Warning!!!
Spoiler alert!!! The truth is an equal opportunity offender, so don’t be surprised if some part of this blog offends you. Truth has a way of doing that. Some of the big news in Christian circle today was that Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of nationwide gay marriage . So ultra conservative Christians are pissed! Can I say pissed in a church blog? They are really pissed! They're so bent out of shape because they want to subdue culture and make people abide by Christian tenets, the problem is not everyone is a Christian. But me, I am not upset about it. Mainly, because I am not surprised. This is secular society doing what it does. America is not a Godly nation. America is not a Theocracy. America is a democracy and it’s funny that the same ultra-conservatives that say they want Big Government to get out of their lives are the very same ones that want Big Government to define marriage. Let me be very clear. The Bible unequivocally teaches that homosexuality is a sin. It also mentions a few others that we overlook in the church such as, greed, pride, lust, fornication and adultery to name a few. And though we overlook other sins, Homosexuality has become the Evangelical’s pet sin. Many people in small local churches and mega churches alike have called out the sin of homosexuality but not the other sins that exist in their own congregations as if homosexuality was the only sin whose wages are death. In a response to this hyper-focused infatuation with eradicating homosexuality, liberal “Christians” have decided to say homosexuality is not a sin. It is with great sadness that I have watched “Christian” after “Christian” waver on the real biblical understanding of homosexuality. It is with equal sadness that I have watched “Christian” after “Christian” spew vitriol toward homosexuals as if it is a special sin. I have watched Dan Haseltine of Jars of clay make unclear statements that seem to support Homosexuality and when he “clarified” his comments, he wound up just becoming more ambiguous. “Pastors” Joel Osteen, Jesse Butterworth and Andy Stanley have turned from biblical truth to be more “seeker sensitive”. Christian music artists such as Ray Boltz, Jennifer Knapp and Vicky Beeching have come out as unrepentant homosexuals who claim to still be “Christian”. Let’s talk about some of the main arguments on both sides of the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage. One of the biggest arguments concerning this issue is whether or not someone is born that way. The church has long argued against the fact that people are born that way. That is to say, they were born with homosexual desires. While the homosexual world joins with Lady Gaga to sing, “I was born this way”. Neither of these stances are completely true. If you are saying that God made you to have homosexual desires then the answer is “no you were not”. God made humans in His image and likeness. If the church responds by stating that you were not born with homosexual desires then I would tell them that statement is not true either. Ok, If I don’t clarify I know people will mistake what I just said. Are babies born selfish? Do you have to teach them to lie? Do you have to teach them to be greedy? No, it is a natural byproduct of the fall (or original sin) to be selfish and want what you think will make you happy. We are born into a fallen and fragmented world where our desires are selfish while we are still spiritually dead. When we become alive in Christ at salvation we are new creature with a desire to please God more than ourselves and so we struggle against the flesh’s desires to the glory of God. So before salvation when we are spiritually dead, it is possible that someone’s selfish desires might be made manifest in homosexuality just like it is with any other sin. I would submit then that we should stop arguing with someone who says they were born with those desires and we should respond with statements like, “I was born with selfish desires, I have stolen, I have lied and I have been greedy and then someone lifted up the name of Jesus by telling me the gospel story. Then the Holy Spirit drew me to recognize my need of Jesus' imputed righteousness and I made a public confession that Jesus Christ is Lord and believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Immediately, I was justified in God’s eye by the blood of Christ. Then the strangest thing happened, through no strength I possessed, I supernaturally began to desire to bring Glory to my amazingly gracious God. I knew I couldn't do that as an unrepentant sinner. Have I sinned since coming to Christ? Yes, but I repent of them and move on. I confess I am a sinner (maybe, even their chief) but sin is not my lifestyle. I do not live in sin or under its power anymore. God wants the same for you.” But why am I not mad about the SCOTUS’ ruling? I wholeheartedly believe the church’s stance on gay marriage has hurt our position more than it has helped it. We have hated gay marriage so much, but the problem is not gay marriage. Gay marriage is only a symptom. So here are two questions, I have asked myself in light of the ruling on gay marriage. As a Christian, should I be upset about the ruling? No, it’s a free country and even more important than that God gives people the freedom to sin. Does that mean I think gay marriage is a good thing? No, because I believe it is a slippery slope of relativism and danger for all humanity. It is a breakdown of society that can result in very real obstacles to freedom of religion, such as “the establishing of households that guarantee that a child will have either no father or no mother; the transformation of children's education to include the validation of all forms of "marriage"; the continued deconstruction of gender distinctions, leading to all kinds of societal confusion; and much, much more”( Dr. Michael Brown) So, where do I differ from many regarding how I go about my disagreement with Gay Marriage. CONSISTENCY. Plain and simple. Consistency with the handling of God’s word and the living of the Christian life. People with open marriages, have the same sort of moral problems. An open marriage is not a marriage that has scriptural approval, yet I don’t hear anyone wanting to legally oppose their union. Why? I am trying to be brief but there are other sins that we don’t fight with such bitter hatred. Why is that? When you bring up promiscuity, adultery in the church or various other sins that are going on, those same inconsistent people say things like you cannot legislate morality, but isn’t that exactly what Old Testament Law including the 10 commandments did? Isn’t that why we have some of those laws still in effect in our modern laws of the land? But here is the thing, to whom was the law given? To whom did God give his rules on marriage? Was it to His people? Or was it to the world? To whom did God entrust His word? I am sure there were tons of Greek laws that allowed things that were inconsistent with a Christian worldview, but do we read about the apostles try to change Greek law? Or were they about changing people’s hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit? So the biblical precept is that Christians not engage in homosexual marriage or homosexuality. However, it is not a biblical precept to try to convince unregenerate (unsaved) people of a biblical moral standard. They cannot understand that without the help of the Holy Spirit. We only make their hearts harder when our focus is in the wrong place and we try to convict them of their sin. What we need to do is to share our faith which includes the statement that none of us are good. Only God is good and through the power of Jesus’ sacrificial work on the cross He covers us with His goodness. There is no moral standard that we can ascribe to, that will result in our salvation. Paul put it this way: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Good works are a response to grace not a pathway for salvation. So it’s pretty clear. My opinion on homosexuality doesn't matter, and honestly neither does yours. I defer to God. God has spoken, The Scriptures declare it is sin. So is adultery. So is theft. So is unforgiveness. I was a sinner when I came into covenant with Jesus for my Salvation, but thank God the Holy Spirit is sanctifying me so I don't do the things I used to do. In the same way, certainly we welcome a homosexual to listen to the good news, but if they want to respond to the good news, they cannot stay in their sin. Let’s come to a biblical understanding that gay marriage is not the problem; the sinner’s heart is the problem and Jesus is the solution. Furthermore, let’s pray for the people of the church to be changed by a purity of biblical doctrine so we can approach this issue and all others the way the Lord would want us to approach them.
2 Comments
george woodward
6/29/2015 04:57:31 am
I agree totally with your comment, 'the world is just doing what it does'. That is so true. This world is not on a good course. It is going down. The solution? The Gospel! The true Gospel...not so much of what we have heard over the years. The true Gospel tells the lost of a loving Savior that took all of their sins on the cross. It tells of how much the Father loves them, and how He punished His only Son on Calvary, so that He would not have to punish them! The true Gospel is nothing but Good News to the lost and to the believer. And when the lost hear this magnificent Gospel, most believe. So often they hear about an angry God ready to punish the sinful. The problem is...that is not the Gospel, and it leaves out the most important thing....we are under the New Covenant! Sin has been dealt with once and for all by the blood of Jesus in His suffering and death on the cross. Jesus became sin and then died to take it away forever!! God is fully satisfied with the full payment for all sin.....the punishment and death of His only Son!! Glory to God!! God is not angry with anyone at all. The door is open! We just need to love people with the great news of Jesus!!!! Amen forever!! It is the Goodness of God which leads people to repentance!! And the cross and the blood, and the stripes, and the death of Jesus in our place...is the greatest news ever!!!!
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george woodward
6/29/2015 05:00:20 am
Not to mention the RESURRECTION!!!!! :)
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