proceed with care and caution.

For those who are not part of the LGBTQ+ community, especially for anyone who is skeptical about or even opposed to LGBTQ+ inclusion within the church, I ask that you try to read the following with a compassionate heart and an open mind. It may make you uncomfortable or even angry, but that is a risk worth taking if even one queer person comes away feeling that they are abundantly loved and infinitely treasured by the God who created them, and that they are equally welcomed to fully participate and express their gifts within the Church.

No matter how you feel, please know that unkind comments will not be tolerated on this forum (something we take very seriously). We welcome civil dialogue and questions asked in good faith. If you have a question that you would rather not ask publicly, feel free to message me directly.

Photo by elyssa renae

Last week, I posted Part 1 in this three part series about Homophobia and Transphobia in the church. Check it out if you haven’t read it! Here’s how it ended:

I believe that homophobia and transphobia are wrong.
I believe that any kind of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is wrong.
I think LGBTQ+ people should be fully embraced and included in the church because of what I see in Scripture.
I believe that the words and actions of both Jesus and the first church amount to a complete rejection of homophobia and transphobia, as well as a complete acceptance of sexual and gender minorities.

Let me show you what I mean.

I believe so deeply in full acceptance, inclusion, and equality of the LGBTQ+ community within the church that I have been kicked out of a denomination and several networks, I’ve given up major funding, I’ve lost friends and family members… and none of this compares to what my queer brothers and sisters experience on a daily basis.

Everyone is welcome in God’s family. There are no exceptions. If you have questions, just look to the words of Jesus in his scripture.

Part 2

In Matthew 19, Jesus is asked a question about divorce. Some claimed divorce was permissible by the husband for any reason and some said it was only for certain reasons. It’s important to remember that the question is framed in this way because wives could not legally divorce their husbands within this culture at this time. In fact, women couldn’t legally do much of anything in this culture. And so Jesus says:

“I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

Matthew 19:9-10

Side note: this response from the disciples is quite chauvinist. They basically say, “If I can’t divorce my wife anytime and for any reason, then I don’t even want to get married.”

But as he often did, Jesus uses their response to take make a bigger point.

But Jesus said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Matthew 19:11-12

Jesus mentions three different kinds of people who his statement about divorce wouldn’t apply to and uses the word “eunuch” each time.

So what is a eunuch in this passage?

Eunuch: An umbrella term used to describe someone in the sexual and/or gender minority.

Sometimes the word eunuch refers to people who have been castrated, either voluntarily or against their will. This happened for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes people were castrated because of a job. Because people believed eunuchs had no sex drive and were more trustworthy, they would be castrated before going to work in finance or a house of royalty.

Other times, castration was used as a punishment because a young boy didn’t exhibit enough “masculine characteristics.”

And sometimes it was done voluntarily because of a disconnect the person felt with their sexuality or gender, a condition we now refer to as gender dysphoria.

At times in Scripture, eunuch refers more broadly intersex people.

And still other times, eunuch refers to people who choose to remain celibate for a variety of reasons.

But here is what I really want you to understand about this passage:

Jesus is acknowledging people outside of the more common cisgender, heterosexual constructs, and not in a condemning way. To put it another way, Jesus is positively recognizing sexual and gender minorities.

If you’re reading this and you are a sexual and gender minority, if you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, this is beautiful proof that Jesus sees you. He talked about you. He radically includes you in his family.

Those listening to Jesus speak these words would have been reminded of an Old Testament prophecy about eunuchs. Sexual and gender minorities were one of the most vulnerable populations in the ancient world. Because of their vulnerability, Scripture says that they cried out to God for help, and God responded.

For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant—
to them I will give within my house and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will endure forever.

Isaiah 56:4-5

Notice God doesn’t say that eunuchs need to be fixed or changed. God simply says if they follow God, they will be welcomed them into God’s home and God’s eternal family.

If you’re someone experiencing gender dysphoria or who identifies as non-binary, I want you to really listen to that promise. Even when you don’t feel like you fit neatly into the category of son or daughter, God promises to give you a name better than sons and daughters.

And the promise keeps going:

These I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”

Isaiah 56:7-8

I love that it ends by saying that God’s house is a “house of prayer for ALL nations.” Everyone is welcome. Did you know that’s the exact same phrase Jesus yelled out as he flipped over tables of oppression and marginalization in the temple courts just days before he was killed on the cross?

He was making a statement.

There is a room for anyone who wants one within God’s house.

There is a seat for everyone at God’s table.

God’s family is all-inclusive.

For the first church, radical inclusion of sexual and gender minorities wasn’t just theoretical; it was something they explicitly practiced.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.

Acts 8:26-28

Philip, who is one of the main leaders in this first century church, is told by an angel of the Lord to go and meet this person who becomes known as the Ethiopian eunuch. As I listed above, there were a lot of reasons that someone may have became known as a eunuch, but what is most important to understand is that as a sexual and gender minority, he would not have been allowed to even enter the Temple in Jerusalem, much less worship there. Jewish law strictly forbade it.

We can assume that the Ethiopian eunuch journeyed about 1500 miles from his home to worship God in the temple only to be turned away, only to be told that no one wanted him there, only to be called unclean and defiled and an abomination because he was a sexual and gender minority.

Put yourself in his shoes. Think about how he must have felt. He travels for weeks in pursuit of the God he’s been reading about, and when he arrives, the people representing this God completely shun him. For many of you in the LGBTQ+ community, you don’t have to imagine— you’ve experienced it firsthand.

But even after all of that, the Ethiopian eunuch is still reading the Bible on his way home. He’s still pursuing God even though he’s been told, “You can never be included.”

God obviously knows what has happened to the Ethiopian eunuch and that’s why he sends Philip to meet him.

The Spirit of God told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. And he said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?”

Acts 8:29-31

This question from the Ethiopian eunuch is one of the most powerful sentences in all of Scripture and a searing indictment on how the church has so often treated LGBTQ+ people.

“How can I possibly understand it?” he asks. “I’ve traveled 1500 miles, tried to worship in your temple and asked everyone I’ve met, but no one will explain it to me.”

I’ve lost count of the number of LGBTQ+ folks who have asked me if they are allowed to be a part of God’s family even though they are queer. I always answer, “Yes, of course you are!” and then, “Have you ever asked any other Christians or pastors that question?”

Do you know how most people respond? They say, “I’ve tried to, but no one will talk to me about anything other than how I’m living in sin.”

As the eunuch asked, “How can I understand it? No one will explain it to me.”

But like so many sexual and gender minorities I know, the Ethiopian eunuch is undeterred. Even after experiencing bigotry and exclusion, he still wants to be a part of God’s family, and God sends Philip to welcome him in with open arms. At the Ethiopian Eunuch’s request, Philip climbs into the chariot and begins talking to him about what he’s reading.

Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the Good News about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

Acts 8:35-36

I’m sure Philip thinks, “A lot could stand in the way of you being baptized.” Basically every single thing about the Ethiopian eunuch could have been used to keep him from being baptized: skin color, occupation, citizenship, and, most of all, his status as a sexual and gender minority.

I cannot overstate what an important moment this is in the history of the church. The question being asked in this story is the same question we’re somehow still asking today: “Who can be included in God’s Family?”

After all, that’s what baptism represents: full inclusion into both God’s family and a church family. It’s one thing to read Scripture with someone, it’s another thing to fully include them in the faith community through baptism.

Phillip could have easily pointed out any of those excluding factors and said “I’m sorry, I can’t baptize you,” but he doesn’t.

Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

Acts 8:37-38

What an incredible story. It states three different times that Philip is explicitly directed by God every step of the way. Why? Because God wants to make sure that everyone understands that the full inclusion of sexual and gender minorities is all God’s idea.

Excluding people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is in direct opposition to God’s design for his family and for the local church.

This is why I am committed to the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people within our church (Restore) and in this space. I’ve done my best to be clear on this commitment for a long time, but let me put it directly so there is absolutely no ambiguity: in the spaces where I lead and serve, LGBTQ+ people are fully loved exactly as they are and fully included in every part of our Christian family.

At Restore, there are no restrictions based on someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity— this is true whether someone is in a relationship or not, whether they are pursuing celibacy or not, whether they have transitioned or not, etc.

This does not mean that we require every person who is a part of our church family or Public Theology community to interpret Scripture in the same ways. Our goal is not theological or ideological uniformity, but we are completely committed to unity around full inclusion. This means that telling sexual and gender minorities that they aren’t full image-bearers of God, that they aren’t welcome in God’s family, or that they can’t fully participate in our church family is unacceptable.

We have drawn a line at full inclusion of all people. This is who we are and what we feel God has called us to.

For 2000 years, sexual and gender minorities have been doing their best to follow Jesus and the majority of Christians have been too bigoted to notice. Homophobia and transphobia have caused immeasurable harm to queer folks, but it has also really harmed the church.

When we exclude people God told us to include, we miss out on the gifts and talents that they bring. We miss out on the unique ways in which they bear God’s image and express the fruit of the Spirit.

As I said last week, churches and Christians have been trying to take Jesus from LGBTQ+ people, trying to gatekeep the outsiders from becoming family members. I am committed to fighting against this for as long as I have the ability to fight.

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Next week, in our third and final part of this series, I’ll discuss Affirming vs. Non-affirming theology, the history behind it, and my personal process of becoming Affirming.

If you missed Part 1, you can find it here:

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