I might be opening a can of worms beyond what I would prefer to deal with, but I really believe that this subject needs to be addressed. I have felt for some time that I need to address the Christian response to homosexuality, but I have been avoiding it because of the possible backlash.
Growing up in a rural area, I was somewhat naive on the subject until I went to an all-boys seminary where I was informed about some activities that I just really didn’t want to know about. When I was approached by one of those guys, I made it very clear that I was quite uninterested in anything related to that. After that, I spent a majority of my life about as “homophobic” as a person can get. While hate wasn’t the word I would use, I think I was close to it.
In time we had a Martial Arts student that I got along with very well. After we had known him for several years, we found out that he was gay, and I started to realize that he didn’t change because I now knew something different about him, he was still the same person. All that really changed was my knowledge of who he was, so I slowly started to rethink how I previously believed.
Those who know Lori and I well, know that God has put situations like this in our lives to help us learn to love people the way God has called us to, even if we don’t agree with them on certain areas of their lives.
I am not one that will ever say that homosexuality is right. According to my understanding of Scripture, I will always hold firm to the fact that Scripture is the inspired Word of God and societal norms should not dictate our understanding of Scripture. When I read Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, it’s pretty clear to me that homosexuality is sinful and it is something that God is not pleased with.
But here’s the thing. Name a sin that God is pleased with.
What I’m saying is that to me, homosexuality is sin, but it is no different than any other sin that we continue in. We as Christians tend to put homosexuality in a class of sin all by itself, as if it’s somehow worse than any other sin, but it’s not. As Christians, we all know couples that live together that aren’t married, yet we don’t have any issues with that. Isn’t that the sin of fornication? Why is that ok, whereas homosexuality is not? I’m not saying that either sin is ok, but somehow, we tend to be ok with one and not the other? I have called out several friends who profess to be Christian and were living with their partner, but they knew it was out of love, and we were still friends. Can’t we do the same thing with homosexuality? Don’t agree with it, but love the individuals anyway. How many people are caught up in idolatry with their phone? Do you hate them for it? How about gluttony, I had a pastor friend once ask about gluttony saying how many 300+ pound pastors do we see at pastoral conferences? My point is, there is continued sin all over, but we tend to choose the sin that we don’t commit to pick on.
I love John Chapter 4, Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman, that in itself was not considered right, but He knew her sin….
John 4:16-18
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
He knew that she was in a sinful wrong relationship, yet He still took the time to share the truth with her. He didn’t ostracize her, and say “You’re a sinner going to Hell” “God hates sinners like you” or any other hateful thing that we see professed Christians saying to the LGBTQ community.
The fact of the matter is, we all have our own sin issues that we are dealing with, and we know what they are, yet often times, we continue in them. God will change us as He sees fit.
Here are some things to consider as a believer. If a professed unbeliever is part of the LGBTQ community, why would we expect anything any different, their problem is not their views on sexuality, their problem is their relationship with God. If a professed believer is part of the LGBTQ community, that is between them and God. If you and your church believe that it is sinful (as I do) then you can’t support them as a member of your church, and definitely not a leadership role in your church because they are continuing in what your church would call unconfessed sin. They should however be allowed to attend and be loved by the people in your church, because God’s word commands us to love.
Our job is to love people, if they are professed believers, we will show them what Scripture says about their sin and let God deal with them.
We all have our areas of sin in our lives, we know we will answer to God for how we respond when God shows us our sin. Nathan pointed out David’s sin in 2 Samuel 12 David responded with repentance (Psalm 32 and 51). Sin is sin, whatever sin it is, if we show somebody what Scripture says, we have done our job. Harping, nagging and hating are not going to encourage that individual to draw closer to God, their sin is between them and God and none of our business. As long as we don’t condone their sin, or step into it ourselves, we need to let them work it out with God. If we hate them, isn’t that sin on our behalf that we need to work on? Twenty years ago, I might have had that hatred, and it would have been sin on my part, but by the grace of God He has taught me to overcome that sin. We are all a work in progress, so let God work.
I guess the short version of what I’m saying is, sin is sin, and while continued sin is a problem, we are all guilty. We like to look at sins that we don’t commit and say that they are worse than what we do, but it’s still sin. We are all a work in progress, so let us love one another and encourage others to draw closer to God, and if God changes them, how much greater for them?
Thank you for reading this, as always, I would encourage you to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in the fellowship of other believers. And if you haven’t visited already, I would encourage you to come visit our little church on the hill, it’s worth the drive.
Bro. Jason
I wholeheartedly agree and thank you for broaching the subject!!!
Speak the truth in love to people. Have had a couple of friends in my life that were gay. They knew didn’t agree with it. But we were still friends and could socialize and conversation about life together.