Why Jennifer Knapp Is Important
Jennifer Knapp is creating a strange problem for some people.
I remember hearing Jennifer Knapp when she first released Kansas. It was one of the more poignant and beautiful albums of the 90′s. Undo Me still gets play in my iTunes. But then Jennifer went silent. I didn’t know why until about five months ago I heard rumors that she was releasing another album. I asked around and found out that she went underground because she was gay.
That Jennifer is gay or that she released a new album is not really that noteworthy. Both are news but not worth getting on Larry King live. What is noteworthy is that Christianity Today actually profiled her and recognized her as a human being. It began with a dialog and gave her space to respond. It didn’t immediately condemn her in arguably the most influential Christian magazine in print. That is news. For the first time we were having a dialog about homosexuality within the more traditional evangelical space, and it wasn’t the same old dialog.
And I recognize that the Larry King conversation with Bob is a little more traditional. In my opinion she kicks his butt. But I actually went to Horizon in the early 90′s and if its is still the same space it falls under more traditional spaces. Bob had to take that approach. Sadly, I think Larry missed the bigger picture, instead choosing to fill the seat with someone who would create tension and conflict. Makes for better tv. I also found it interesting that Horizon lists the following element in their beliefs:
We believe that the true basis of Christian fellowship is His Love, which is greater than any differences we possess.
The problem is that Jennifer is an exceptional artist. She was one of “us”. She was on our team and now seems to be on “their” team. Her music touched so many lives because she chronicled the journey of someone engaging faith. We knew she was speaking for us in ways that our souls needed help with. If Jennifer is doing anything she is creating a strange tension with the idea that a homosexual can actually have and engage a faith. For some that is an impossibility. Her homosexuality immediately puts her out of the kingdom. At least that’s the way it works for some. Scot McKnight expresses this tension in his recent post.
“What does it mean for kingdom people to dwell with Jennifer Knapp? (I’m not saying Jennifer Knapp is a non-kingdom person but it is patently clear to me that many commenters and bloggers think so, which makes this parable all the more significant for what they write.)”
From my perspective, this is a watershed moment in the dialog. What do you think?
