Do I Love Gay People? Lent Day 6

As a Christian I have to answer this question.....Do I love gay people?



My answer is Yes.



My main point in writing this will be to define what the Bible says about homosexuality. I will not be preaching or lecturing anyone who is a homosexual or who agrees with homosexuality. I am simply showing what the Bible has to say.



My second point will be how I .....as a Christian respond to a homosexual. Plus the wrongs and rights in how the church at wide has treated homosexuals.First let me say that I am not going to point out homosexuals as these "supreme sinners" because all of us....are equal in terms of sin.



Romans 3:23 (NLT)



23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.





Let me be very clear in saying that I unapologetically believe the Bible and it's standards on what homosexuality is. What does the Bible have to say about it as far as it being a sin? I'll comment more after each verse is read.





1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NLT)



9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
11Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.





Scripture is pretty clear that Homosexuality is sin ( along with many other things mentioned in the above passage) but it's also clear that scripture says one can change! Not just from a sexual lifestyle but from sin's grip all together through Christ.





Romans 1:26-27 (NIV)



26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.





The above verses do not leave it open to suggestion that the Bible says the homosexual lifestyle is not natural. Romans 1 essentially talks about how mankind can plainly see God's qualities, order, and truths but along the way we in the futility of our thinking exchanged God's truth for lies. Paul mentions homosexuality in this chapter because it just is genuinely clear how this doesn't fit naturally for God's creation. Don't get me wrong all sin, which we all do, is not what creation was intended for either. Essentially sin means "missing the mark."





2. How do I as a Christian respond to a person who is homosexual.Well I first ask what would the Bible or Jesus have me do?



Matthew 7:12-13 (NIV)



12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.



Christians haven't always lived up to this standard. Especially in the face of politics and "culture wars." Some have ungraciously forgotten RESPECT.



Matthew 5:46-48 (NIV)



If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.





I have to admit I am really good at loving those like minded with me. While I am imperfect at it I strive to love others who aren't like me even if I disagree with them.



Philippians 4:5 (NIV)



5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.



It doesn't say ....let your gentleness be evident to some, or to those who agree w/ you......but to ALL.



Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)



15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.





As Christians we do have standards , anyone who knows me knows I stand up for what I believe.However there is a way to present Biblical truths and values.....which often disagree with the secular culture......in grace and love. To often those in the church at large forgets to do that.





3. How the church responds to homosexuality.





1 - Extreme hatred - Fred Phelps leads a congregation in Topeka. He and his band of followers go around the country protesting various things with signs that say "God hates fags", "God Damn America" etc etc. Because of him those that follow the true Gospel of Christ have to explain themselves, the media coverage he gets doesn't help us either. My take on Phelps....he isn't following anything close to what I know is Biblical, he seems very self righteous, and I personally think he will not be in heaven one day. Not just because his life devoted to hate, but his life void of Jesus Christ.





2 - Balanced approach - Augustine I believed coined the phrase " Love the sinner and hate the sin." Many or most churches I think strive for this. Loving homosexuals but not accepting the lifestyle. Homosexuals are human, they have feelings, genuine hurts and cares, as Jesus was friends with many whom the "religious" deemed not worthy (IE. prostitutes, tax collectors, drunkards, the poor,etc). We who are his followers should follow that example. That doesn't mean we dilute the truth of the Gospel and its saving message, Jesus told the plain truth that sinners (all of us) needed Him, but we love others as he did in genuine love.





3 - Siding on the error of grace or totally denying the Bible.

Many liberal denominations have openly embraced homosexuality and ignored anything the Bible has to say on the issue. Anglicans, Episcopals, a branch of Lutheran, and some in the United Methodist Church.


To me that's as equally wrong as # 1. If you look at the above examples in scripture again 1 and 3 aren't right. Genuine love doesn't refuse to tell the truth about sin. If my best friend in the world came up to me telling me he was going to rob a bank because it would benefit him financially you'd better believe I'd warn him how that wasn't good for him. ( No I am not comparing gays with bank robbers, just sin with sin) Or if he came up to me telling me how he still loved his wife but he was going to have an affair you'd better believe I'd warn him just how wrong that was and how the consequences could be devastating.

Thank you for reading. I hope I approached this with gentleness and respect. This is an aspect of faith and a pretty divisive issue in our culture. Again my point was to present the biblical case for its view on homosexuality, but also a biblical case for how homosexuals should be treated. Again I don't zero in on them as these super sinners, but I zero in on the topic because it's a big one in our day and Christians cannot avoid it. Thanks for reading.



* In upcoming blogs I'll address some things politically and culturally but this was not the blog for it.