A Biblical Response to Homosexuality
Centerpointe Church
(2 Timothy 3:1–8 NLT-SE)
“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith.”
(2 Timothy 4:1–4 NLT-SE)
“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”
This is not a “Your glass is half-full” scripture. The scripture tells us that in the last days, there will be difficult times.
Our Culture at War
A. Over the last 40 years, our society has gradually pushed an agenda that has the potential to change the way we think about sexuality, marriage; especially the issue of homosexuality.
This is a culture war that we can no longer avoid. It is a culture earthquake. Furthermore, tolerance seems to override our understanding of right and wrong.
B. Relativistic thinking says, “because something is right for me” it’s ok. Therefore, we are to tolerate every thing and every sin. We don’t want to tell anyone that there is sin in his or her life.
Today, we tread on an area of extreme sensitivity – homosexuality.
As stated before, if I were not a Christian and I watched or listened to the Christian response of hatred to the issue of homosexuality, I would not be attracted to Jesus at all. We have not represented him well in our response.
C. As much as I want our church to grow, I cannot stop preaching truth.
Homosexuality and Culture
A. Gary Collins, Christian Counseling:
Several decades ago homosexuality was rarely mentioned in polite society. It was viewed as sinful, sick, or illegal. It was treated by psychiatrists who viewed it as sexual deviation.
In the 1950’s, Alfred Kinsey estimated that 4 percent of the American population was homosexual and that 37 percent of the male population had participated in at least one homosexual act.
His now debunked work was a match that lit a fire-storm, so much so that:
In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association decided, under extreme political pressure from gay activist, to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) and settled the issue: homosexuality is normal. When it became “common knowledge” that homosexuality was “not a problem,” clinicians were discouraged – and in many cases, prevented – from expressing opinions to the contrary or presenting papers at professional meetings.
Since then, the acceptance and toleration of homosexual behavior has slowly become the norm. The media industry has slowly but surely added to the idea of normalcy. Sitcoms like “Will and Grace” became popular which portrayed openly gay people living and enjoying life. Ellen DeGeneres and Rosey O’Donnell also spoke openly about their lives.
The mainstream media has now normalized homosexuality. More shows are emerging like Modern Family and Glee portraying life as normal. In the fall, a new series called “The New Normal” will redefine traditional marriage and parenting.
Here is a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXbTDQcvhyM&feature=related
This week, Entertainment Weekly listed many of the actors who have started to come out and confess their lifestyle. Cultural acceptance has increased the number of friends and family they know, or know of, that are openly gay. These are powerful combinations.
B. We are now at a point where many believe that couples who are living a gay or lesbian lifestyle should be afforded the same rights of marriage as those between a man and a woman. Somehow, this has now become a civil rights issue.
C. This has impacted the church for sure.
There are an increasingly number of churches and denominations that have begun to embrace a different interpretation of the Scriptures on homosexuality. (http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_chur2.htm)
Churches are now wrestling with whether to provide a formal religious ceremony for committed gay and lesbian couples. These are variously called union, civil union, commitment or marriage ceremonies, depending upon the laws of the individual state.
There is no consensus within Christianity about the nature of homosexuality or what the Bible passages actually mean. The pro-gay theology makes compelling arguments for their case. The core reason for this lack of consensus is related to how an individual faith group defines truth and the interpretation of scripture.
At stake is the authority of scripture and the belief that it is the Word of God.
Liberal denominations and Christians tend to view homosexuality as a civil rights matter; they generally believe it is fixed, unchosen, normal, natural, and morally neutral sexual orientation for a minority of adults. On the other hand, conservative denominations and Christians tend to view homosexuality as a profound evil; they generally believe it is changeable, chosen, abnormal, unnatural and immoral behavior, regardless of the nature of the relationship.
D. How does The Church respond? What would God have us do?
We tend to take two responses, and both are unacceptable:
1. Silence – Let’s not talk about it. There is so much we can choose to confront, why choose this one?
2. Hatefulness – Condemning the behavior as the unforgivable sin. The word “abomination” is used with passionate hatred. It seems as if they are saying, “If we can’t kill them, then we will cast them out.”
We have seen this hatefulness reach its height when an eight year old sings, “I believe the Bible’s right, somebody’s wrong… Ain’t no homo gonna make it to Heaven.”
3. This is not a time for foggy, relative truth. (Pastor Jay Dennis, First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland FL.):
"As a pastor, for me to remain silent because it might be offensive to some or perceived as “politics in the pulpit,” would be an act of sheer cowardice.
I will never use the pulpit or the sacred responsibility I have as a Christian leader to participate in furthering any person’s political agenda. I am weary of politicians who show up at churches during election time demanding recognition and time. However, neither will I remain neutral on clear, biblical, absolute truth, regardless of the cost."
It is important for us to share God’s truth. To say, “This is true for me” is to say the Word of God does not matter.
As followers of Jesus who look only to the Bible as our authority for faith and practice, we do not have the luxury of choosing our truth. We submit to God’s absolute truth and God has not been unclear about the particular boundaries of marriage.
As Pastor Jay Dennis says, “Stand Firm! Stand Graciously! Stand Courageously! Stand Lovingly… But for heaven’s sake, Stand!!!
Let’s Be Clear:
A. This is Complicated
It is not so simple as to say – “Stop it!”
Despite all of the research and scientific studies, one conclusion seems clear: There is no clearly identified single cause of homosexuality.
“We have to rid ourselves of the harmful stereotypes and misconceptions that so often are imposed on a group of people who, usually through no choice of their own, find themselves attracted to others of the same sex.” (Collins 281).
B. This is not the unpardonable sin.
The Bible does not single out this issue above all others as the biggest sin ever committed?
C. We are all sinners.
All sexual sin comes from a wounded heart, living in a broken world, trying to find intimacy outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
D. Just because it is complex, does not mean that Christians do not have a voice.
Fundamental Beliefs
A. All scripture is “God-breathed” and inspired.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT-SE)
This is the authoritative Word of God, not some man-made up piece of propaganda written to enslave the world. It is written to show people the way to be free from sin.
B. The Bible sets the rules – not us. Culture is a poor interpretation of scripture and emotions are deceptive. The Bible does not change based on society, a speech or a new policy. It does not change based on my experience or feelings. No one here is the exception to the rules.
As a pastor, I hear many times, “You don’t understand my situation…”, as if to say everyone else has to be obedient except me.
Tools for Examining Scripture
I want to help you know how we get here. Process is as important as result. The process is called hermeneutics. Here are some tools we will use in our study:
A. Exegesis – “To Lead Out”
We are looking to draw out of scripture meaning.
Isogesis is the opposite. It takes my position and forces it into scripture.
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The goal of Biblical exegesis is to explore the meaning of the text, which then leads to discovering its significance or relevance.
Here we investigate the history and origins of the text, historical and cultural backgrounds of the author, the text, and the original audience. We also look at genres, grammar and words.
We are looking for context.
B. Biblical Theology
We study the individual themes behind the individual books and traditions within the Bible and integrating them into a holistic pattern.
C. Systematic Theology
We then put what we have learned into a logical and conceptual whole that reconstructs dogma for the modern period. It takes the results of Biblical theology and places it within a comprehensive doctrine.
The task of exegesis and biblical theology is to tell us what it meant
The task of systematic theology is to tell us what it means and how it applies.
Here is how this helps:
We understand what it meant when it was written
We understand how the reader understood it at the time of the writing
We can apply it to our understanding now
Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we put it together and learn how we can apply it to our lives today
When we study the subject of homosexuality in scripture, it is important to know that there is careful, thoughtful and prayerful work done to understand God’s thoughts.
We Start with God’s Ideal
A. Genesis 1&2 sets forth a standard of relationships. There is no confusion here. The acceptance of homosexuality in the Church can be traced to an erosion of the understanding that men and women have very distinct roles that differ from, yet compliment each other.
Genesis 1:26 recounts the creation of mankind:
"Then God said, ’Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’"
Continuing in verse 27, we are told, "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
In Genesis 1:31, Moses tells us the opinion God had of His creation, "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good."
In Genesis 2 an elaboration of the creation account is given.
In Genesis 2:7 Moses declared, "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
Then God placed man into the garden He had created. God created the first man. He was perfect. He had no flaws, no imperfections, and no shortcomings. Yet something was missing. In Genesis 2:18, God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
God knew that man was not complete by himself. He needed a helper who complemented him. He needed a helper who was fitted to him.
Genesis 2:21-24 gives the account of the creation of woman, and establishes the foundation for the marriage relationship of all men and women.
"So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib, which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. And the man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother; and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
This account is foundational to all Scripture. The Old and New Testaments build continually and consistently on the truth of the creation of man and woman with distinct roles within the marriage relationship.
The establishment of the marriage relationship is seen in Genesis 2:24. Adam and Eve began as one flesh. He was part of her, and she was part of him. The bond established in a marriage relationship supersedes the physical relationship between a man and woman.
B. This bond between a husband and wife is expressed through the sexual relationship. Although the relationship goes beyond sex, it is this sexual union that expresses the oneness that God intended for the husband and wife.
Sex is God’s invention. It is He who created human beings male and female; He who told the first pair to be fruitful and to multiply.
Sex has a specific and wonderful function in human experience. While pleasurable and exciting, sex is designed as a bonding experience: an expression of union and oneness to be known by a man and woman who commit themselves to each other for life.
Outside of this context of lifelong union, and outside the context of intimate self-giving, sexual activity will be destructive rather than constructive.
C. In the New Testament, Matthew 19:4-6 validates what the Old Testament says on this subject. When asked about the subject of divorce, Jesus said,
"Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? ’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
Jesus condemned the Pharisees for not knowing the truth of Genesis 2. Not only did Jesus emphasize that relationships are to be between males and females, He specifies that relationships are to be between one male and one female, for an entire lifetime. Men and women are perfectly fitted to meet one another’s needs.
To break, distort, corrupt, manipulate, destroy and pervert this area is one of Satan’s greatest pleasure.
Leviticus 18:22-29
A. Leviticus contains God’s instruction given to Moses during the two months between the completion of the tabernacle and Israel’s departure from Mount Sinai. More than 50 times it affirms that its contents are God’s direct words and revelation to Moses for Israel, which Moses subsequently preserved in written form.
B. Two-fold purpose:
1. to instruct the Israelites and their priestly mediators about their access to God by means of atoning blood
Chapters 1 – 16 is about the way we access God through atonement through sacrifices. It leads up to the Day of Atonement
2. to make God’s standard of holy living for his chosen people
Chapters 17 – is about moral standards and instructions about worship – obedience and consecration, etc.
C. Holiness
The people of Israel were to be wholly separated unto the Lord. In all features of their individual and corporate lives, this people who bore God’s name was to be holy.
Many of the features of Old Testament Law, particularly those having to do with dietary and other elements, had no underlying moral basis. The people were given those laws to help establish a distinction between them and all the other peoples of the world.
Such laws reminded Israel that she was a people of God, and because of that relationship, was to be different from others.
In the latter part of Leviticus we discover regulations that do have deep moral roots: regulations that are designed to create a just and moral society.
D. Chapter 18 is the chapter under investigation
The Israelites moved from one idol-infested country (Egypt) to another (Canaan). They also had contact with other cultures (Moab).
As God helped them form a new culture, he warned them to leave all aspects of their pagan background and surroundings behind. He also warned them how easy it would be to slip into the pagan culture of Canaan, where they were going.
Canaan’s society and religions appealed to worldly desires, especially sexual immorality and drunkenness. The Israelites were to keep themselves pure and set apart for God.
God did not want his people absorbed into the surrounding culture and environment.
Vss 18:6-27 - Several detestable activities are listed here: (1) having sexual relations with close relatives, (2) committing adultery, (3) offering children as sacrifices, (4) having homosexual relations, and (5) having sexual relations with animals.
These practices were common in pagan religions and cultures, and it is easy to see why God dealt harshly with those who began to follow them.
1. “Do not follow their practices”
This is where you used to live and it is unfit for God’s people
Don’t think that our culture is the first to deal with the subject of sexual corruption and depravity.
They were to separate themselves from the things that defiled the land and the name of the Lord.
Vs. 24 “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.”
Vs 30 “Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.”
E. Verse 22 is the one verse that applies to homosexual behavior
“Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable”
We are not dismissing the rest – I don’t think anyone in this room believes they are ok.
F. Word Study – “detestable”, “abomination”
1. Abomination means repugnant or detestable act, person, or thing. The idea of abomination derives from the specific demands God’s holiness makes upon his people.
2. Adjectives frequently used for abominations in the OT are “abhorrent,” “loathsome,” “unclean,” and “rejected.”
As one person mentioned, “It’s like taking something you don’t like and adding vinegar to it.”
3. There are many times this word is used in the OT.
Example in Proverbs 6:16, “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Malachi particularly use
this word and most of the time it refers to idol worship.
How about this list:
Idolatry
Wickedness
Fortune telling
Dishonest business practices
Lying
Arrogance, haughtiness
Adultery
Murder
Sowing discord among brothers
Condemning the righteous
Anything which is exalted by men
We need to acknowledge the above abominations when pointing fingers at the homosexually immoral person as him/her being more detestable to God than the idolater, wicked person, fortuneteller, cheater, liar, arrogant person, adulterer, murderer, or any of the other listed sinful behaviors.
So before you throw out the word “abomination” remember, God did not single out homosexuality as the only distasteful sin.
Biblically speaking – ALL sexual activity outside a covenant relationship (marriage), is considered sin.
On the other hand, I have heard many messages on the other issues, and few reasonable messages on homosexuality.
G. The prohibition against homosexuality is not found solely in this one passage. Leviticus 20 expands on the sin and decrees the death penalty “if a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman” for “both of them have done what is detestable” (v. 13).
H. Arguments against this passage:
1. “Christians are no longer under the Old Testament Law.”
Whatever your view is here, few people believe that all of these things are now acceptable practices. This section includes other moral prohibitions, like incest, adultery, bestiality, necrophilia and other sexual practices.
You can’t isolate one passage and say one is ok, but not another.
Jesus said he came to fulfill the law, not abolish it.
2. “Christians break other OT laws all the time, such as eating pork and lobster. To follow some laws and break others is being grossly inconsistent.”
There is a distinction between major classes of OT laws.
- Civil and ceremonial laws applied only to the nation of Israel. They were specifically repealed in the NT. These concerned such matters of daily life as borrowing another’s livestock, principles of restitution for lost property and testifying in a lawsuit. Ceremonial laws defined actions or events that rendered someone unclean for ceremonial purposes, such as the handling of the dead…
Jesus came to fulfill the law and many were specifically addressed.
In the light this, it is obvious that Christians have no right to execute homosexuals, or, for that matter, to execute psychics, mediums, thieves or 'ladies of the night.'
Christians do not exist as an isolated community in the wilderness who must (necessarily) set and uphold their own judicial system.
Example – just because abortion is a sin, we don’t execute the doctors.
- Moral laws are not limited to a time or place. These were repeated in the
NT. These misdeeds are wrong at any time and any place.
To suggest that these actions, which carry the death penalty, are of no greater significance than the eating of pork, which only renders one ceremonially unclean, betrays a serious misunderstanding of the biblical statements.
3. Romans and 1 Corinthians will be discussed next week
Conclusion
It is clear, from God’s ideal of marriage and the Old Testament that Homosexuality, along with every sexual distortion is not acceptable for God’s people. Since the Bible always refuses to 'grade' sins, except for 'sins of ignorance,' it therefore follows that homosexuals are no more evil than killers, burglars, adulterers or embezzlers.
We all stand in need of a Savior
Reminder – sexual sin is the result of wounded hearts in a broken world, seeking intimacy outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
D. What is a proper Christian Response?
1. Grace in forgiveness
2. Hope in changed lives through the power of the cross
3. Stop the innuendoes and the hatred.
4. Examine ourselves
Resources:
Edward T Welch, Homosexuality, Speaking the Truth in Love
Joe Dallas, When Homosexuality Hits Home
Bob Davies and Lori Rentzel, Coming Out of Homosexuality
Joseph Nicolosi and Linda Nicolosi, A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/homosexuality-robert-robinson-sermon-on-homosexuality-60743.asp?Page=1
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/philosophicalfragments/category/series/christianity-and-homosexuality
Where to Find Help:
www.harvestusa.org
www.masteringlife.org
www.exodus.to
http://regenerationministries.org
