Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach is an amazing story of an individual who was raised by LGBT parents and experienced the hatred of Christians but ended up becoming a pastor.  This book is a cogent blend of grace and truth as it applies to sexuality.  The author points out “. . . that we can be right in our beliefs but wrong in how we communicate them” (p. 8).

This book may encourage and discourage people at either end of the spectrum on the topic of homosexuality.  “I want to warn you ahead of time about something:  whichever side of the tension you feel most comfortable with (grace or truth), there will be times during your reading of this book when you may not agree with what I say” (p. 15).  Caleb’s story provides helpful insight to view homosexuality from the LGBT perspective, He asserts, “I believe this book can change you – permanently” (p. 16).

The author does an excellent job developing a biblical foundation for his case, focusing on the life of Jesus:

Jesus saw these people as wounded, not a burden.
Jesus saw these people as hurting, not in the way.
Jesus saw these people as an opportunity, not a liability.
Jesus saw these people as God’s children, not sinners who got what they deserved.
Jesus saw these people as testimonies of the gospel, not moochers of religion.
Jesus was for them, not against them.
Can the same be said about us?  (p. 54)

Throughout the book, he supports the Bible’s teaching while not losing sight of maintaining the relationship.  “What I’m talking about is accepting, which is different from approving.” (p. 106-107).  He challenges churches to adhere to this biblical tension between truth and grace, “Because if our churches are places where people can’t be honest, we are creating sanctuaries for fake people.  Ultimately, our churches become Pharisee factories” (p. 153).

Caleb calls churches to follow the example of Jesus and not take their cues from society, “Jesus did not die on the cross to create a little country club where we could have weekly gatherings, pat ourselves on the back for our good behavior (while hiding our bad behavior), and meet in clusters during the week but do nothing to reach out to the community” (p, 158).

I highly recommend this book to give you a biblical perspective of an environment of grace.  “It isn’t our job to change someone’s sexual orientation.  You and I are not called by God to make gay people straight.  It is our job to lead anyone and everyone to Christ.  I believe God is big enough to deal with a person’s sexuality” (p. 185).   (I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review).

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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