Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Repent and forsake your sins.......unless you're gay

I didn't realize until I joined a Christian blogger page on Facebook just how prevalent this idea that homosexuality isn't a sin is. I knew there are people who believe that and have ran across some of them, but I am just starting to realize this false narrative and beliefs are far more widespread than I had imagined.

  For a guy who has personally dealt with this issue myself for so long, the idea of it being OK is ludicrous to me. I lived that life for years in between trying to serve God at intervals in between....... and I never considered for a moment that the Bible was wrong about it. The Bible refers to people being given over to believe a lie, and I do believe there comes a point where some "gay Christians" come to completely believe they are OK the way they are and can be a Christian while having sex with the same gender. However, I also firmly believe that most people trying to live as a "gay Christian" know down deep that they are wrong. God is a merciful God full of grace and love, and I can't imagine He easily or quickly gives people over to believe this lie.

  I am not really sure what is behind non-gay people pushing this idea so much. I can understand a gay person wanting to believe it. To be able to continue in your sin and still be a Christian with no change.....yeah, that is attractive. But why are so many Christians who don't deal personally with the issue pushing this idea that gay is OK with God? Many claim it is love, but is it love to leave people in their sin and offer no hope of change or deliverance? It is like telling a man in a pit he is fine where he is and that he doesn't have to get out of the pit. It is like telling a man in chains that he really is free and OK the way he is and offering no way to get out of his chains,



  Think about it for a moment. Imagine going to a pastor we'll call Jim. You tell him you are addicted to porn. He prays with you, gives you some guidance on how to stop, and offers accountability to you to help. Now imagine John comes to Jim and confesses he has a drug addiction. Again, Jim is going to offer help, suggest some places for drug addicts to go to get clean, etc. No matter what sin people come to Jim about, he encourages change, repentance, and an offer to help them in any way he can to get victory over their sin.

   Then along comes Sean. Sean confesses to Jim that he is an adulterer and doesn't want to be, yet he can't stop wanting to have sex and relationships with other women besides his wife. So what does Jim do? He tells Sean he is OK the way he is, that the Bible doesn't really condemn adultery, and that there is no need to repent and change from his sexual behaviors.

  What would we think of a pastor, or any Christian, who would tell a man that? Well, substitute gay and sex with other men in that example above, and that is exactly what happens.

  Is it really love to not offer hope and repentance to a gay person? Is it love to tell them they are OK the way they are and that they don't have to change? Is it not basically cruelty to withhold that from them?



  No it isn't easy to deal with same-sex attractions. No, it isn't easy to abstain from what seems to come no naturally. But one problem with modern/progressive/liberal Christianity is that we have this idea it should be easy. We either ignore the what Jesus said about denying ourselves and carrying a cross, or we make it into something it isn't.

  Jesus died for all of mankind. He offers hope and deliverance from sin to all who believe, and gay people are not exempt from that deliverance from their sin. He never has - and never will - leave people in their sin, but will offer deliverance and a way out of their sin. That is to be Christ-like and the way to love gay people, not let them in their sin and tell them they are fine the way they are.

1 comment:

Alexei Koslov said...

Since Eden, the Devil has been lying and "reinterpreting" God's clear words. It's no surprise. I believe all this pro-gay activism has become so much of an issue because we are really in the last days. Furthermore, it goes to the core of our identity, and it hurts God's image in us, and it is a direct attack at one of God's purpose in marriage - to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the Church.