This past Sunday I heard from two churches I am associated with give seemingly opposing views on the recent gender transition of a public figure. At "Church A" the pastor stood behind the pulpit and waved and pointed his finger toward the congregation condemning the public praise of such a vulgar announcement. This, we were told, is yet another example of the Sodom like culture our country as descended into. Only by rejecting such deviant behavior could our country have any chance at a promising future. "Church B" posted on their Facebook page that the public figure would be welcome at their church. Church B is a community church that follows the relevant movement and bills themselves as a "church for people that don't do church".
Both churches are from a Protestant background and both are reading the same Bible, so who's right and who's wrong? For the sake of argument, let's assume the Bible is the divine word of God meant to direct us toward God and provide the best way to live a God honoring life which is the goal of congregants of both churches. Those points could be debated, but for the sake of this discussion, let's take them as fact. Another concept I will defer to discussion elsewhere is using the term 'homosexuality' to cover all aspects of the LGBT community. For simplicity, I will include them all together for this discussion, but I acknowledge that each part of the alphabet soup is it's own group.
Let's look at Church A's position first. The Old Testament is pretty clear.
Leviticus 18:22 - Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
Leviticus 20:13 - If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
You will hear some say that they Old Testament has lots of rules and laws that we no longer find convenient to follow. Many see the New Testament as a replacement that supersedes the Old Testament. If you were to ignore Matthew 5:17-18 (which is not recommended), there are still plenty of New Testament prohibitions. Here are the most common:
Mark 10:6-9 - 6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Romans 1:26-28 - 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 7:2 - But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
1 Timothy 1:8-11 - 8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
Jude 1:5-8 - 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. 8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.
It's pretty clear from these verses that the New Testament as well as the Old condemn homosexuality. God does not prohibit things at random but rather for our own protection. Considering these verses and the culture in which we now live, one can not help but be reminded of two other verses:
Judges 21:25 - “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”
Isaiah 5:20 - “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
Billy Graham once said “We have changed our moral code to fit our behavior instead of changing our behavior to harmonize with our moral code. [...] But right is right even if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong even if everybody is wrong. God does not change the moral law to suit our behavior.”
Based on the above, it is easy to see where Church A is coming from.
Now let's look at Church B's position. Consider the following New Testament verses:
Matthew 6:15 - But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 7:1 - Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Matthew 9:13 - Then he added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."
Mark 12:29-31 - 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
John 8:7 - And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Romans 3:10 - As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
James 4:12 - There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?
It would seem from these verses that, like Church B, we should accept everyone with open arms.
So which is it? The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that homosexuality is a sin. It is equally adamant that we are to love more so than judge our neighbor.
Is it possible that both churches might be right? Looking at all of the verses above and indeed the Bible as a whole, it seems to me that four points emerge.
- There is a such a thing a "sin" which is defined as violating God's law.
- We all sin.
- God hates sin.
- God loves us in spite of our sin.
To reconcile His hate of sin, and His love for us, God sent Jesus to die on the cross to forgive us of our sin. This forgiveness is available to us all if we will but accept it by confessing our sins and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and strive to follow after Him.
Since God has forgiven us, we should not only turn from sin and turn toward God, but we should also speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) while also being slow to judge (Matthew 18:21-35). The phrase "hate the sin, but love the sinner" gets lots of ridicule sometimes, but I believe it is an accurate portrayal of God's love toward us. I believe anyone that tries to paint God as "all love" or "all judgement" is only painting half the picture. He is both.
While I do believe homosexuality is a sin and thus wrong, I also know that I myself have sinned many times and am no more righteous that anyone else. We cannot attract others to God by screaming and yelling or by pointing our fingers. Only by attempting to mirror the love of Jesus will we attract others to God and He alone can convict them of their sin and help them to turn from it.
