Almost every day for the past month our local newspaper has been filled with editorials about the issue we face as a state concerning marriage. Just over a week ago I came across one which I’d like to read for you…
“I am a father, uncle, brother, son, grandson, godfather, small business owner, taxpayer, Christian and partner – and I am also gay. It took me 24 years to finally be able to admit that to myself. Why? Because my Catholic church and society told me it was wrong. I grew up on a hobby farm, attended a small school and lived most of my life hearing negative things about gay people. I struggled daily with why I was ‘that way.’ How could I change? I thought numerous times about suicide and came close to attempting it once. Guess what? Nothing is wrong with me. God made me this way. I did not choose to be this way and anyone who thinks it’s a choice is simply wrong. Why would anyone choose to be discriminated against and feel like we have to live in fear, or as second class citizens? You can’t pray the gay away. I’ve tried. At what point did you choose to be straight? I’m guessing you didn’t, it’s just the way you are. Same applies to gay people…” [Mankato Free Press, 10/27/2012 Opinion]
What do you hear in this letter? Maybe it’s your angry heart saying “He’s wrong! How dare he say that!” Put aside your political and religious views about this issue and listen to what this man is expressing: pain, rejection, frustration, discouragement. This is a hurting person. This man hits the nail on the head because he expresses what many homosexuals ask – “Why do I feel this way? I didn’t choose to be this way.” And this is something that the church must grapple with today because homosexuals are condemned and judged as choosing a certain orientation and living in rebellion against God. There is so much pain in this issue no matter what side you’re on, that we need the Lord’s love and mercy and truth to know how to bring healing.
Let’s read Galatians 6:1-3 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Friends, during these last days, we need to be concerned about sin, deceit, immorality that surrounds us. Yes we need to take a stand. But What is the main emphasis of the Lord here? Watch for yourself! Restore those who fail in a spirit of gentleness. Bear one another’s burdens. Do you see the love and mercy that is to pour out of us? People need to find the truth but they also need to find love and mercy from us more than anything else.
Having said that, let’s look at three important facts the Scripture points out concerning this issue…
1. Feelings do NOT indicate God’s will
No one sits down and decides to have homosexual feelings. There is no proof that homosexuals are born that way either. It is a result of a combination of factors during very early years of growing up – factors that are out of their control. It happens and is connected with the bonding relationship with the Father or Mother….It’s a myth that people choose to have homosexual feelings but that’s beside the point.
The bigger question is this – should we always give in to our feelings? Do our feelings or desires always reflect that which is God’s will? Today children are born drug addicts because of their mother’s use. Should we encourage that child to continue to take drugs because he is born that way?
Or let’s take a more everyday example. If a person is naturally lazy, does it justify his work ethic that he shows up late for work, wastes his time on the job, and generally has a lackluster performance? Of course not! He has to learn to go against his tendency and train himself to work hard. If a person has a lust for women, does it justify his feelings to sleep with a different woman every weekend to fulfill his natural needs? Of course not! He needs to learn faithfulness to one woman and not be driven by his physical desire.
Romans 7:16-23 “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Every one of us has been born with a sickness – sin-sickness and it manifests itself in different ways in different people. Just as Paul expressed, we too can trust in Christ, have God’s indwelling Holy Spirit and still struggle intensely with the flesh – with our sinful nature. In our mind and spirit, we know what is right and yet in our flesh, we are pulled like a magnet in the opposite direction.
We take pride over other people, we envy what others have, we look for ways to put others down with our words, we lust after flesh, we selfishly hoard what we have, and on and on. We are pulled to do that which is contrary to the will of God. And this is our daily spiritual battle. For some, that battle is strongest concerning their sexuality.
2. Homosexual practices ARE against God’s will.
I want to make something extremely clear – acting on homosexual desires is against God’s will. Having homosexual orientation is NOT wrong just like temptation is not wrong in itself. But carrying out the sin emotionally and physically IS wrong.
Acting on homosexual feelings is clearly condemned by the Scripture. Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” This command is sandwiched between committing adultery with your neighbor’s wife, offering your child as a sacrifice, and bestiality. It’s not a matter of ceremonial law or temporary law for Old Testament times. It is morally wrong.
1 Timothy 1:9-10 “understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.”
Here in the New Testament the stance does not change. Practicing homosexuality is a sin along with lying, slavery, murder, and rebellion against parents. It was not an easy stance to take at the time because sexuality was a very loose topic in the Roman empire. Anything goes, really and the proof of that are all the problems Paul ran across in Corinth and wrote about in his two letters to them.
We could look at many other passages in the Bible but suffice it to say that there is not a single passage of Scripture that speaks favorably toward any kind of homosexual practice.
3. “Legal” doesn’t equal “right.”
Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. Adultery is legal. Drunkenness is legal (in my own home). Gluttony is legal. Witchcraft is legal. Speaking profanity is legal.
1 Peter 4:3 “The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.” None of these things listed are illegal in our country. You can be a perfectly law abiding citizen and do all these things. But we serve a higher law – the Law of God and that is what we will be judged by.
Our state can legalize marriage of homosexuals and can go even further to legalize other things that are clearly condemned but that doesn’t make it right and it doesn’t mean that we must support it. In fact, just like these other practices that are legal, we stand strongly against them. For we are not of this world and we will take a stand.
So what must we do? Repent! Which means not just sorrow for sin, but turning and doing what is right.
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” This time of the year with elections and divisive issues, it’s very easy to get angry and judgmental. Instead, it’s time for us to turn to the Lord in prayer and repentance. We need to stop pointing the finger at all the evil around us and bow down before God concerning our own failures and changing our attitude toward the lost.
1. Church must repent of its own immorality.
Before we attempt to correct anyone else, we need to repent of our own sins as a church and as individual believers. Again, we can point the finger at one sin but then not see other things that we justify ourselves which are just as evil. Maybe it’s our pride. Maybe it’s our hatred for others. Maybe it’s our lack of compassion for the lost. If we’re not grieved by or humbled by our own sins then the problem is right here and not outside. We’re afraid to admit we have problems – it’s the belief that everyone else is okay but I have problems and therefore I don’t have a place to confess.
As 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us…” We begin by both individually and corporately confessing our sins or we have zero credibility as believers. WE are simply hypocrites if we don’t.
2. Repent of hatred toward homosexuals and show mercy and love
Secondly, we need to repent of our hatred toward homosexuals. Remember Jonah? He hated the Assyrians and for good reason. They were characterized by pagan idolatry, sensual immorality, violence and more. And God called Jonah to preach to them and bring them to repentance. But Jonah wanted nothing to do with them – he hated those people which is why he got on a ship and went in the opposite direction!
We are very much like Jonah. We see the immorality around us and we hate it for good reason. But hatred and hostility doesn’t seek to change a problem but seeks to punish. Righteous anger seeks to SOLVE the problem and seeks the best. We want to politically defeat this homosexual agenda but not see them changed. That’s not what Jesus would do!
What ought to be our goal? Our goal is to respond to hatred with love and seek to evangelize and bring healing to them! If we want to see people get destroyed and killed and judged something is WRONG!
I go back to this letter to the editor – this is a hurting man. And of course I don’t endorse this lifestyle. But what does he need? Christ! He needs the forgiveness and healing and cleansing that comes from Christ. Most don’t realize that there is a way out – why? Because church after church has condemned them. Where can they go for healing? For renewal? Who can they talk to about it when it is so harshly condemned? Telling them to repent and pray is not an answer – they need long term support, encouragement, counseling. Who would reach out to a wounded spirit? That should be the ministry of spirit-filled people!
Bold love seeks to serve without compromise. Don’t be afraid to be interested in them as people!
3. Repent of being intimidated by the gay movement.
Thirdly, we need to repent of being intimidated by the homosexual agenda. Again, we often react like Jonah – run away from the problem or ignore it. The easiest thing is to say its normal and be silent about it. It’s easy to say that the majority rules and go by the polls. Whatever people want today is fine and we’ll all just get along.
Wherever gay rights are dominant they restrict our freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and conscience. We must not brush this under the carpet but bring it out into the light to see. I shouldn’t be afraid to preach and teach about the truth. You shouldn’t be afraid to talk about what you believe. But remember – DO IT WITH GENTLENESS. Do it in love. Don’t do it in anger and spite. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces. People have been deceived and they do not see reality.
How we respond is crucial to the future of the church and our testimony. If it hasn’t yet, it certainly WILL touch your personal life.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
There is a mousetrap in the house and although none of us may struggle with this issue, sooner or later we will be faced with the consequences of this problem. It’s time for the house of God to pray and repent and turn to God for his divine protection instead of turning a blind eye. It's time for us as believers to take responsibility for the healing that needs to take place just as Jesus did as he walked the earth. We are his hands, his feet, his mouth!
