I had written this article about a year ago, so many have been asking my opinion I thought it prudent to repost it!
In our culture today, we are presented with all types of
challenges. One of those challenges is
to love people the way that Jesus loves. The controversy arises as people make
their own judgments of how Jesus would love. As men and women who love God, our
passions can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, we should have a passion and
zest for life about everything. On the other hand, our passions can control us,
rather than fulfilling us. They place
demands on us that lead us away from our destiny.
Everything God made is good. Food is good, but to a glutton
it can be a control factor. If a desire for food is out of God’s control and
replaced with lust for food, the lust takes control. This can ultimately lead to an untimely death
due to various diseases. Food becomes the god of a glutton, for whatever you
honor the most, is your God. The same can be said of a drug, pornography or sex
addict, as well as the thief, liar and homosexual.
I know that when discussing homosexuality, many will revert
to Levitical law. However, if we are going to do that, we must consider the
whole Levitical law and if so, then our point becomes mute. Read the book of
Leviticus if you want to understand what I mean.
Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church wrote this in
chapter 6:9-11 of First Corinthians: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God.”
If we believe the Bible to be God’s Word, then what
conclusion can we draw from these few words of Paul? Here are three that I can
see:
1)
Some who were now in the church were having sex
outside of marriage, some were drunks, some served other gods, some were party
animals, some passive homosexuals, and some aggressive homosexuals and so on.
2)
Left to these conditions, they would spend
eternity in hell. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
Kingdom of God?”
3)
All of these conditions were able to be overcome
by the name of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Please understand Paul’s attitude here. It is not an
attitude of hostility, anger, or “holier-than-thou.” Paul is speaking from a
heart of love and compassion for all people trapped in sin. We must also
understand that everything listed here is sin. Sin defined is simply missing
the mark, and with each of these areas, those who commit them are missing God’s
mark for their lives.
God’s plan for people is hope, trust, love, and receiving
their fulfillment through Him. A thief is not trusting in the Lord to meet his
needs. He is stealing from others, not believing that God can be faithful to
him. A fornicator desires sex above lovemaking in its proper venue of marriage.
Sex is the ultimate bonding of one body, one heart, to another for a lifetime.
God’s Word establishes that it be the fruit of a covenant between one man and
one woman. Fornication is sex outside of this union, which leads to broken
hearts and wounded spirits, as well as psychological and physical damage.
So it is with homosexuality. The Bible defines it as sin.
Some have played with the Greek definition here trying to make these words
somehow refer only to prostitution. However the definition of homosexuality, as
Paul uses it, is merely a man having sex with another man and can easily be
extrapolated for lesbianism as well. Do homosexuals “love” one another? I have
a number of gay friends and I believe they do.
But are all feelings of love healthy and true? I have had many men and
women in my office who have “fallen in love” with someone else other than their
spouse, but what they are really saying is, I have a need that this person is
filling. It doesn’t negate that the feeling is there. It is a real feeling; it
is simply being fulfilled in a way that will never completely fulfill them.
Most of the time it is about woundedness, loneliness, or lust. There is a
brokenness here that needs healing.
If the Bible says that stealing and drunkenness are wrong,
then there must be a reason. Drunkards and thieves will never be able to
fulfill God’s purpose for their lives because they demand their own way above
the great plan that He has for them. So it is with homosexuality. God wants
everyone who considers himself or herself gay, to understand a love that is
deep, pure, and that will last a lifetime, trusting that God has a better plan
and that the life they are now living is not one based on truth but on
brokenness. There is a real genuine love that God has for every broken person.
All of us were broken at one time or another. Falling in love with Jesus heals
our brokenness and leads us away from our wounds, rejections, lust and so many
other things. It leads us to wholeness.
Often when this discussion takes place, I am considered
intolerant of others. That would be the farthest from the truth. If I truly
believe the Bible states that homosexuals, thieves, liars, fornicators are
going to hell, then I would be the most hateful of people to not express a plan
of God’s love and healing about them and to them. I am intolerant of sin - my
own and others -and anything that would keep people from knowing God’s great
love for them.
So how does marriage fit into this discussion? Man does not
have the right to dictate the definition of marriage. God created and defined
marriage. It is not an institution established by man.
Genesis 2:24:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Marriage is God’s institution for nurturing, growth, health,
love, and a strong society and culture. Yes, marriages fail. Fornication,
adultery, lying, and all sorts of things have corrupted it. None of that has to
do with God’s intent and purpose. A man and woman submitted to God’s plan and
purpose and committed to God can be a sign and an example of God’s great love
for all people. Marriage, according to Ephesians chapter five, is an example of
God’s great love for his church.
This battle over the culture is really not about marriage,
law, or civil rights; it is simply about God’s plan and purpose for people. Our
culture has walked away from the love of God and has instead chosen to define
life and love as we see fit. In the book of Judges in the Old Testament, when
every man did what was “right in his own eyes,” violating God’s plan and
purpose, the nation suffered.
God’s plan for all people is freedom, love, joy, and a
fulfillment of the destiny He has created for us all. Please refer to Jeremiah 29:11
