The Thought Process
My interpretation of the Bible describes homosexuality as contrary to God's intention for human relationships. As, to be blunt, sin. I believe the Bible to be true in its entirety. Therefore, I cannot condone the practice of homosexuality and still maintain integrity in what I believe.
But many people, including homosexuals, don't share this interpretation of Scripture. Some even believe God made them that way.
I don't know what causes homosexuality. I don't know if God wove it into certain people's makeup, or if it is a repercussion of the fall of mankind. Since I don't know, I feel I need to err on the side of caution, to take a conservative stance, to align myself with what I believe God says rather than what I know the world says. I have to proceed on the premise that homosexuality is sin.
But sin is sin. The Bible teaches that no sin is any worse or better than another.
True. But there is a difference between incidental and habitual sin. Between the sins committed unintentionally, confessed immediately, and those that pervade our thoughts and actions and become lifestyle. The difference is willfulness.
Even so, no sin—incidental or habitual—is outside God's redemptive power. The tide of Jesus' blood does not stop short of willful disobedience. And He is the only One who can effect change within a person. Not the church.
Ah, the church. Failing to minister to homosexuals everyday. The church's message seems to be, "You are welcome within our walls. But you are not welcome to remain homosexual." With that caveat, how can the first statement be true? If we as a church don't welcome people as Jesus did—just as they are—then what are we saying about Christ? That you have to get your life straight before He will accept you? If He is the only One who can effect change, then that implied message is completely backward. You can't get your life straight until He's in it. So first things first. If the church believes homosexuality is sin, and that Jesus is the only cure for sin, then the church should be in the business of introducing homosexuals to Jesus, not standing in the way of that meeting. As it is now, the greatest barrier to homosexuals coming to know God is not their homosexuality, but judgmentalism on the part of the church.
What if the church were to take this kind of stance on other lifestyle sins like gossip, or gluttony, or pride? Churches would split over whether to allow someone who was overweight to take a position of leadership. If homosexuality is a sin, it is a sin like every other sin in every other person's life.
God responded to sin with mercy; He came to earth Himself to accept the punishment every person deserves. And He is still in the business of setting people free from sin. We as the church think this responsibility falls on our shoulders, but it doesn't. Jesus says in John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" not "...if you take a hard line on homosexuality."
And what if homosexuality is not a sin?
In either case, love is the only correct response.
wow - you really uncork one when you think for awhile...I am going to cheat a little on this and paste in a comment I made on another blog about two months ago. It took me a long time to write and I haven't changed my mind much since then. If you want to see the context it was written in (and the response of people who don't agree with it very much) you can see it here: http://anonymous-julie.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_anonymous-julie_archive.html
(it starts under the heading: The follow up post...) I apologize in advance for the length.
Anything which prevents you from loving extravagantly “f*** it” is your theme and of course it is a popular theme. No one wanted to speak up in the name of hypocrisy, stupidity or bigotry. Everyone wants to identify with love. Me too. Add me to the non-bigot, non-stupid, non-homophobic, non-hypocrite pro-love caucus. Let us love extravagantly…if you mean it the way Jesus meant it. Not in an eros drenched orgy of emotion or back slapping good old boy phileo, but in the high love, the agape. Jesus’s message of love was a love which demonstrated itself in an absolute commitment to the absolute best interest of another. It didn’t bail out when hard things needed to be said or done in order to act in another’s best interest. Jesus’ compassion is often associated with acts we identify as compassionate, like touching a leper, but his life was entirely compassionate, every moment, every act. Rebuking a friend and confronting a hypocrite were compassionate acts. He sought to move them from a falling short to a fullness of life. If you never rebuke or confront you are not loving extravagantly.
I am not homophobic, but perhaps I am a recovering homophobe in the most important sense – I am not interested in this characteristic as something with which to separate people from each other or from me. I do not believe anyone can tell someone whether they are gay or not unless that person is Jesus Himself. He can tell you who you are. There is an identity beyond any identity we embrace here and now. No marriage in heaven, no reproduction there either, could it be there is no gender too? Who you are in the highest sense comes down to finding an identity which transcends everything else. The question both gay and straight people must be prepared to ask is this: am I willing to give up every identity I claim and let only the real and living Jesus inform me of my true identity? This includes calling yourself gay. It includes calling yourself a mother or a husband. You cannot hide any identities behind your back and hold the rest out to Him. You have to give them all up if you want to know who you really are.
Personally I believe God will reveal to a person who owns a homosexual identity they are mistaken. I believe it is a falling short of the fullness of life. Obviously I have gay friends who disagree with me. I have actually had a friend say to me they would rather go to hell than give up being gay. I think if you are going to take a position such as mine you had better be prepared for both sides to unload on you. The classic ‘Christian” position which is going to insist upon immediate ‘straightness’ for the ‘repentant sinner’ attendant with a full blown monogamous hetero relationship and the ‘I am gay above all else’ position which is going to insist upon placing the homosexual identity on a equal plane with all identities attendant with everyone’s fully embracing the ‘gay lifestyle’ or ‘gay agenda’ (including marriage). I believe I am right, therefore I can afford to do things others can’t do – I can be gracious and I can be patient. It amazes me how all kinds of people seem to think they can make themselves more right by being louder and pressing harder. I don’t believe I will ever convince one person to abandon being gay, don’t want to. I want to see everyone embrace Jesus as the only true way to find out who they are – but I would be doing this under false pretenses if I didn’t say what I think it means.
Posted by: ron on June 13, 2006 02:12 PMHe's not so liberal. ;)
Posted by: Patrick on June 24, 2006 11:46 AM