Faith without religion.
From a biblical perspective, there are few things more antithetical to the mind/heart of God than human pride – especially when such pride serves to elevate the mind and heart of an individual over and above the plans, purposes, and ways of God. Genuine humility before God is therefore the desired biblical characteristic as it has the ability, if properly understood, to bring the carnal mind and heart of Man to the will and ways God.
In our age pride in one’s sexual orientation has become the norm – especially in what might be considered aberrational sexual orientation relative to the biblical model provided in Genesis. As this environment has proliferated over the past several decades many Christians – especially young Christians – want to know if homosexuality is a sin (with the implication being, “if or since so many of them have been born that way”). When the answer is in the affirmative there is often kickback, defensiveness and argumentation with the Bible and its contents being labeled archaic and no longer applicable with the true progressive being heralded as “spot on.”
But there is an important imperative at play today – and the imperative is to maintain that homosexuality is a sin not because it is considered aberrational to the Garden story (or for any other justification) but because to say that it is not sin leads to a deep seated pride in the heart of the guilty which, in the end, is antithetical to the heart of God and therefore snuffs out much of the potential for them to possess healing humility before Him.
In other words,
It is the continual admittance of sin in everyone’s life that works to keep us humble and broken before the living God. To excuse any form of sin from the lives of others we tacitly remove its ability to bring – and keep – all people to the solution of our sin, Christ Jesus.
This is the reason Christians ought to call homosexuality a sin – not because what homosexuals do is more repugnant than the plethora of sins in which heterosexual people are immersed. In fact, when it comes to the hierarchy of sin emphasized by Jesus, homosexuality is never even addressed! But pride certainly is. So again, the reason we openly reply that homosexuality is a sin is so the homosexual will go to the only solution for sin available to all people of every race, gender and sexual orientation. It is not to judge them as worse than ourselves or others. It is not to alienate them from friendship and love. It is not to castigate them and label their sin as more egregious than looking at a member of the opposite sex with lust in our hearts. The sin of homosexuality lies in the flesh, the same place all sin lies, and is not one bit more or less offensive than any other sins therein.
This being said, it must be remembered that the REASON we openly and readily admit that homosexuality is a sin is because it is through this means that the homosexual may cry out to God as Paul did, saying: “O wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me from this body of sin and death?” It is NOT to cure them of the sin in their flesh. That is the job of God and if he allows it to remain in their lives that is between them and God – not man. In other words, Christians are NOT telling homosexuals that their lifestyles are sinful so they will become heterosexuals upon command. This is proven by the fact that all Christians – homosexual and not – will continue in sin of some sort even after they have received Christ.
We merely (and lovingly) answer the question honestly and in light of the biblical text but never neglecting to share the solution to their sin – which is faith in Jesus Christ and not the putting an end to their fleshly ways. Even Paul, as a vetted and tenured apostles and after asking about his wretched nature, wrote of himself:
Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
In this the individual, no matter what orientation or way of life, is free and open to let God work in and through them as He sees fit – and no person on earth has the right to question, critique or condemn their progress (or lack of it). If a person claims Christ as Lord, we receive that person as a person claimed of Christ.
Perhaps an example from another form of sexual expression is needed to illustrate the point. Suppose that there is a man – your own son, let’s say, or brother – who has a sexual preference to womanize. Part of his orientation includes the need to boast of his sexual prowess, the size of his penis, and the number of lovers he has bedded.
In fact, his form of sexual expression is to romance unsuspecting women into bed, have his way with them, and when he grows tired of them he moves along – without explanation. Because part of his sexual excitement is the hunt, the convincing, the alluring; up-front honestly is impossible if he was going to find himself truly sexually fulfilled because all of these elements play into his achieving satisfaction. In other words, part of the excitement is the associated con. And part of the completeness is walking away from his prey every time without explanation.
Suppose that this man boasts of these things – ad nauseum. He is proud and so a great deal of his conversations are boastful expressions of his gifts to persuade, his many conquests, the response he can illicit from women, and that fact that he has left a trail of ex-lovers in his wake that would make Caligula envy.
Most people (especially women) would not appreciate his attitude. Most people (but especially people who love him as a son or brother) would either openly or secretly hope for his demise – for his humbling. For him to be broken. Why? Because it would be to his benefit and to a Christian it would open the door for him to perhaps receive God’s solution to his sinful soul.
Let’s take this scenario a step further. Let’s suppose that around the nation these types – we will call them Preder-sexuals – begin having parades. Special groups are formed to make sure they have equal rights – which they should – and these men march in these parades to celebrate their sexual proclivities and all that they entail.
There are floats with hundreds of female blow-up dolls and along the parade route the participants deflate them by stabbing them where the heart should be. And the crowds rejoice every time.
Does anyone have the right to say that their actions are sinful? Would it be Preder-phobic to publicly admit this? Would anyone have the right to say that God would not be pleased with their behavior? I mean does anyone have the responsibility to try and put an end to their approach to obtaining sexual fulfillment by at least voicing an opinion or should they have that liberty to express themselves, even though the results of their behavior are antithetical to the heart of God?
From the Christian perspective it would be a crime – against each and every Preder-sexual – to encourage their orientation and to refuse to call it a sin. Not because their ways offend us so badly, not because we personally don’t understand how these behaviors satisfy them, but because to gently and humbly admit to them that their ways are sinful may lead them to being broken before God and therefore open to receive His Son.
If the preder-sexual is encouraged and regaled as “enviable heroes of society,” or in the least as practicing acceptable sexual proclivities, they may never individually break before God and humbly accept His solution – which is the goal Christians have with the world – for sinful people to receive the solution to their sin – which is His Son and not the perfection of the sinful flesh.
Again, we are not ever suggesting that to accept God solution to our sinful ways assures that any human being will ever abandon their sinful practices entirely. The whole point is to suggest that all human beings need God’s solution to their specific bailiwick of sin, and to call sinful behavior non-sin will only serve to keep all people from God’s solution and will rarely bring them to His Son.
Additionally, it is also our unconditional love and acceptance of all people, of every walk and orientation, that will cause them to want to receive God’s singular solution to their specific sins and not necessarily our harping on their respective sinfulness of their behaviors. So while we always freely call sin “sin,” the naming of it always comes without any judgment whatsoever. How could any Christian judge another? They know that they also sin! All we are doing is providing a statement of fact. No more of a judgement call than when asked if the sky is blue to say, “yes, it is.” It is our love and acceptance of all that ought to forever override all biblical facts. That’s the point. The biblical fact is that almost everything human beings, of every walk, do is sinful to the hilt – if not in our outward flesh then certainly in our hearts. All of it and all of us. So judgment is not ever in the mix.
This final point must always be included in our discussions with our gay brothers and sisters. Their sin is no worse or less than ours. The ultimate question is – have they received the solution to their innate sin. If they are led to believe that their orientation is not sinful the chances for this are greatly diminished and our ultimate love for them as unbelievers is proven faulty.