Healthy discussions about homosexuality seem increasingly rare. On one hand we hear harsh, cruel attacks against members of the gay community. Homosexuals are singled out as the butt of jokes or characterized as God-haters. Some homosexuals hate Christians because they think Christians hate them. I honestly cannot imagine what it must be like to hear Christians shout: "Stop your sinning! You are a sinner!" To be called "fag" or "queer" by people who claim to follow Jesus. Travesty. This treatment is tragic and wrong.
Equally concerning is the tendency to discard Scripture's teaching on the topic as irrelevant and outdated. For those of us who hold an authoritative view of the Bible, this is unsettling.
So where does that leave us? Perhaps with these questions:
Were Jesus to come fact-to-face with a homosexual, what would he say? What would he do? Though the New Testament contains no such conversation, we do know how he would act.
He would express his love. As he did with Zacchaeus, he might go to his home. As with the Samaritan woman, he might sit with her in the shade of a well. As he did with Matthew, Jesus might offer a personal invitation. The exact words he would use, we don't know. But of their sentiment, we have no doubt. Jesus loves his gay children. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. This includes homosexuality. He made them, came for them, and died for them. And he would tell them so.
He would speak to them with compassion. But he would also speak to them with conviction. As he did with Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, Matthew, and others, Jesus always told the truth. And the truth is this: God never approves sexual union outside of a heterosexual marriage. The two unmarried but sexually involved singles? God disapproves. The two married people who are sexually involved but not married to each other? Their adultery angers God. The sibling with sibling? The man with multiple wives. The man with man or woman with woman? The Bible never singles out same-sex intimacy as sin above other sins.
At the same time the Bible never minces words regarding God's feelings toward homosexual activity. God warned the men of Israel: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination" (Lev 18:22). One professor wrote: When the word Toevah (abomination) does appear in the Hebrew Bible, it is sometimes applied to idolatry, cult prostitution, magic or divination... It always conveys great repugnance". Has God gotten over his repugnance? In the New Testament he called such behavior "shameful" (Rom 1:26).
This is, for many, a challenging teaching. The temptations are strong, and lures are many. But we must remember that our bodies belong to God. "Your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God. So you do not belong to yourselves, because you were bought by God for a price. So honor God with your bodies" (1 Cor 6:19). Again, this instruction is not limited to those who struggle with homosexuality. This teaching is for us all.
But isn't such teaching archaic? Some Bible students want to clump the prohibition of homosexuality with cultural instructions like washing feet or wearing veils. If teachings against same-sex unions were random or sporadic, we'd have to agree. But from the earliest code of the Torah to the later epistles of Paul, the sentiment never changes. From start to finish, Scripture categorically condemns same-sex intimacy. From start to finish, Scripture emphasizes God's love for sinners, no matter who they are.
Let's follow the example of Jesus: let's love each other. Talk. Dialog. Jesus went to the home of Zaccheus, spent the afternoon with the Samaritan woman, attended Matthew's party. He didn't endorse their behavior, but he built a bridge to their hearts. Maybe we will find a way to do the same.
By: Max Lucado
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