Before I say anything on this very sensitive subject, I need to preface
my remarks. First of all, I take my thinking from what I understand the
Bible says on this subject. In all I think, I always ask myself,
"what does the Bible say"? If you have difficulties with what I
say, you either have a problem with how I understand the Bible, or you
have a problem with the Bible itself.
In this article I am not picking on homosexuals. I have no hatred
towards homosexuals, as some might suggest. I view homosexuality as one of
a number of sins that the Bible calls sins.
I understand the debate that is taking place in our society today. I
also understand that the present day gay movement for the most part is
politically orientated. That is to say, the gay community has entered into
the political arena in order to bring change to society. I have no real
problem with their attempt to bring change, (I think we still have a
measure freedom of speech in our society) even though I do not believe in
the changes they want to make. By the same token, those holding to a
Christian conservative Biblical view should have the same privilege to
promote their thinking. This is where I see a problem. Our freedom to
promote our view is being eroded away under the guise of tolerance.
I also do not emphasize homosexuality over any other kind of sexual
deviation from God’s plan for mankind. In my thinking there is no
difference between homosexual sex and adultery between heterosexual
couples. I am sure that merely using the word "deviation" angers
many in the gay community.
When I use the term "God", I am speaking of the God of the
Bible, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian,
I believe that our God is not the same God that other religions claim to
serve and worship. The Bible clearly states that the Christian God is the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This places an emphasis on who Jesus is.
Jesus is in fact God in human flesh. This is the distinguishing mark
between Christians and everyone else. So to make it clear, when I speak of
God, it is this God I am speaking of.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans says this, "God gave them over
in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity to the degrading
of their own bodies with one another…. God gave them over to shameful
lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In
the same way men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one
another. Men committed indecent acts with other men … He (God) gave them
over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done (Romans 1:24-29).
What is Paul saying under what Christians call the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit? He says that both men and women have left "natural"
sexual relations for unnatural sexual relations. Sexual relations between
men and women are natural, and sexual relations between men and men, or
women and women are not natural. I am only repeating what Paul says in
Scripture. I know that this sounds very archaic by today’s standards.
Beyond being unnatural, same sex relations are "shameful, impure
and indecent" according to Paul. The idea that sexual deviation is
shameful, impure and indecent has pretty well been lost in our progressive
and evolutionary thinking. More than being lost, it has been
systematically and thoughtfully removed from our societal conscience.
Because men and women were bent of doing "things they ought not to
do, God gave them over" (Rom. 1:28) to these things. This simply
means that if this kind of activity is what you want to do, then go ahead
and do it all you want. God has given us free will to do whatever we want,
to whatever extreme we want. It is as if He washes His hands clean of us
and our wrong doing.
The idea of "free will" and God giving us over to shameful
things is not new. God’s thinking on this matter was evident in
creation. At the time of creation, God gave man a choice to obey Him, or
disobey Him. This was inherent in His command, "you are free to eat
from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely
die." (Gen. 2:16-17) The first words of this command are, "you
are free". This was God’s original intent for us, that is freedom
in all respects of life He wanted us to be free from doing evil and even
the knowledge of evil.
By placing the forbidden tree in the garden, and by giving man the
command not to eat from it, God gave man the choice to obey Him, or to
disobey Him. This is called "free will". If He had not have
placed the tree in the garden, He would not have given the command, but He
did plant the tree and give the command. The nature of any command is such
that once it is spoken, the hearer has the choice to obey or disobey. Man
chose to disobey, resulting in God’s penalty of death. It is thus clear
that God, at creation, gave us the choice to obey, or disobey. The same is
true for us today. We are free agents. We are free to choose our own
lifestyles, yet with the understanding that God has the final word on all
things, and we will reap what we sow. We will also have to give account of
our actions to God some day.
So God gives us free will to choose. Once we choose not to obey, and
then persist in a lifestyle of blatant disobedience, at some point He has
the prerogative to give us over to this disobedience. The "giving
over" process is the process by which God steps back from us,
removing any and all blessings from His presence in our lives. I believe
Scripture tells us that God can choose to step back from us as
individuals, or as nations and communities of people.
It is clear from Paul’s words, along with many other Biblical
passages, including words from Jesus, that all sexual deviation, whether
it is homosexually orientated or heterosexually orientated, is wrong.
Cheating on our wives or husbands is no different than homosexual sin. Sex
before marriage is also no different. In God’s sight, these are all
wrong, yet still our choice.
In conclusion, we as Christians should view homosexual sin no
differently than heterosexual sin. Sometimes I think we talk as if it is
the worst sin ever committed. Let’s treat this sin the same as we would
adultery.
We should also recognize that all men and women have the God given
responsibility to make their own choices, with the understanding that
someday we all will have to give account to God for these choices. If
someone chooses to be gay, that is their choice. Even by saying this I
know that many feel being gay is not a choice but a biological
predisposition. That is another topic for another day. God in Rev. 22:11
says, "let them who does wrong continue to do wrong". It appears
by this verse that God tells us to join Him in the "giving over"
process. If He has "truly" stepped back from certain people, so
should we. Paul himself on a "few" occasions did this very
thing.
Before criticizing those who are gay, or any other person for their
wrong choices, explain the gospel to them. Sexual deviation is not the
worst sin. The worst sin is unbelief, or rejecting Jesus. We need to deal
with unbelief in people before we try to clean their lives up. Faith, or
giving one’s life to Jesus is the most important question in an
unregenerate person.
Even with this in mind we should not step back from promoting our views
in society on this matter. The homosexual community has chosen to bring
this discussion into the forefront of public life. We as Christians
therefore have the same right and responsibility to respond with similar
fervor. We should not be afraid to speak up for what we view as the truth,
no matter what the results are. At the moment there still remains a free
marketplace for ideas and values to be discussed in our society. This may
not always be the case. We should do our best at the present time to
promote what we feel is the truth, before we loose this opportunity
completely, which could easily happen.
I have made and operate a wedding service web site for my brother in
Niagara Falls. The following are a few emails that I have recently
received in response to our policy of not performing same sex weddings.
You can see by these emails that those writing them are very passionate.
You can also see that they do not understand what the Bible actually says
on this subject, even though some claim to know God and claim faith in
Jesus. You can also see that they are highly critical and have less
tolerance towards me than I have towards them, even though they most
likely promote tolerance. In all cases, I have tried unsuccessfully to
carry on a rational dialogue with these people. They have all refused a
kindly motivated discussion.
Concerning Christian love, which some of these writers claim I don’t
have, I feel that I have demonstrated more kindness towards them than they
have towards me in my communications with them. This tells me that
Christians are beginning to suffer undue criticism for their beliefs. Most
likely in the future this criticism will only get worse.