We have seen in recent years the growth in what's known as the Gay Culture - famous people "Coming Out." The Gay culture is a complete world view / way of life. Gay identities growing in strength. The Gay lobby is growing in influence.
So where does that leave us as Biblical Christians. As Christians who seek to live in today's world as it is rather than we would like it to be. But are also seeking to remain true to God's unchanging truths and standards.
I want to speak on three areas this evening.
An attitude we must renounce
A distinction we must retain
A standard that we must maintain
An attitude we must renounce:
Tony Campolo in one of his books tells of a Christian meeting in America. The preacher was speaking on what he called the 'plague of Homosexuality'. His message was laced with statistics - many of which were false, and terrifying horror stories of what gay people do. When he finished speaking the congregation was so incensed and so stirred that one stood up and stated, "these filthy people are an abomination to God and should be wiped out from the face of the earth." There was hatred in his voice and venom in his eyes.
We call it Homophobia or Gay Bashing. There is no place for that in the Church of Jesus Christ for three reasons.
1] Because we are all human beings. We are all people made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore every person, whatever their lifestyle, has dignity, value and worth and is precious in God's eyes.
However much we may disapprove of certain practices we have no liberty to de-humanise those who engage in them.
In Biblical terms there are no homosexuals - there are just people. People who God loves. Fallen people, sinful people, precious people. We are all human beings.
2] We are all sexual beings. Our sexuality is basic to our humanness - it says in scripture that angels are without sex but people are not. God made us male & female. The bible celebrates human sexuality. Yet we are embarrassed to talk about it in the Church of Christ. And sadly because we fail to speak of it and speak out about it - so many other voices are so much more dominant and influential in our community.
3] We are all fallen sinful beings. You see the theological doctrine of total depravity which we believe says, "because of the fall of man, because of sin, every area of human life has been twisted and distorted and tainted in some way and that includes our sexuality. There is a very real sense in which we are all sexually deviant because we have all deviated from the perfect standard of God. Nobody, except Jesus Himself, has been sexually sinless. Therefore we all stand under the judgement of God. We all stand in the constant need of the Grace and mercy of God.
Our society rather than scripture has put sexual sins at the top of the list as the worst in God's eyes. When you read in the press "Vicar tells of night of sin." You would be surprised if the accompanying text talked about a vicar spending the evening gossiping about his neighbour. Or spends an evening boasting about the size of his congregation. We know what the reporters really mean.
If there is any kind of hierarchy it seems to me that the top of the list in God's eyes are things like pride, hypocrisy, selfishness. We must confess as Christians that often our attitude has been wrong towards those with a homosexual orientation.
That comes out sometimes in our response to the issue of AIDS. Approximately 30 million people in the world are infected with AIDS. A new infection takes place every 9 seconds. 8,500 world wide daily. 60% are young people between the ages of 15 & 24. 61% of infections caused in the UK are by sexual relations between men. HOW DO WE REASPOND?
An illustration may help. Tony Campolo was preaching in an evangelistic crusade in Sacramento, California. The committee were discussing what they should give the offering to. One suggested it should go to care agencies working with AIDs sufferers. The media picked this up because here was a right-wing evangelical mission seeking to give money to AIDS sufferers. So they turned up to interview members of the crowd and Campolo was a bit worried as he watched the TV report that night to see what some of the might say.
The first guy that was interviewed was introduced with the question, " the offering tonight was for AIDS victims and they are often homosexuals. Does that mean you approve of homosexuality?"
The mans response was ideal. He said, " I don't know about all that homosexual stuff all I know is that when people are sick - Christians are supposed to care for them."
There Is an attitude we must renounce.
Campolo continues to write in a section of his book called acceptance & approval, a pastor friend of mine was visited by a homosexual man who was dying of aids. Without disclosing his illness the homosexual man invited the pastor to have lunch. They went out to restaurant and half way through the meal the man paused and looked the pastor in the eye and blurted out - "I'm dying of AIDS" - whilst tensely waiting for the pastors reaction.
With tear filled eyes the pastor reached across the table, touched the mans arm and said, "I am sorry. I am truly sorry."
That man gave his life to Christ. He explained his decision to the pastor like this. "Do you want to know why I decided to receive Jesus? Though I listened to your words I watched more closely the language of your body. Instead of rejecting me you reached out and touched me. Your eyes filled with tears. You empathised with me. You accepted me. Then and there I decided your God is the God I want to meet when I die."
We must shake off the religious spirit that prevents us from lovingly accepting sinners for what they are - sinners. This religious spirit causes us to despise and reject them on the false assumption that we are better than they are. Pound for pound of flesh we are no better - take Jesus away from us and what do you have left. A bunch of lost sinners. An attitude we must renounce.
Secondly, a distinction we must retain.
Here I am thinking of the distinction between who a person is and what a person does. Between orientation and behaviour.
Now, the causes of homosexuality are complex. I am no expert but from my reading this week it seems that the experts are saying they don’t know either. They can't put their finger on it directly but see many complex factors as having their influence - Biological, genetic, environmental and experiential factors.
People are not responsible for who they are but are responsible for what they do. People can not repent of who they are but they can repent of what they do.
You hear of some who led a homosexual lifestyle coming to Christ. Through prayer, ministry and support you hear of their orientation being changed. In others as they grow in their relationship with God they continue to struggle to lead a celibate life and daily need Gods grace and strength.
But that is not unique. Surely that happens to us all. It happens with an alcoholic who comes to Christ. I know a number of cases where those who were addicted to alcohol were completely transformed on conversion and walked an alcohol free life from that moment on. Yet others seek the 'better way' but struggle day by day to stay on the right side of the decision that they have made.
The distinction we are making therefore is between a homosexual tendency and homosexual activity. The Bible is clear in its condemnation of homosexual activity - even as it is equally clear in its condemnation of heterosexual sexual activity outside of marriage.
People are not responsible for who they are - but they are responsible for what they do.
Now, having made those two points we need to illustrate them and see them in the light of scripture.
The gay lobby including the gay Christian lobby will tell us that our arguments are based on a few isolated texts. I want to suggest that that is not true which is why I don't want to go straight to Genesis 18 or Romans 1 but to Genesis 1 & 2. Creation. Foundation chapters. Genesis 1 & 2 illustrate for us that homosexual partnerships are a fundamental denial of Gods creation plan of marriage.
Genesis 1 affirms for us the equality of the sexes - male & female He created them. Genesis 2 affirms for us the complementarity of the sexes - equal but different. Made for companionship / partnership. It is not good for the man to be alone so God makes a helper suitable for him that they might become one flesh.
There is very much the sense that when Christians get married they are not just united but reunited. The one that became two becomes one once more.
The institution of marriage is built into the very fabric of creation. One man, one woman consummated in sexual relationship. Now all other sexual liaisons be they casual encounters, be it adultery, be it homosexual partners are outside the purpose of God for human sexuality.
That is the foundation. Now having laid that we can see some key scriptures that come elsewhere and have something to say about this.
Genesis 19:1 - 13 The story of Sodom
Link with that
Judges 19 The story of Gibeah (similar to Sodom)
Leviticus 18 & 20 The holiness code (Gods directions to his people on how they should live that was distinctive from how they lived back in Egypt and from how the people of Canaan were living. They were Gods people called to follow Gods laws and not the practices of the community that they were part of.)
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.
God makes His feelings clear on this kind of practice.
Into the NT. Those key verses in Rom. 1. Paul is painting a picture of secular society out of touch with God. He list a number of things amongst which is homosexual practice.
Romans 1:26-27
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.
At this point the gay Christian lobby will argue with me. They will say, "you may say it is against nature - but I was made this way. God made me this way."
"You may say it's against nature but it's not against MY nature. It's not abnormal for me."
There was a Quaker report a few years ago now that compared homosexuality with left handedness. Being one of those things. Born that way.
That's why I began this brief biblical study in Genesis 1. For there in Genesis 1 & 2 God established what is nature. What is the normal relationship for men and women. Nature is not my nature but nature the way that God sees the natural way of things to be.
What Paul has in mind here is all human behaviour that is outside of God's given order, Gods natural order built into creation itself.
One other chapter to look at is 1 Corinthians 6. The verses 9 & 10, part of the passage I read before this sermon. And you could tie into this 1 Timothy 1:9 & 10. Two similar lists of practices that are contrary to the kingdom of God of which homosexual offenders are one.
There are three things to say about these verses:
Firstly, it’s a catalogue, it's a list. Homosexual offenders are there yes, but so are adulterers, thieves, drunkards & slanderers & swindlers - reminding us not to isolate this sin from many other sins that are against Gods will.
Secondly, there is activity applied in each of these cases. All of these things listed in 1 Corinthians 6:9 & 10 are things that people do rather than what people are.
Thirdly, there is hope here. Paul goes on to say having listed his list of things in verse 11, "and that is what some of you were."
Some of the Christians there in Corinth fell into these different categories. But now they are washed. That means two things. Firstly, when they came to Christ nobody said to them "there is no room for you here." They were welcomed even though that was there former lifestyle. But equally nobody said to them once they were welcomed, "that's great - now you can carry on living just the same."
The Biblical position is this. Homosexual activity is wrong. Adultery is wrong. Greed is wrong. Drunkenness is wrong. But there is grace for all in Christ. There is forgiveness. And there is the power of the spirit available to enable you to live a new and different life.
It's the two fold message to the woman caught in adultery. One is - neither do I condemn you, but two is - go and sin no more. That's the message of the gospel. The way the gospel deals with sin is not by saying sin is not sin but by saying sin is sin and is terrible in the eyes of God and deserves His judgement but there is grace even for the worst of sinners.
I read a testimony of little Richard, a homosexual king of Rock and Roll. Third of twelve children, black in a white society, gay in a straight one and crippled where the rest walk tall. He had a leg shorter than the other, disproportionate eyes and a head to large for his body. Cruelly his father used to call him his half son. Curiosity extended beyond music before he reached 10 he was having sex for money with male associates.
After he became a star his after show orgies were dreadful occasions even by hollywood standards. He sunk into a drug dependant lifestyle supported by a $1000 a day cocaine habit. Yet he was still reading the Bible.
"There was a war going on in my body" he said, "a war between light and darkness. Believe it or not," he said, " I really wanted to be a Christian but the devil took over until I finally decided it had to be one or the other."
That decision came when his brother died of a heart attack at the age of 32. He realised it could have been him. Gods light began to shine in his life. His light transformed him. Little Richard said, "the habit of Homosexuality is to deep for any human being to overcome without God - he gives me the strength not to want a man."
An attitude we must renounce. A distinction we must retain and finally, the standard we must maintain.
Gods will is very simple. It's this. It's either marriage or celibacy. We have a choice - either marriage or abstinence. And that is true for the heterosexual as much as the homosexual. The sexual world will tell you that you need sex to be fulfilled. That is a lie.
Sure it is a gift of God. But it is not given to all. It is not indispensable to our humanity - Jesus was perfect in his humanity yet remained single. It seems to me that all human relationships have become oversexed in our society. We need to rescue those same sex friendships that they can have genuine warmth. That there can be closeness without sexual overtones. Friendships like that of David & Jonathon, Ruth & Naomi in the OT, Paul & Timothy in the NT.
John Stott closes his chapter on homosexuality and takes the apostle Pauls triad of faith & hope & love and writes,
Faith - Faith that accepts God's standards. The world will tell us that homosexual partnerships are just one of a number of valid alternative lifestyles. God says only two exist - marriage or celibacy. Are we going to believe and live by what God says or by the prevailing culture in which we live. If you are a Christian your true orientation is to Christ.
One homosexual man who was being counselled by a Christian was counselled like this, " don't label yourself. You are not a homosexual. You are not anything. You are a Child of God. Everything else is secondary."
Hope - One secular psychologist wrote, "no known method of treatment or punishment offers hope for making any substantial reduction in the vast army of adults practising homosexuality."
But there is hope in God. "Such were some of you" (1 Cor. 6:11).
Love - Love is the one thing that people of this orientation have often not experienced. From society as a whole and even from the church of Jesus Christ. Homosexual people are responsible for their conduct many are not responsible for their condition. They need our compassion and understanding, our acceptance, our love for them as people. And it is not fair for us as the church of Jesus Christ to urge those with homosexual orientation to celibacy unless we give them support, encouragement and love as brothers and sisters in Christ.
At the heart of the homosexual condition is a deep loneliness, writes John Stott. The natural hunger for mutual love. A search for identity and a longing for completeness.
They can find those in God. They must also find those in Gods people. Faith, Hope & Love. But the greatest of these is love.
Pray.
Sing For the Joys & for the sorrows
