On The Issue of Homosexuality

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say,…”   Gen 3:1

Casting doubt as to God’s commands or intentions is one of the primary strategies of the Devil and his accomplices, in this case, the serpent in the garden of Eden, leading Eve and then Adam away from the truth and out of God’s will.  It continues to be his strategy even today, particularly with regard to the issue of homosexuality.

The homosexual agenda has invaded nearly every aspect of life today.  Television and movies have, for years now, been making light of and promoting homosexuality as a legitimate alternative lifestyle.  Celebrities and leaders seem to be “coming out of the closet” daily.  Even the masculine, macho world of NFL football has its first “gay” player.

Most disappointing of all, however, are the churches and Christian leaders that are falling victim to the lie and announcing their support of or adherence to the gay lifestyle.  Numerous churches are not only allowing members to maintain an actively gay lifestyle, supporting and performing gay marriages, but, they are even permitting gay pastors to lead their flocks.   They often cite the fact that “homosexual” is not a word you find in Scripture. 

While appearing to be magnanimous and open-minded, these brothers are deceived and have forsaken the clear instructions of God concerning homosexuality…

Gen 19:1-38; Lev 18:22 & 20:13; 1 Kings 14:24; Judges 19:22; 1 Cor 6:9-11; Rom 1:26-28; 1 Tim 1:10;  Jude 1:7;  Rev 21:8

I hear all manner of pretzel logic attempting to split theological and interpretative hairs, stretching credulity in attempts to deny that these passages call homosexuality what it is…sin and an abomination…aka: missing the mark and a denial of God’s intended purposes between the sexes.

But, please don’t think I’m out to bash the gay community.   Homosexuality is no greater or lesser a sin than adultery, fornication, bearing false witness, or thievery.  And as with any of these, it IS redeemable.  The gay man or woman is still LOVED by God, and we are called to love them, biblically, and with a view to winning them back to Christ and saving grace.

So, how do we deal with the brother or sister in Christ who claims to be gay?  The same way we are taught to deal with anyone caught in sin.  As per Matthew 18:15-20…

 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.  But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’  If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.  Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed Christians, in knee-jerk reactions, go straight to casting folks out of their life when they come out of the closet.  No grace, no effort to educate or redeem.  Just immediate castigation, separation and shunning.  Nothing could be further from the love of Christ.

The pattern of discipline in Matthew’s gospel is not there to show how to discipline, so much as it is how to win one back.  Through a series of “loving confrontation” we are to admonish the sinner and exhort them to repent and be restored to a right standing with God.  In the end, if the sinner continues in their sin, there is no word about shunning or cutting off….only that they be treated as tax collectors.  What does that mean?

In my understanding this means we treat them as if they were unsaved.  Do we not invite the unsaved to our services?   Do we not invite the unsaved into our homes?  Of course we do.  But, always with care not to associate ourselves with their sin, but to reach out in love.  There are boundaries…lines we will not cross in regard to those encounters, and each of us must take great care in establishing those boundaries. 

For example, you might be willing to associate with a friend that has a problem with pornography.  However, you would refuse to fellowship if they were viewing pornographic materials.  You might be friends with an alcoholic, but would not attend events with them where alcohol is present.  So too, with the gay friend.  You might have associations with them, but might also refuse to attend a gay wedding, lest it be interpreted that you are condoning it and by association, giving it God’s blessing. 

These are difficult matters and each must be convinced in his or her own mind where the lines are to be drawn.  But, once you decide, stick to your boundaries and trust God for His grace in the matter.  Always be clear with your unsaved, unrepentant friends, that you are in no way condoning their actions, but your hope is that they, like the woman caught in adultery, would find grace and a  new relationship with Jesus Christ, and go from there, into a new life and “sin no more” (John 8:1-11).

It is interesting that within the teaching on discipline are the passages concerning binding and loosing in heaven and on earth.  I don’t see this as happenstance, but a deliberate placement by the Holy Spirit.  There is power in the prayers of two or more believers who come together to pray for sinners that the forces that bind them in sin, be loosed in the name of Jesus, that they might be free to know and receive the love and grace of Christ.

How often do we give up on failing brethren, particularly in this sin of homosexuality?  How often do we fail them, by neglecting to follow the patterns of discipline?  How often have we grieved the Holy Spirit when we fail to come together in agreement to set a sinner free, to bind the enemy and loose the Holy Spirit to pierce hearts and redeem?

More important than the devil’s question “Did God really say homosexuality is a sin?” is the question, “What are you doing to set the homosexual free from their sin and win them back into the fold?”

Let us never doubt the commands of God against the sin of homosexuality.  But, let us also never doubt His power to overcome and heal the same.