Sermon Tone Analysis

Why Doesn’t the Bible Address Homosexuality More?

Introduction

Why doesn’t the Bible mention homosexuality more?

This is clearly a hot subject today.

Shouldn’t the Bible writers, if it was that important to God, have spoken on this issue more?

You know, there are 6 passages that explicitly address the topic of homosexuality out of 31,000 verses—6 passages, 31,000 verses.

Now, 3,000 verses allegedly address God’s concern for the poor, so the poor is this massive subject, 3,000 verses; homosexuality is only a few passages.

Maybe we’ve gotten out of balance here on the subjects that we should address.

So why doesn’t the Bible address this more?

Let me just ask a few questions that’ll maybe help us process this.

How would you answer this question?

What is the question behind the question?

Is Frequency Indicative of Importance?

First off, is it a good hermeneutic to determine importance of an issue based on how much it appears in the Bible?

Is this a good approach to determining importance in Scripture based on how much it appears in the Bible?

What others topics in Scripture do we have that are not evenly weighted?

Original Sin

Look, Paul barely mentions original sin—it’s in Rom 3 pretty clearly, but he doesn’t often mention original sin explicitly.

It doesn’t show up explicitly in many different places in the Bible.

Well, why not?

Does that mean it’s unimportant?

I think a case could be made that the gospel rests on understanding original sin.

It’s assumed, but it’s not explicitly stated.

Care for Creation

The Bible does not frequently mention care for creation.

Does that get us off the hook of showing responsibility for preserving environment?

No, when we understand God, His stewardship, why He’s placed us here, even though the Bible doesn’t explicitly state it, we know that that’s an assumed truth and a responsibility that Christians have.

Should we expect the Bible to address an issue in depth that has only really been debated over the past half century?

Why would the Bible go into depth on this issue, which is hot right now in our time, but which was not for the first two thousand years of the church and may not be sometime into the future.

I mean it strikes me as very anachronistic to expect the Bible, when many of the letters and writings were written to certain people at a certain time—yes, with universal application, but addressing particular issues—when their issues were different than our issues today, why should they address it?

Creation Narrative of Human Sexuality

But third, the Bible gives a creation narrative of sexuality that is assumed throughout the entire Scriptures, and it’s frequently referenced.

We see it begin in Gen 1 and in Gen 2, but it’s referenced in Matt 19:3–6, we see it in Eph 5:21–33.

So there is a creation narrative that is built in the beginning of the Bible, and it’s assumed and referenced to throughout the entirety of the Scriptures.

Six Key Passages on Homosexuality

But fourth, there are actually more passages that deal with the issue of same-sex relationships than you might think.

Now, I do find it kind of ironic that critics often say the Bible doesn’t speak about homosexuality, but then they turn around and they find issues of homosexuality in stories such as David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, Jesus and the Roman centurion, when clearly homosexuality was not at play there.

So here are the standard texts that we will break down and we will look at them, but these are the key texts in particular and explicitly that deal with the issue of homosexuality to greater and lesser degrees.

One is Genesis 19:4–11, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

You have Leviticus 18:22, and you also have Lev 20:13.

Move to the nt, Rom 1:26–27.

Paul deals with it again in 1 Cor 6:9, and following and then again in 1 Tim 1:10.

Conclusion

So if the Bible was written to a modern context today, specifically in writing letters to churches today, of course Paul would deal with it more.

But it wasn’t.

It was written at a different time to different people, but we see an underlying theology that addresses it and then some specific passages that deal with it, which we will look at in due time.

Why Didn’t Jesus Address Homosexuality?

Introduction

Jesus didn’t say anything about homosexuality.

Why didn’t He talk about it?

If it’s such a big issue, why didn’t Jesus address it more?

So the objection goes.

LGBT advocate Jay Michaelson puts it this way: “Here are all the statements Jesus Christ made about homosexuality.”

Then it says:

“Surprising, isn’t it?

Let’s check again—nope, nothing, even … Jesus lived at a time when pederasty and other forms of same-sex activity were common.

This silence speaks volumes.”

So, how do we respond to this if Jesus didn’t say anything about it?

No Need

Well, first off, we’ve got to realize, again, this objection is anachronistic.

The topic of homosexuality is a big subject in our culture right now and it has been in the past few decades, but throughout the history of the church and the world it was not a big debatable subject.

Why should we expect Jesus to speak into a subject and an issue that’s the topic now but it wasn’t during His day, because, in fact, He didn’t have to.

Every reference to homosexual behavior in Judaism and the early Christian church was entirely negative; there was no debate about the morality.

From the left to the right, it was agreed that same-sex behavior was wrong.

So it was clear where Jesus stood on the issue.

How did Jesus approach sexual ethics in His earthly ministry?

Jesus’ Standards Sometimes Surpassed Torah’s

But on sexual ethics, Jesus often adopted stricter rather than more lenient views.

He had higher standards than the Torah and contemporary expectations.

So sometimes critics often think, “Well, if Jesus didn’t speak on it, then He must have been okay with it.”

But, actually, inclinations might need to be the other way, especially on issues related to marriage and sexuality.

Jesus had higher standards.

Divorce

So take the subject of divorce.

It was generally believed that a husband could divorce his wife for any and for all reasons, at least to those on the left, and there was debate about that subject to a degree.

Jesus weighed in on this on the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew 5:31-32 Here He’s referring to the law in the ot example

Now, there is debate about exactly how to make sense of the teachings of Jesus here.

I get that, but what seems clear is He’s saying, “This was the standard, but I’m moving you into a more conservative direction.”

Lust

Take the issue of lust, also in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matt 5:27–28

Essentially, adultery was committing the physical act.

Jesus says, “No, if you just have lust in your heart towards a woman, you have committed adultery.”

Robert Gagnon states it well.

He says,

What was distinctive about Jesus’ ministry was not that he refused to make judgments about the conduct of others, or even that he lowered his moral standards.

On the contrary, in many areas he elevated those standards.

What was distinctive was his incredibly generous spirit even toward those who had lived in gross disobedience to God for years.

Jesus Affirmed Creation Account of Human Sexuality

But on top of that, Jesus actually did affirm the creation account as normative for sex and marriage.

So in Matthew 19:3–6

What is Jesus doing here?

Jesus is asked about divorce in the context of marriage; He’s not asked about homosexuality, but we will see a principle that applies.

What’s interesting is Jesus quotes Gen 1, where He says that God made them male and female.

And then He quotes Gen 2:24, where it says, “And the two shall leave their mother and father and they become one flesh.…

Let not man separate what God has brought together.”

How does this apply to issue of Homosexuality?

What we see Jesus doing is that this ot passage in Genesis wasn’t just in the past.

He sees that it’s normative for today.

And He viewed God designing sex as a gift for creation, and it was meant to be between one man and one woman and a permanent monogamous relationship for life, and that it’s oriented towards children.