The Christian Response to Pride
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Introduction
Introduction
First things first, I should warn you that today’s topic is a sensitive subject. Though I have made every effort to keep things from being at all explicit, it’s mature subject matter so if you have children with you, you may want to send them downstairs for this one.
I’m going to take a charitable view here and assume that whoever submitted today’s question isn’t trying to get me in trouble.
How are we as Christians supposed to respond to pride? (and all its states re: LGBTQ)
How are we as Christians supposed to respond to pride? (and all its states re: LGBTQ)
You see I almost got away with just preaching a sermon about the sin of pride and the need for humility, but then they put in the small print to clarify what they meant.
There are a few things I want to say right out of the gate: First, that if you or someone you love are gay than I hope that you listen with an open mind and don’t see anything that I’m about to say as a personal attack, it really isn’t. I love you and God loves you and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. That being said the second thing I want to say right at the start is that I am not ashamed of the Bible, and I believe that in the words of 2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So that means that I am going to stick by the words of Scripture no matter how unpopular they become, an d when it comes to this topic boy have they become unpopular.
So how are we as Christians supposed to respond to pride month? Well first of all I believe that the name of the celebration is already not a good start. Pride is pretty universally condemned in the Bible. See for example Proverbs 18:12
Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor.
and Proverbs 16:18
Pride comes before destruction,
and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
and Daniel 4:37
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
and Mark 7:20-23
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
These are all just talking about pride in general, not even considering whether the thing in which they take pride is considered right or wrong. When it comes to what pride month is celebrating, the Bible also has a clear message. Before we get to that though, I want to be clear that what the Bible is talking about here is same sex sexual relations, not attraction or temptation. If we were considered condemned sinners for our temptations we would all be doomed, and so would Jesus who was tempted in the same way that we are. So let’s read a few verses about this subject.
Consider Leviticus 18:22
You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable.
And before you dismiss this as an old testament law that doesn’t apply in the new covenant, consider the context. Leviticus 18:21-24
“You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable. You are not to have sexual intercourse with any animal, defiling yourself with it; a woman is not to present herself to an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.
“Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things.
None of the other things listed here would be so quickly dismissed as an Old Testament law that no longer applies, and God says that these are the things for which He is judging other nations, nations which did not swear to keep His covenant and therefore also were not under the law. Not only that but the prohibition against homosexual sex is reiterated in the New Testament. We read in Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.
This is Paul describing the behaviour of those who are Gentiles and why they are condemned by God, this is one in a list of other things like idolatry, greed, murder, quarrels, gossip, etc. And again we read in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.
Finally there are those who would respond to say that Jesus Himself didn’t say anything about homesexual sex being sinful, to which I would respond to with several points: first, Jesus is God so everything in the God-breathed scriptures is something Jesus said, second that Jesus’ fellow Jews in the first century upheld the prohibition in Leviticus so Jesus had no need to correct them on this and Jesus spent most of His time teaching publicly on subjects in which His fellow countrymen had misunderstood or been mislead, and finally this is ultimately an argument from silence, and you can’t come up with someone’s opinion on something based on what they didn’t say.
All that being said, homosexual sex is not some special sin that deserves more attention than others. We all struggle with sinful desires, we’re all sinners saved by grace and God is slow to anger and abounding in love and has forgiveness ready to give to anyone who repents and believes. The problem that arises is that people who desire homosexual relationships and gender transition don’t view these things as acts that they desire to do, but as a part of their identity. This is why they are insulted when you say “hate the sin, love the sinner.” They hear “hate the identity” and then stop listening. But I believe strongly that they have been fed a harmful lie. Your identity is not to be found in your sexual desires. It’s not to be found in any number of mixed up things that we today say are “who we are.” Your identity is that you’re either a lost child of God or a redeemed child of God. That’s what matters about you no matter what you feel or what you want in this life. Jesus loves you and wants to be your Lord and Savior.
So what then as Bible believing Christians are we supposed to do when June rolls around and we find ourselves confronted with an entire month dedicated to celebrating something that we believe is sinful? Well I think there are three important things to do:
Recognize that this isn’t new
Speak the Truth in Love
Recognize that it’s not your job to fix sinners
1. Recognize that this isn’t new
1. Recognize that this isn’t new
I believe that we as Christians, myself included, are sometimes guilty of this complex where we get the idea in our heads that things are worse today than they’ve ever been. That our culture is on a steady decline and if we’d only been born a few decades ago we would have had it so much easier. This is especially true when it comes to things like today’s topic. We say to ourselves “people have never rejected God’s design for marriage more than they have in our generation.” This is not the case. Consider Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
History has a way of repeating itself. Consider the fact that God might not have felt the need to include a prohibition against homosexual acts in Leviticus if there hadn’t been plenty of people engaged in such behavior at the time. This is confirmed again by the statement that follows it that the nations around Israel had sinned in those same ways that God listed.
Also, Paul was not “preaching to the choir” when he called homosexual sex sinful. Many of the Gentile nations viewed homosexual acts with a casual attitude, in fact in Greek society it was considered normal for even married men to occasionally have sex with other men. There are even records of prominent men marrying other men. For a time we lived in a society that at least on the surface lived by Christian moral standards. Now we are simply returning to how it used to be for the early Christians: living amongst a pagan nation being consistently misunderstood by it.
In fact Jesus as much as promised us that we wouldn’t fit in with our society. Consider His words in Matthew 10:21-25
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!
This may ring especially true for those of us who have family members against us because of our views. The reassurance that comes with this verses is in knowing that we are only receiving the same treatment as our master received and continues to receive. We here in North America, at least for the time being, have things easy. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to flee a town because of persecution? Have you ever been flogged? Pelted with rocks? Crucified? These are all things that Christians have faced before and face even today in some nations around the world. We are living in this world, but we are not “of” this world. John 17:9-20
“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled. Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word.
We are citizens of a different nation, God’s Kingdom, but for the time being we must live here. This means that we can’t try to dictate what a sinful world does, but we shouldn’t participate in it. What then should we do? We should:
2. Speak the Truth In Love
2. Speak the Truth In Love
Paul says in
The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.
There’s a lot to unpack here. First, Paul is talking about Christian maturity and growth, which in his words includes a steadfast loyalty to Christ that isn’t blown around metaphorically by changing times and new teachings. In this context he urges the Ephesians to “speak the truth in love.” The application of this principle extends to a lot of different areas. In these five words (three in the greek) are contained our guide to living amongst a culture that disagrees with what the Bible teaches, a commitment to stand on and teach God’s truth paired with a heart that truly loves those to whom we are speaking.
This encourages a balance between commitment to what we believe and love towards those who don’t agree with us, although I feel compelled to point out that truth and love are not in conflict here. In fact, the loving thing to do if you believe someone is in error is to speak the truth to them. 1 Corinthians 13:6
Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.
So Truth and love are complimentary. This being said there is a tendency in we Christians to sometimes speak the truth in an unloving way or to supress the truth in the name of so called love. Neither is the healthy way to react to opposition from the world. The more we are silent the more we allow people to be mislead and led into sin, and the more our silence is taken to be agreement.
With that being said I have one more point to make about the subject, and that’s:
3. Recognize that it’s not your job to fix sinners
3. Recognize that it’s not your job to fix sinners
Trying to get people to stop sinning (especially in a hyper fixated way on a particular sin) is sort of like telling a person on a sinking ship that their shoes are untied. Maybe you’re right, but there’s a bigger problem. Our focus should be on the message of grace and forgiveness, and though we shouldn’t be ashamed or hide our beliefs about what God considers sinful, that’s just plain not the number one issue. Remember that we are all sinners saved by grace. Everyone is naturally bent towards wrongdoing and sin. If you came to Christ and there wasn’t a single thing you had to give up in order to be faithful to Jesus, than you’re lying. Jesus asks us all to give up a lot to follow Him, and if others are unwilling to give up what Jesus asks them to give up, then they are the ones who will need to account to Him for that.
Remember how Jesus instructed His disciples when He sent them out to minister in pairs in Matthew 10:12-14
Greet a household when you enter it, and if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it; but if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.
In this statement there’s a bit of an attitude of letting go. We are called by God to be messengers and to bring the gospel to people, but at the end of the day God respects people’s free will and so should we. If we can rest assured that we have presented the truth to someone to the best of our ability and they reject you and your message, than shake the dust off your feet and move on. It’s now between them and God. For a lot of people the issue of homosexual sex has become a bridge to far for them when it comes to accepting Jesus. How sad to think people would give up eternal life and relationship with God for something so fleeting in the grand scheme of things. But at the end of the day that’s there responsiblity not yours.
Though we are to be salt and light and try to influence our society for the better, the Way has always been narrow with few who truly find it, so we shouldn’t be surprised when the culture leads toward the wide path away from Jesus and Scripture.
Conclusion
Conclusion
To be honest a lot of this is very simple in concept but difficult in practice. What is the Christian Response to Pride Month? To stay faithful to Christ and stand for the truth and not encourage sinful behaviors. What does that look like in day to day practice? Well that gets more complicated. More and more we’re facing situations where we have to decide whether to use someone’s prefered pronouns, whether to skip mandatory pride celebrations at school or workplaces, whether we’ll buy products from companies that encourage practices we disagree with. At the end of the day we need to make a lot of careful decisions with wisdom, prayer and above all a reliance on God’s Word.
Whatever we do I hope and pray that we will have the strength and courage not to compromise on what we believe for the sake of our own reputations and successes. If we are careful let it be for the sake of continued opportunities to speak truth into peoples lives, and let us have the wisdom to know what is a bridge to far. And let us encourage and strengthen one another against an increasingly hostile world.
Let’s end on an encouraging word from Scripture, Joshua 1:7-9
Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”