WELCOMING BUT NOT AFFIRMING: HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE SCRIPTURES

WELCOMING BUT NOT AFFIRMING: HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE SCRIPTURES Scripture References: Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13 Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10 With grateful acknowledgement of sources used generously: John Stott, Homosexual Partnerships?; Stanley Grenz, Sexual Ethics and Welcoming But Not Affirming; Nicky Gumbel, Searching Issues; John White, Eros Redeemed Aug 25, 2002 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory This past month the liberal nation of Sweden, known for its sweeping sexual freedom and boasts of extreme tolerance, made another giant step. They have become so tolerant that just recently they passed a law to prosecute those whom they consider "intolerant". So it's right to be tolerant, and we ought to be tolerant of everyone, except those we think are intolerant. We just can't tolerate them! Gene Veith of World Magazine asks, "Will the desire to be tolerant mutate into an oppressive intolerance against intolerance?" So Sweden is taking legal steps to prosecute intolerant people, and ironically, simultaneously throwing out freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The Swedish parliament passed a constitutional amendment that would make it a crime to teach that homosexual behavior is immoral. After the final vote, when parliament reconvenes in September, it will be illegal for a pastor to teach what the Bible says about homosexual sin. In case that kind of "tolerance" ever becomes law in the United States, I'd like to teach on the subject now while I still can legally. The subject of homosexuality, like it or not, is a huge issue in our culture. And it is a huge issue in churches. Church organizations of more liberal slant are splitting and splintering over the issues of ordination of active homosexuals, recognizing gay and lesbian marriages as binding, and so on. As the world looks on the church is more and more being asked to make a stand on the issues. In most sectors it's really more of a dare. There is great pressure for Christian leaders to stop "oppressing" the homosexual community by what the world calls "condemning" them. You're a prude, a Victorian, old-fashioned, homophobic and intolerant if you preach anything other than full acceptance of homosexuality. As I deal with the subject I will necessarily limit the scope of what I say-no one wants to stay here long enough for a sermon that would cover it all-no matter how scintillating or provocative it is! Here is what we will not be dealing with--the political issues of gay rights or the widespread influence of militant activist groups pushing the gay agenda. I'm not saying these are not important topics, and I think we ought to be up-to-date and savvy on such issues. But, as much as I would like to speak to these subjects, I will save them for less formal teaching times and our cell group discussions, and use the "pulpit" time we have to focus on the biblical teachings on the subject. Our study of God's Word is what ought to govern how we Christians think and vote on political issues from a moral perspective. I won't be suggesting to you how to think or vote-that's entirely up to you. But I feel it is terribly important to lay a solidly biblical foundation for our thinking. When we have the Word and the will of God in our hearts, because we have faithfully and feverishly studied the written Revelation He providentially gave us, then we will know how to think and vote Christianly. Because it is so crucial for us to see this issue, I want to take a purely deductive approach. I will preach a "three-pointer" like the old mountaineer pastor did when he preached. He always had the same three points. "First, I tells 'em what I's going to tells 'em; then I tells 'em; and then I tells 'em what I just told 'em!" Here's our lesson in a nutshell: The Bible is clear and unambiguous, when taken at face value, that homosexual behavior (sexual activity with a same sex partner) is wrong. It is plainly against the will and intent of God for human sexuality, and therefore is to be avoided by anyone who has a desire to please God in the area of his or her sexual behavior. Considering the Biblical Passages Twice in the Old Testament Law, the practice of homosexual intercourse is explicitly condemned. Leviticus 18:22 speaks to men and says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." Chapter 20 and verse 13: "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable." What these passages say, in the simplest terms, is that God thinks gay sex is detestable. It is an utter perversion of what He intended for sexual expression to be. That's God's thought on the matter. One of the sins for which Sodom was destroyed was the practice of homosexuality. The men of Sodom ordered Lot to bring out his two male guests, "so that we can have sex with them." (Genesis 19:5) Similarly, the men of Gibeah in Judges 19 desired to homosexually rape the visitors, and verse 23 describes the whole idea as "disgraceful". Jude 1:7 says that the men of Sodom "gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion…" Elsewhere in the New Testament there is clear teaching about the practice of homosexuality. 1 Corinthians 6:9 makes a statement you'll probably not hear on prime time television - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." There's a whole lot of familiar sin in that list, isn't there? Paul is not saying there is no hope for those who commit such sins-there is always forgiveness available for repentant sinners through Jesus Christ. The point of this sin list, and the other sin lists in the New Testament, is to remind us what kinds of things offend God! In that list there are two particular terms that have to do with male homosexual behavior: "male prostitutes" (these were the usually younger, effeminate men in first century Roman society who were, frankly, for hire). The other term, "homosexual offenders," referred to those who would do the "hiring". There are some modern, liberal theologians who are dead set to prove that the Bible never condemns homosexuality. And, believe me, they perform all sorts of interpretive acrobatics in order to confuse the plain truth of passages like this, and allegedly show that they are not referring to homosexuality. But, the passage before us clearly identifies both partners in classical homosexual behavior-the passive and the active partners-so there is no mistaking that Paul was talking about homosexual activity. 1 Timothy 1:9-10 reads, "…the law is made not for good men but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts…" The word translated "perverts" here is the word, ARSENOKOITES is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 6:9 to refer to the aggressor homosexual offender. The primary text in the New Testament concerning God's view of homosexual behavior is in Romans 1. There the apostle Paul outlines the big picture of what happens to people when they ignore and disobey God by worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. To snub God like that is described as acting in godlessness and wickedness and having a "foolish heart" (verses 18-21). As they continued in this foolish behavior, not glorifying or thanking God, "their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened" (verses 21-22). Once again, then, they are described as fools, even though they thought themselves to be wise, because "they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for ../../images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles" (verses 23). So God gave them up to the next lower level in this downward spiral. Verses 24 and 25 document that step - "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen." But sexual perversion didn't stop there. The next step down the spiral is described in verses 26 and 27 - "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In 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." I'm not sure how anyone could read that passage and conclude that homosexual activity is not only diametrically opposed to God's will for people, but it is also way down at the bottom of the list of wicked behaviors. It is sin. Don't misunderstand. It is not the only sin, or the worst sin-although the Bible does call it detestable and disgraceful. The point is that it is sin, not and innocent "alternative lifestyle". Two Fundamental Truths There are two fundamental truths we must understand if we are to have a godly and biblical understanding of homosexuality. First, it is homosexual behavior that is expressly condemned in the Bible This is important because the uniquely 20th century slant on homosexuality is that the homosexual person is BORN that way or has been BROUGHT UP in such a way that being a homosexual was unavoidable for him. There is another whole debate on the NATURE OR NUTURE issue, but the conclusion in our culture is "Hey, you can't help who you are or what you are!" And if being gay is out of my control, how can a loving God (or his loving people) condemn me for it? This is the point that is so crucial for a right understanding-no one is ever condemned in the Bible, nor should they be in the church, for have a sinful "tendency". There were some in the Ephesian church, and in today's church, who love to steal things. It's pathological with them. Something in them makes them want to steal and feel like they have to steal. It might explain why millionaire recording stars get arrested for shoplifting $2.00 cosmetic items(?!). When Paul writes to the church and says, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need" (Ephesians 4:28), he was talking to people with a sinful tendency-a proclivity toward theft. And he said, "Stop that!" Why? That behavior was sinful. He did not condemn them for their desire to steal-he recognized it as their idiosyncratic weakness, and told them basically, "Okay, this is how you are-I think I understand; but you are not to carry out those impulses any more. Stop stealing!" The Christians who are wise will not get caught up in the debate over whether or not someone is a homosexual, and how he got that way. Ninety percent of the time it that is an attempt to justify the behavior. But it doesn't! Nevertheless, our culture is really into blaming someone or something else for why I am the way I am and why I do what I do. Social scientist Charles Sykes tells the true story of an FBI agent who embezzled $2,000 and used it for gambling. When he was fired for his crime, the agent did what a lot of folks do today: He began looking around to see whom he could blame. After he was fired, the FBI agent went to court. He successfully argued that his gambling behavior was a handicap, protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And the FBI was forced to reinstate him! Don't get sidetracked discussions of blame or identity. "Hey, I can't help it who I am! I'm gay. I like sex with people of my own gender." Whether or not there are solid reasons for perverse preferences is immaterial. The Bible does not condemn a person for innately craving perverse behavior-that's all part of our sin nature, our fallenness. It is the behavior that is condemned. If a person feels oriented toward homosexuality, it doesn't mean s/he will, or must, act on those feelings. The sexologists' reports from Kinsey to Masters and Johnsons to Clark indicate that only one in forty men who feel homosexual feelings will act on those feelings. And for women who feel drawn to lesbianism it is only one in eighty who will act out such fantasies. Number one, feelings are unreliable, especially in such a fickle area as sex. We are wantonly sinful creatures, because we have rebelled against God. We're crazy if we expect our desires to be naturally towards our holy God and away from sin. Number two, just because I want to act out sinfully doesn't mean I must. There is choice in these matters. Particularly is that so for those who are believers, who have the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Three, self-restraint is a noble human virtue. It is always right to deny ourselves harmful pleasures-not easy, but right. God honors our right choices. And, again for the Christian, it is the grace of God that "…teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." (Titus 2:12). An important biblical principle applies here. Consider for a moment the teaching at James 1:13-15 - "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." (James 1:13-14) When we are tempted it is always our own evil desire, coming up out of our sinful hearts, that is trying to draw us away from God and into rebellious behavior. It isn't God's fault, and at this stage, it's not the devil's fault, either! It is your own sinful desires! The biggest demon we ever fight is our own sinful heart! "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:15) Temptation is not sin. Relishing, nurturing, playing with temptation-that's when we enter into sin. We find ourselves inexorably falling into the behavior we have allowed ourselves the luxury of fantasizing. My point is this-whatever impure and sinful thoughts and temptations that rise out of your heart, whether homoerotic sexual temptations heteroerotic sexual temptations, you have not sinned when you struggle with these temptations. And you have not sinned because these temptations came up out of your sinful heart. You sin when you act on the impulse. When it comes to even the hardest areas of temptation, which are sexual ones, you don't have to act out your fantasies! You may receive from the Lord His promised help to resist sinful behavior whenever you need it, even if it has been a lifestyle for you. The answer is three chapters later in James: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:7-8) You can be gay all day long and not sin, but once you allow yourself to focus on the lust and act on the impulse to homosexual behavior, you have sinned the very sin that the Bible repeatedly condemns. It is homosexual behavior that is expressly condemned in the Bible. In our day there are a lot of people who feel confused as far as their sexual identity is concerned. There are probably several in this room right now. Please hear this - God can heal you. He wants to heal you. He has healed others. I want to make an offer to anyone in the sound of my voice, even by tape, or in the printed version of this teaching on our web site. If you want to find freedom from the bondage of homosexuality, you can. God wants to help deliver you, and He will, if you want Him to. If you want this healing, or if you want to find out more, you call me or write to me and I will personally and discreetly put you in touch with a real live Christian who has been delivered from homosexuality through faith in Jesus Christ. I have already procured permission of these people who are members of this church, and they have agreed in advance to meet with you, whoever you are. You may meet with a woman delivered from lesbianism or you may meet with a man delivered from the gay lifestyle. Just call. Metro-East Christian Fellowship 618-624-MECF (6323) pastorich@mecf.net I feel compelled to share a word of encouragement with the young people, particularly teens. You are in an exciting, but difficult time in your lives. I know that you struggle with your sexual identity. And if you are a devout Christian you are struggling to stay pure in a world where virgins are nerds and abstinence is abnormal. Stay the course. You are always right to follow the will of God. What's right is right, even if nobody is doing it; what's wrong is wrong, even if everybody is doing it. If you are struggling with questions about your sexual identity, and you're perhaps worried that you might be gay because you have these "feelings" sometimes, please know that does not mean you are homosexual. Everyone struggles with those feelings in their teen years-especially in our current culture. It doesn't mean anything conclusive. I want to urge you to talk with your parents or another Christian adult you respect and trust. They will respect your feelings, understand your struggle and they will pray with you and for you. You may want to take some time to counsel with an ex-gay or ex-lesbian Christian. Call me at the church office - 618-624-6323. Your requests and your needs will be handled with discretion, love and confidentiality. Not only is homosexual behavior sin, Secondly, homosexual behavior is a consequence of sin. The Romans passage is a picture of the downward spiral of ever-worsening sin. Homosexual behavior is almost the last stop on that downward spiral. The plain truth of that passage is that for mankind, life lived apart from God is bad news. Life lived in outright rebellion against God is worse. There are four levels in Romans 1. At each point God "gives them up". Here is the startling truth about homosexuality-it is the inevitable result of continual rebellion against God. While it is true that when we engage in homosexual behavior it is sin, it is also true that when we sin we get homosexuality as a result of sin. Certainly homosexual sin is not the only kind of sin. We witnessed that in the sin lists we reviewed. But only a simpleton would say it is not a pervasive contemporary issue, and one that many struggle with. The Bible is clear about sin. We have all fallen into it, and have thereby fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 5:12 teaches that "…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Sin is the consequence of sin. When sin entered into the world it changed the entire environment in which we live. With sin all around us it is harder not to sin. Two people struggle with drunkenness. One is just out to have a good time and thinks that drinking a lot will help him get there. The other is the son of an alcoholic, with emotional scars and a chemically induced propensity to need alcohol. Which one will find it harder to NOT drink? On the one hand we could say that the son of the alcoholic, who statistically a very high chance of becoming an alcoholic himself surely would have a harder time staying sober. But he still may not become a victim of alcoholism is he chooses to NOT act on his impulses and temptations. Is it harder for him to say no that the other guy? Of course! But he is a moral agent with the privilege and the responsibility to choose. Those who struggle with homosexual urges will have a much more difficult time resisting homosexual sin than the next person will, but he still can choose. This is especially true for the believer who has the power of the Holy Spirit at his disposal. If you are not a Christian and the pressure is too much for you, that is God's grace at work in your life, showing you that your sin problem is bigger than you can handle and you need a savior. God is using the pain in your life to bring you to faith in His Son. He loves you and wants to deliver you. We all wrestle with our peculiar demons. Your personal proclivity may not be toward homosexual behavior, but you are vulnerable somewhere(s). Maybe your weakness is heterosexual immorality. Let me ask you, is your sexual involvement with someone to whom you are not married any less a sin than the homosexual's involvement with a same-sex partner? My point is not to minimize the seriousness of the sin of homosexuality, but to remind us all that we are sinners. All of our sin, each of our sins, is an affront to our holy God. We all need His forgiveness and His healing. None of us is impervious to sin and none of us is given permission to continue walking in our sin. Nor is any one of us in a position to say we are better than a homosexual sinner. We all need God's grace and forgiveness. Conclusion I entitled this message "Welcoming But Not Affirming," a title I borrowed from Stanley Grenz' book by the same name (a book I would heartily recommend to you for further study in formulating an evangelical response to homosexuality). So, as I pull the drawstrings on this teaching, I want to bring a couple of direct exhortations based on what we learn from the scriptures. A practical word to parents         I don't need to tell you that our culture is more and more being affected by the aggressive, even militant, promotion of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. In the media, at school and among his peers, your child is being inundated with the worldly message that legitimizes homosexual behavior (and other forms of deviant and immoral sexual behavior). If you have never sat down and discussed these matters with your child, I urge you to do it now. Just because you have not discussed issues of sexuality with your child does not mean others aren't. They are. The broad scale homosexual agenda is not only pervasive and aggressive, but it is often predatory. Know whom your kids are hanging around. I strongly recommend that you make a priority of familiarizing yourself with your child's circle of friends. Know where they go and what they do when they get there. It is not wrong to ask questions of your children. Don't let them intimidate you with accusations of not trusting them. Of course you don't trust them! They're sinners just like you, and you've been given the responsibility of making them accountable until they are adults. Don't abdicate your role. Research is abundant - the strongest safeguard against children turning to a homosexual lifestyle is a caring pair of parents (and I mean a dad and a mom). But that shouldn't surprise us. That's exactly the way God set it up. Exhortation to the church Ephesians 4:15 and 25 make it clear that the road to maturity is paved with TRUTH and LOVE. I want to make it resoundingly clear that this church will stand for both when it comes to dealing with homosexuality and when it comes to dealing with homosexuals. We will not shrink from declaring the truth of God's Word. Homosexual tendencies, temptations and feelings are not sins. Homosexual behavior is sin. We cannot preach the whole counsel of the Word of God without insisting on this truth. We will likewise not shrink from loving people-heterosexually-oriented people and homosexually-oriented people. Metro-East Christian Fellowship will always try our best to love and serve people with needs (there are no other kinds!). If you are gay or lesbian and you want to get to know God through Jesus Christ, this church will help you do that, and we will promise to love and encourage you along the way. Also along the way you will be exhorted to leave your lifestyle of sinful behavior and find forgiveness, deliverance and healing in Jesus Christ. We reject the label "homophobia" and will do our best, as servants of the Lord to reach out and minister to people who are in any kind of bondage. I want to also mention that recently our congregation began sponsoring a new cell group that is targeting those with addictive behaviors, including sexual addiction, gambling, drinking, and others. Again, there is more information on this group if you will call the church office or speak with me or one of the other elders. God loves you, and He wants to make you whole. That will almost always happen in the context of a people who practice the truth in love. Remember, because of what Jesus did at Calvary, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven, and there are no chains that cannot be broken. If you will come to Christ and submit your life to Him, He will receive you, forgive you; He will heal you from your past, your hurts, your fears; and He will deliver you from your bondages. Will you trust Him to do that in your life today?   [Back to Top]