Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Homosexuality, Marriage, and Christianity


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