Archbishop Desmond Tutu has taken his stand:
“I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place,” the retired archbishop said.
“I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this,”
By homophobic Tutu is of course referring to Christians who believe in the the traditional teachings and interpretations of what the Bible has to say about homosexuality. If that’s true, he wants nothing to do with Heaven.
What Tutu’s statement says is, “If God agrees with me, then he’s worthy of worship and praise. If God doesn’t agree with me, he is not.” What Tutu has done is place himself as the arbiter of right and wrong with God having to go his way.
The statement gives an interesting look inside liberation theology which makes God merely a means to an end. God and religion are good for obtaining positions that give you the ability to organize people. God is merely something to be used for the cause, not someone to be worshiped and praised for who He is. To the practitioners of liberation theology, God is not someone who shapes us, rather the liberation minister get to shape their own god. Thus when one unwraps the niceties of Tutu’s rhetoric it seems the God of Desmond Tutu-is Desmond Tutu.
Thus Tutu isn’t interested in the Heaven of a real living God who created Heaven and Earth if that God disagrees with Tutu’s own conclusions. It does seem that Tutu is under a misapprehension. Heaven is not a place where God offers well-meaning people a chance to come in and then those well-meaning people get to decide whether they approve of Heaven and can say, “No God, I really don’t like your stance on gay rights.” Or “I’m really disappointed that you don’t use free trade coffee up here.” and then choose to go to Hell. Scripture tells us:
But as it is written: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”-1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJ21)
It doesn’t say that’s God preparing something something for those who used him as a means to an end but rather that he’s preparing something for those who truly love him. When we get to the point where we would refuse salvation if God disagrees with our politics, we’ve taken our politics far too seriously, and the sacrifice of Christ not seriously enough.