“Does Jesus Really Love Me?”: A Conversation with Jeff Chu

On Tuesday, May 23, the Sisterhood (and their brothers in arms) took part in a thought-provoking Skype conversation with Jeff Chu, author of Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America.

Chu is an accomplished journalist who is now in seminary and writes powerfully about his year traveling to interview everyone from the leaders of Westboro Baptist to Jennifer Knapp, who came out after years in the spotlight as a popular Christian singer.

Chu’s book was reviewed by the New York Times, and he was recently featured in a provocative conversation on the podcast With Friends Like These with Ana Marie Cox.

Here, we capture some of our favorite soundbites and snippets from Chu’s talk and book, with an overarching theme of love, compassion, and real talk.

• Journalism, like pastoral ministry, “is a not-lucrative job with questionable prospects.”
• Journalists have “deluded themselves into thinking they’re objective.” We as humans can’t be objective, Chu argues, “but we can be fair.”
• Chu has carried three key lessons over from his writing career to his work in ministry: Never universalize. Always consider context. There are always more layers.
• When asked about changes Chu has seen since writing the book in 2013, he replied that overall he sees more affirmation and more discussion of marriage, but that he’s also witnessing a “backlash stage” from a “longer and stronger rear guard.”
• On preaching not to the choir: “We don’t get to choose who hears our sermon. We don’t get to vet the congregation. How do I respond with grace to a hostile audience?”
• On picking your battles: “God doesn’t call us to address all issues simultaneously.”
• On finding unlikely bedfellows: He’s all about “building messy coalitions. I can work with almost anyone depending on what the issue is.”
• On getting your message across: “Love is supposed to be communication. If the recipient of the message does not recognize your message as one of love, then maybe you need to reconsider.”
• On dealing with anger (or blind rage) toward current events: Chu recommends reading Psalm 88, which shows “we are allowed to despair.” Not everything resolves. But we will get to Psalms 89 and 90 eventually. In the meantime, he suggests, seek community in all its forms, and let things die in your life as you would while tending a garden.
• Closing thought: “Gentleness and strength are not mutually exclusive.”