| HOME |
|
A CHRISTIAN STANCE ON HOMOSEXUALITY One of the most controversial issues of the day is that of homosexuality. In the corner on your left is a pluralistic secular society which wants to avoid any hint of "divisiveness". In the corner on your right is the Christian community which says that homosexuality is a sin. Why, you ask, are Christians such bigots? Why can't they just accept those who are different and love them? Aren't they supposed to love the sinner and hate the sin? These are the questions which we will attempt to deal with. First, there are some myths being circulated that must be set straight. 1.) The word "gay" is used as a synonym for homosexuals. This is highly inappropriate. The word gay means happy which very few homosexuals are. It certainly cannot be used to define homosexuality. It is purely a euphemism . . . a word which is used to make something less offensive. 2.) Homosexuals claim that they compose ten percent of the population. The actual figure is closer to two percent, but no higher than six percent. 3.) Anyone who speaks out against homosexuality is labeled a "homophobe". A phobia is a fear. We need to state that it does not follow that people who are against a thing fear that thing. For instance, if I am opposed to burning the flag, it does not mean that I fear burning the flag. It would be inappropriate to call me a burnophobe. And if I consider it immoral to steal, I should not be called a theftophobe. The plain fact is that the word "homophobe" was coined in an attempt to say that those who disagree with homosexuality have some sort of psychological defect. However, if one were to fear Christ because they were living in a manner which they knew would bring harsh judgement upon them, it might be appropriate to call them a Christophobe. 4.) It is said that Christians want to deny homosexuals their civil rights. We are said to discriminate against them. There is a mistaken presumption at work here. This argument trys to assign homosexuality the same status as a racial minority. The presumption is that homosexuality is genetic. It is not. That whole idea is based on a study which involved only 12 cadavers, all of which had AIDS. The study was flawed, biased and did not cover anything close to the number of cases needed to draw a valid conlusion. Having dealt with the rhetorical nonsense, let us examine where Christians are coming from. This takes us to the Bible, which Christians view as the authoritative word of God. First, there is the judgment on the city of Sodom. This was because of their homosexuality (see Genesis 19:5-8). The same sin is condemned as the "sin of Gibeah" in Judges 19:22. Homosexual "Christians" have attempted to say that Sodom was destroyed for reasons other than homosexuality. The New testament, however, interprets it for us in Jude 7 and 2 Peter 2:6-7 as clearly a judgement against homosexuals. In Leviticus 19:22 is a very clearly worded law. It prohibits lying with a man as one would lie with a woman. This is a no brainer. Leviticus 20:13 mandates the death penalty for the same act -- homosexuality. In case one might say that all of the references were Old Testament, and thus no longer apply, we will list some references from the New Testament. At least these three very clear texts can be cited: Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10. There are others, but these are the clearest. We must add that until the third edition of the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual (DSM III), the psychological/psychiatric profession considered homosexuality to be a diagnosable mental illness. It was also againt the law in every state in the union at one point. All of this is to say that it was once universally considered in The United States of America to be unacceptable and deviant behavior. In fact, the laws were repealed because of the thought that sending a homosexual to prison is like sending an alcoholic to a brewery. It was not that America suddenly thought that homosexuality was ok, but that prison would only make it worse. Having stated the Christian case, we must then look at what constitues a proper Christian stance. We still must deal with the concept of love. Although "love the sinner, hate the sin" is not to be found written anywhere in the Bible, let us assume that the principle is scriptural. When we hear people say that we must love the sinner, we assume that means that we must accept the sinners as they are, in their sin, without repentence. We are simply to hate their sin. But how can we say we hate the sin if we simply ignore it. And how can we say that we love the sinner, if we see them committing a sin which we know will send them to hell, and we fail to warn them. For example, if we see our child about to step off a cliff, is it an act of love to simply ignore their error because we do not wish to offend them by telling them that they are making a mistake? Or would the loving thing be to run to their rescue yelling a warning as loudly as possible in hope that we might save them from a certain death? It has become chic to proclaim that faith is a private matter and must be kept private. This is a lie from the pit of hell. To be aware that the theatre is on fire and to simply slip out the back door safely without a word of warning to the other occupants is the most selfish act possible. Yet this is what we are doing when we remain quiet. BUT . . . Loving the sinner also means that we must allow room for repentence. If a homosexual acknowledges that he/she is sinning and wants to change, we must accept that repentance at face value. We need to accept that Christian brother into our midst and treat him the same as the rest of the body. Just as a recovering alcoholic or addict will struggle, we must realize that the recovering homosexual will also struggle. There must be the realization that at some point, he is subject to slip back into his sin; just as the rest of us do at times. He must be allowed to repent again and remain in the congregation. The bottom line is that homosexuality must be acknowledged to be a sin. But it must not be treated any differently than any other sin. If we can forgive theft, adultery and gossip, we can forgive homosexuality. |