Homosexuality Series

“The men set out from [the oaks of Mamre], and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The LORD said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.’ Then the LORD said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.’” [1]

Society has been transformed with astonishing rapidity during my lifetime. Change is inevitable, I understand, but the transformation experienced in my lifetime can only be described as breathtaking. It is difficult for my grandchildren, and perhaps even for my children, to understand that the way things are is not how things have always been. In my father’s lifetime, travel moved from horse and carriage to rockets transporting men to the moon. In my lifetime, so much has changed that it is difficult to actually describe all that has taken place in a few short years. I can only imagine what shall yet be as I read the words which God’s angel spoke to Daniel, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” [DANIEL 12:4b].

Think about the transformation that has already occurred. Children born after 1981 never knew what it was to sit in front of the television for hours on end—there were no computers in the home. There were a limited number of television networks—three major networks in the United States. Canadians could watch CBC, CTV, or a relatively new system identified as Global. Perhaps your family received as many as twelve television channels if you lived in a metropolitan area, but it was just as likely that you received three or fewer channels. You stood up and walked to the television to change channels, to adjust the volume, or even to turn the television on and off.

You carried maps to know where to go as you travelled into unfamiliar areas. Social media was nonexistent; if you wanted to know something about a subject, you found a book, or you consulted an encyclopaedia. There was no Email, so you wrote letters and sent the stamped envelope courtesy of the post office. You read a newspaper rather than an online news source. Entertainment was delivered according to a schedule rather than being at your disposal. Your photos couldn’t be hacked—in fact, you waited until they were developed to see whether your photos were acceptable and worth printing.

Those younger than thirty years of age never worked on a mainframe computer. They never used a slide rule to calculate a mathematical problem. They never worked on a Commodore computer. They never had to use a floppy disc and they likely have never been to a drive-in movie. Most millennials don’t know how to use a rotary phone and they never made a call from a pay phone. Calling cards would be a mystery to them!

During this same time period, major changes were taking place in the realm of morality, and the faithful were unprepared to address the issues that were being foisted on them—church leaders could not have anticipated what would happen. The churches permitted themselves to become spiritually flabby, preaching a message that had become insipid; religious leaders were uncertain how to respond, so they often blustered and resorted to polemics that convinced no one. By this date late in the Church Age, the voice of the faithful has been mostly silenced through threats and intimidation. Preachers hesitate to speak out against the bent of society to exalt as normal what was recognised as perverse only a few short years past.

The Word of God has never changed, though we who aver that this Word is authoritative are no longer trained to employ the Word as the Sword the Spirit intended it should be. The glare of Sodom and Gomorrah still casts garish shadows that dance across every page of the Word. Yes, the call of God is for all to look to Christ and be saved, but the dark side of God’s love reminds us that the Son of God presented His life as a sacrifice because of our broken condition. If we reject that sacrifice, nothing remains except that we should be rejected by the Holy One! And if we persist living in a manner that the Living God identifies as sinful, nothing remains for us but judgement—and that judgement may well be more immediate than we could ever imagine.