Churches around the country are busy establishing their positions on homosexuality. Some adopt the secular idea that homosexuality is a normal genetic variation, and some adopt the biblical teaching that homosexuality is a perversion of God’s gift of human sexuality. There is no evidence that any churches try to prevent homosexuals from attending, but there are some dramatic differences in the sort of welcome offered.
The problem for Christians is that the Bible is as clear about homosexuality as it is about prostitution. These behaviors are regarded as sin, right along with lies and murder. Sin. The difference between homosexuality and most of the other things the Bible calls sin is the attitude of the practitioner. Most people who are guilty of prostitution or lies or murder will agree that the behavior is sinful. However, homosexuals believe they are not guilty of sin. This changes their expectations of the culture. It makes them resent the churches which teach that homosexuality is sin.
None of these churches puts up signs that say, “Liars not welcome here,” or “homosexuals not welcome here.” Homosexuals can walk in and sit down and be part of worship anywhere. The sticking point is not their welcome. It is their sin. For that matter, the churches do not teach that the sin of homosexuals is any worse than anybody else’s sin. What they refuse to do is to say that homosexuality is normal.
When Jesus was ascending to heaven, he gave Christians the call to share his message and his gift of salvation with the whole world. He said nothing about leaving out the homosexuals. In fact, homosexuals are right to note that Jesus never specifically mentioned homosexuality, a fact that they interpret to mean that Jesus thought homosexuality was normal. What advocates for homosexuals fail to observe is that Jesus defined normality and marriage. He said that people are created male and female, and that God intended one man and one to be joined in marriage for life. In that single statement, Jesus condemned homosexual unions, divorce and all the many and sundry variations people have invented on the themes of gender identity and sexual orientation.
Couple that statement with some others Jesus made, such as “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and you have the right guidance for interacting with homosexuals, or with any other person confused about gender or sexual orientation. Jesus made it clear that these problems are not God’s work; they are satanic perversions. They are human beings who are not righteous before God, just like you and just like the author of this blog. Being sinners, they need redemption and they should undertake amendment of life. The church needs to welcome homosexuals and all other sinners with that same invitation.
It is hard to stand for this truth, when the public media and political leaders are determined to pretend that homosexuality is normal. Churches want to be able to welcome Satan’s homosexual victims just as they welcome Satan’s lying victims, Satan’s divorcing victims, and all the other victims of Satan’s lies, but they want to do this the way a doctor welcomes sick patients. When a person with pneumonia enters a doctor’s office, the doctor doesn’t say, “Welcome, welcome. We’re so proud that we can welcome a pneumonia patient today. Is there anything we can do to make you feel happier while not interfering with your pneumonia? We wouldn’t want to change you in any way.” Instead the doctor assesses the case and prescribes a treatment which is hoped to cure the patient of pneumonia and restore him to normal health. This is what the Bible prescribes for liars, murders, homosexuals and thieves. The Bible says that if any sinner comes to Christ, he can be forgiven and cleansed. Then he is asked to stop worshiping himself and follow Christ. None of us follows Christ perfectly, so we are always engaged in repentance and forgiveness and reconciliation. That is part of the path to spiritual maturity. As we learn to know Christ more deeply, he shows us more and more of our sinful nature and leads us to turn more and more toward him. This path is open to homosexuals just as it is to everyone else.
What does God think about homosexuality? He thinks that homosexuals are sinners just like everyone else. God sent his Son to die for homosexuals just like everyone else. God yearns for homosexuals to repent and be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, just like everybody else.
That is what God thinks about homosexuality.
What do you think?
Living On Tilt 
[Just found this interesting snippet on the net.]
“Jesus Never Mentioned Homosexuality”
When gays have birthdays, they don’t mention everything they don’t want but say positively what they do want.
Likewise, Jesus didn’t negatively list every sexual perversion He knew mankind would invent but positively stated that marriage involves only a man and a woman!
(Also Google or Yahoo “USA – from Puritans to Impure-itans.”)
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This is an excellent point. In fact, a lot of what Jesus said was a positive motivation to see what is right rather than a negative proscription to avoid what is wrong. Thank you for your comment.
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I agree with God! I’m praying that the Supreme Court will uphold DOMA and Prop 8 in California.
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That is my prayer, too. Thank you for your comment.
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I think the problem lies in a confusion.
“Who you are” is not the same as “what you do”.
The people who push the ideals of the sexual revolution (the idea of sexuality as not only primarily about pleasure, but also the idea that it should be without consequences – a purely recreational activity) have persuaded everyone into believing in a false dichotomy, where either gays are to hate themselves (and, presumably, be hated by others) for what is beyond their control, or they are to indulge themselves totally and hate anyone who does not approve. Neither option is fair, realistic, or sustainable.
The truth has to be in the middle: it is wrong to hate people for things that are beyond their control – and in fact it is wrong to hate sinners, period. We are to love the sinner but hate the sin.
But I think we need to recognize that homosexuality is a special problem today, because whereas two centuries ago, people were not expected to marry primarily for “personal fulfillment”, today we do have that idea, and it’s not surprising that people who can’t marry for personal fulfillment feel left out. Simply lying about what’s really going on inside was appropriate in the 18th century (liking your spouse was actually strictly optional then) but it’s destructive today. For example, read any biography of Judy Garland and one can easily see her later life problems as being connected to an early family life colored by the bitterness of a mother who found out too late that the man she’d married was homosexual. Simply ignoring the problem does not work; asking it is cruel.
At the same time, lying in the other direction isn’t a solution, either. I am horrified by the idea of children made deliberately motherless or fatherless simply so that the parents can pretend to be what they aren’t. The cognitive dissonance alone sounds nightmarish to me.
I think we have to recognize that it does create a real problem, one that needs to be approached with great respect for both viewpoints, because both viewpoints have some truth in them. If we are to be loving we cannot simply tell people how we think they ought to live and then leave it to their own devices to figure out how. Unfortunately I do not have the answers; I suspect those answers are going to have to come from people who are themselves struggling with this particular issue.
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You are right to say that hate is not the answer. I completely agree. Lying is not the answer, either.
Where we completely disagree is in your opinion that homosexuals are not in control of themselves. You believe that they did not choose to be homosexual, and you believe that they cannot change. I have searched and continue to search for any evidence that says homosexuality is an inborn and immutable orientation. It may be possible that they don’t know when or why they made that choice, but there is no evidence to support the allegation that they were “born that way.” Hence, they are responsible, and like any other sinner, they can be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I don’t doubt it is hard. It is hard to abandon any of our sins. It is hard because we inherently love sinful behavior more than saintly behavior. The fact that it is hard does not excuse us.
As for where the answers come from, you don’t usually ask the sick person to heal himself. You go to someone with the knowledge and power to do the job. That would be Jesus. Jesus loves all sinners, including homosexuals and me. It is hard for me to give up my sins, and believe me, I struggle and fail. So I understand about something that is hard. I share in the problem of learning and growing and maturing in faith and obedience.
We are all sinners. The big problem is an unwillingness of people who are victims of homosexuality to acknowledge that it is sin. Jesus cannot help them change until they acknowledge that they need to change. Just as Jesus cannot help me give up my envy of people who possess or accomplish things I want, too, unless I recognize that I am sinfully envious. I have to pray and exercise self-discipline to grow past my sins, and homosexuals face the same problem. Fortunately for all of us, Jesus really does love us, and he goes with us through all these very difficult trials.
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