Who's Right?

It’s when two opposing ideas appear in complement one another when used in conjunction. It’s called an “oxymoron.” For instance, here are some oxymorons:

Act naturally

Alone together

Amazingly awful

Bittersweet

Clearly confused

Dark light

Deafening silence

Definite maybe

Ok, maybe these examples prove that two opposing ideas CAN be successfully joined at times. At other times, however, contradictory ideas are actually contradictions, and, try as you might, you just cannot make them fit together.

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There are some oxymorons in the Christian world. For instance, can you be a pro-choice believer? Could you be, as I heard it espoused in my Aesthetics class at Middle Tenn State University, a “Christian Existentialist?” I am sure that some on the political left wonder if “Christian” and “Republican” belong in the same sentence, while others on the political right question whether you can be a “Christian” and a “Democrat.” And we will have to admit that combinations that some consider to be oxymoronic, others consider to be successful unions.

Nowhere is the question of compatibility so debated as in this one. Can you be a Christian Homosexual? Is that an oxymoron or a successful combination of terms? Can a Christian be gay?

Some answer a resounding “yes.” He is running for the Democratic nomination to be the president of the United States. His name is Pete Butigeig. He loves to talk of himself being a follower of Christ while being gay, then he makes this statement which has become quite common in his stump speech. Speaking of his belief that he is gay, he says, “If you have a problem with who I am your quarrel is with my Creator.”

Now I know when you hear that, you’re mind is running to various places in the Scripture—places like which says: (NKJV)

Romans 1:26–27 NKJV

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. Your question might be something like this: How can a person who claims to be a Christian accept something that the Bible so clearly condemns?

Well before I answer that question, I need to be very honest right up front. I firmly believe that the Bible speaks clearly on this subject and that those who would justify this lifestyle are mistaken and in grave danger. So understand: I am not writing this to condemn those who disagree with me, but to warn them. I am also writing it for you as a Christian who is increasingly hearing your view on this subject challenged, not just by the media on the TV but by your neighbor across the street. In fact, in this city right now there are some churches who are being pulled apart by this issue.

So, knowing the confusion that is out there, I began to do some research and study. In that process I ran across a video by Voddie Baucham which addressed many of the arguments that I have run into so, using His message as an outline I developed this message.

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And I really want you to listen this morning. I want to straightforwardly address some of the confusion that is afoot in the church today. I want to answer that question this morning. I want to look at some of the arguments Christians who accept homosexuality make to justify their acceptance of the gay lifestyle and seek to Scripturally answer them.

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Those who justify this lifestyle say that they do so because of

The Acceptance by Others

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Simply put, some believe that we should change the historic biblical position the church has taken on homosexuality because Christians of many other churches are embracing LGBTQ members. Denominations such as the Evangelical Lutheran Chruch in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA) are being followed by others who claim to be evangelical and support what they call “LGBT equality.” They are said to be bravely leading the way in showing what it looks like to be faithful Christians who affirm our LGBT “brothers” and “sisters.”

ANSWER

While, in my view, none of the arguments made for changing the ban on homosexuality are convincing, this one really isn’t even an argument. It’s like a child offering up the “everybody’s doing it” argument to his mom when he wants to do something foolish or dangerous. It’s more like trying to use public opinion to manipulate an outcome. Just because everyone’s doing it doesn’t mean it’s biblical. In fact, if everyone is, indeed doing it, that’s pretty good evidence that it is NOT biblical! We do not make our judgments based on what everyone is doing but on the word of God.

During World War 2 the Lutheran church in Germany largely caved to Hitler because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. Before the Civil War, the Baptist church in the south condoned slavery because it was what everyone was doing. Just because people accept something does not make it right. This really isn’t an argument at all.

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And it certainly isn’t the only one that is used. Others are saying that we must accept the practice of homosexuality because of:

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The Pain of Rejection.

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This argument asserts that the church’s ban on homosexuality creates such pain in those practicing this lifestyle that it cannot be of God. The church’s rejection of same-sex relationships has caused tremendous, needless suffering to LGBT people and this pain is simply wrong.

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But simply speaking the truth is not rejection or hate. It, in fact, can be the most loving action you can take. If I am walking down the street tomorrow and I see you about to be plowed under by a city bus, I might tackle you and throw you to the pavement and break your arm in the process. I am certain that would be painful, but the truth would be that I just saved your life and your arm will heal. No! Speaking the truth is not hate. Now, it can be done hatefully and that is wrong, but simply speaking the truth is not hate, even though it seems to be called that all the time.

In fact, Jesus often spoke painful truths to people. In He said:

John 8:24 NKJV

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

And in He said:

Matthew 5:20 NKJV

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said that the righteousness God expected from us was

That’s a pretty hard truth. He said, “If you don’t believe in me, you will die in your sins.” I’m sure that upset some people and caused a lot of pain to the religious leaders. And Jesus wasn’t the only one who said hard things. The Apostle Paul did too. He said in :

Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The Bible, the one and only text for followers of Christ, has some painful things to say to all of us, not just to those in the LGBTQ community. You can try to create a religion where everything is accepted and nothing is rejected, but what you will end up creating will not please God and, I must tell you, it will not be Christianity.

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This is not—definitely not—a viable argument for accepting the gay lifestyle as a norm for the church. But that is not the only argument that is used. In fact, someone might say, “Ok, I can see what you’re saying. If Jesus says it’s wrong, it’s wrong, but that’s just the point: Jesus never spoke about homosexuality. You can’t say it’s wrong because of the:

The Silence of Jesus

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This one sounds more convincing than the first two when you first hear it. Someone might say to you: As a follower of Christ it seems very strange to me that you are making a big deal out of something that Jesus never mentioned. Not one time.”

As a follower of Christ it seems very strange to me that you are making a big deal out of something that Jesus never mentioned one time.”

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The only problem is that they are just dead wrong. Jesus did mention homosexuality. He mentioned it in the DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE. In Jesus says:

Matthew 19:4–6 NKJV

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

When asked to weigh in on the propriety of divorce, Jesus reaches back to very beginning——to show that God was the creator of marriage, not man. And since God created marriage, God defines marriage, not man! How does God define marriage. It’s right there in that verse: God made them male and female and then said that they should be joined together as husband and wife. Therefore same-sex marriage can never qualify as marriage because it does not meet the definition of marriage which God, the creator of it, set. Jesus, indeed, does mention a ban on homosexuality when He defines marriage.

And then Jesus mentions homosexuality AS A MEMBER OF THE TRINITY. Jesus is the second person of the Godhead and cannot be separated from God the Father. So, when God the Father saw the sin of Sodom, so did God the Son. When God the Father decreed homosexuality to be prohibited in Leviticus, so did God the Son. Jesus, indeed, mentions homosexuality as a member of the Trinity.

And then Jesus mentions homosexuality as the INSPIRER OF SCRIPTURE. The Bible is a unified book. All of it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. So if the Bible is a unified book and if all the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, then you cannot separate what Jesus said in Matthew from what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians and Romans. In fact, when Paul writes his own ban on same sex activity, he was saying what the Spirit of Christ had told Him to teach.

O, and by the way, just because Jesus didn’t mention something doesn’t mean it is not, in fact, wrong. He never mentioned pedophilia, for instance, but I doubt anyone would argue that He was tacitly condoning it!

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You see the argument that Jesus’s silence condones homosexuality will not work because, really, Jesus was NOT silent. Which brings us to another widely used argument. Some say that you can’t say that homosexuality is wrong because of our

AMisunderstanding of Scripture.

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Simply put, the stance of the church in banning homosexuality for believers is based on a misunderstanding of Scripture. This argument is advanced most recently by Matthew Vines. Vines claims to be an evangelical believer who seeks to carefully exegete the Bible which he believes is inspired and inerrant. At the same time, he claims to be homosexual and supports same-sex marriage. I know what many of you are asking: How in the world does he pull THAT off?

He explains his position in the book he wrote titled, God and the Gay Christian. In that book he argues that there are only about six passages of Scripture in the Bible that speak on the subject of homosexuality and, when they speak of it, they are not addressing homosexuality as we understand it today. Those passages are speaking, instead, of pedorasty: That is, homosexual union between men and boys. Specifically, Vines says that, when the Bible condemns homosexuality, it is actually speaking of the practice that occurred in that time in which heterosexual married men used boys for sex. So when Paul speaks against this sin, he is saying, “How dare you heterosexual men engage in this kind of behavior which should be reserved only those who have a same-sex attraction within an adult consensual monogamous homosexual relationship?” So, you might ask, is Matthew Vines right about this? And, if he isn’t, why is he wrong?

Vines wrote the book God and the Gay Christian.

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Well, Vines IS wrong for a number of reasons. For one thing, there are more than six passages that address homosexuality and same-sex marriage in the Scripture. In one sense, every passage of Scripture that deals with marriage addresses homosexuality by default. Actually, however, one prohibition of Scripture would be enough.

But there is an even more fundamental problem with Vines’ argument: No evidence exists for its premise. He assumes that same-sex attraction is valid, yet there is zero evidence for this premise. Now I know that statement puts me at odds with the accepted opinion of the culture, so let me explain why I say it.

Before we can deal with this faulty premise, however, we need to take a moment to define what it means. When I say “same-sex attraction” I am speaking of a permanent orientation one person has to another person of the same sex that cannot be changed. And here is the truth that may catch some of you by surprise: While there is certainly evidence that some people ENGAGE in homosexual acts, there is no evidence for a permanent orientation in that direction. As Voddie Baucham, an African-American pastor says it, “Gay is not the new black.” The fact that you are African-American, Asian, or Caucasian is an immutable, unchangeable characteristic. Homosexuality is not the same thing.

And, again, I know that when I say that, you are prone to want me to watch the latest news report you just saw on CNN that contradicts what I am saying because the media is constantly bombarding us with their assumptions that, just because the gay community SAYS their chosen sexual behavior is an unchangeable “orientation,” that settles the matter. But, it does not. What does the evidence really say?

Well, when I was researching material and listening to this sermon by Baucham, I went on line and just googled it. The first article I saw was in the Journal Science and it’s headline screamed the mantra of media. It was titled: “Giant study links DNA variants to same-sex behavior.” The article said that they had found a common DNA variation that those with a homosexual “orientation” had that heterosexuals did not. When I read that, I was thinking, “Uh-oh. I may be wrong about this sexual orientation thing. Maybe this proves that homosexuality is a physical, intrinsic characteristic of a person’s DNA code.”

But then I read a little further. When I read the conclusion of the article, I almost got angry. It was so deceptive! Here’s the statement that was actually at the end of this article: The four genetic variants could not reliably predict someone’s sexual orientation. ‘There’s really NO PREDICTIVE POWER.’” That’s how the study’s author said it.

The second article I read was from USA Today. The article was entitled: “Born this way? It’s way more complicated than that!” Listen to this quote from that article:

The "born this way" mantra of the gay rights movement is both simple and absolute, despite the science that shows human sexuality is complex and fluid. Transgender people, for example, do not believe their biology matches who they truly are. (Did you catch what the writer just said? They said that, while homosexuals want to claim that their biology made them what they are and they can’t fight it, transgenders don’t like what their biology predetermined them to be and want to fight it. How can it be wrong to “convert” one and not the other?) Bisexuals, some of whom identify their sexuality as fluid, make up the largest share of LGBT Americans, according to the Pew Research Center, even though they are a smaller part of the mainstream narrative.

The "born this way" mantra of the gay rights movement is both simple and absolute, despite the science that shows human sexuality is complex and fluid. Transgender people, for example, do not believe their biology matches who they truly are. Bisexuals, some of whom identify their sexuality as fluid, make up the largest share of LGBT Americans, according to the Pew Research Center, even though they are a smaller part of the mainstream narrative.

Continuing to embrace the slogan, (i.e. that I was “born this way”) social scientists and legal scholars say, is not only limiting but unnecessary. According to a 2016 article published in the Journal of Sex Research that reviews U.S. legal decisions which ruled in favor of LGBT rights, many high-profile decisions were made based on factors other than sexual orientation being biological and fixed.

Gay or straight, male or female, the bodies we're born with don't determine everything about who we are. THERE IS NOTHING INEVITABLE ABOUT OUR LIVES BASED ON OUR DNA.

"What we need now is a way to cultivate and reinvigorate curiosity about how the body really matters in the development of human personality and behavior, because curiosity and skepticism are the real engines of scientific discovery," Jordan-Young writes at the conclusion of Brain Storm. "What good is a science that doesn't tell us anything new?"

Ok, can I just summarize this for you? Far from saying that homosexuality is a genetic orientation, they are saying that human sexuality is a CHOICE that is based on many factors and we should not LIMIT ourselves to what our biology tells us that we are. They even go so far as to make that last statement: “What good is a science that doesn’t tell anything new?” or, in other words, “What good is a science that doesn’t tell me what I want to hear?”

So, when Matthew Vines or Pete Buttigieg assume that homosexuality is compatible with their Christianity because “God made me this way,” both are making an assumption for which there is ZERO evidence.

But even if they were to find dead-bang genetic evidence for homosexuality, there would still be no excuse for disobeying Scripture. You see, if we are born in sin, you’d expect that to show up genetically. As a matter of fact, we accept it in other areas. It is thought that there might be genetic propensities for alcohol addiction for instance, but that doesn’t mean that we say it’s ok if you want to kill yourself with alcohol. Someone might say that I’m genetically predisposed to pedaphilia; does that propensity make it ok to become a pedophile? I as a heterosexual man am oriented to promiscuity. I might even say that I am oriented to lust over every pretty woman I see. Would that excuse my becoming and adulterer? As a believer, we have no right to say that just because we are deeply oriented towards some particular sin that it is ok to ignore what the Bible says.

And the argument that Vines offers isn’t just philosophically flawed, it is factually flawed. You see, when the Bible refers to homosexuality in it cannot be referring to pedorasty, that is sex between men and boys. Just read with me:

Romans 1:26 NKJV

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

Uh-oh. That says nothing about men at all. It speaks to women. So Vines’ whole argument just blew up in his face. I think it’s safe to say that in this attempt to lift the Scripture’s ban on homosexuality that Scripture IS being misunderstood, but not by those of us who believe that it is a sin. It’s those who want to justify homosexuality who are misinterpreting what the Bible says

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But there’s one more reason some churches have justified the acceptance of homosexuality and it is one of the most frequent arguments that you hear. Some churches justify the acceptance of homosexuality because of:

The Hypocrisy of Christians.

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Show the video

That’s the argument: You’re being hypocritical to hold on to one part of the law (the ban on homosexuality) while ignoring the ban on other things like eating pork or touching a dead pig. Now, when you first hear it, you might think that this sounds like a really good argument. And, I will have to say, that it has been used to shut up Christians who don’t know how to answer it, but there is an answer!

In summary, this last argument sounds like this: “Why do you homophobic Bible-thumpers pick and choose? Why do you choose some things from the Old Testament like homosexuality and make a big deal out of them and not make a big deal out of other things like not eating pork or touching a dead pig.” A scene from the TV show West Wing shows you what this argument sounds like. In this scene a Christian talk show host who is visiting the White House is confronted by this question by the President of the United States who knows that she has called homosexuality an abomination. Take a look:

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Show the video

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In the first place, when the critic says that those who hold to a Biblical view of homosexuality are “picking and choosing,” they are ignoring that they are actually picking and choosing themselves. You see, if you asked them if they thought that a person should not steal, deal falsely, oppress their neighbor, or do injustice in court, they’d probably agree that those are bad things to do. But those are some of the things that books of Old Testament law like Leviticus speak against. So they would believe in the Levitical ban on lying, but not on the Levitical ban on homosexuality. THEY are picking and choosing.

And even if they say that they believe lying is wrong, but not because the Bible says it’s wrong, it’s just their own personal belief, I’d have to say that, whether they like it or not, their worldview has been shaped by the Bible. The Bible has been here a little longer than they have and all would agree that it was the Bible from which we drew much of our morality in this country, especially in its inception. They, themselves, didn’t INVENT, the prohibition on lying. So, whether they know it or not and whether they like it or not, they are picking and choosing too.

But I have got to say that my picking and choosing is different from theirs. The difference is this: While they didn’t know that they were picking and choosing, I know why serious-minded believers pick and choose. It’s because there are three categories of law in the Old Testament.

The first category of law is the MORAL LAW. This is the Ten Commandments and other commands God gives us to show us what His holy Character is like. These commands transcend both time and culture and are what define righteous living for all people everywhere. For instance, it will always be wrong to murder or commit adultery.

The first category of law is the MORAL LAW. This is the Ten Commandments and other commands God gives us to show us what His holy Character is like. These commands

The second category is CIVIL LAW. These laws were meant specifically for Israel to help them live successfully in their particular time and in their particular culture. These commands are not binding on us today. For instance, the Israelites were required to put a railing on their roofs so that people would not fall off. Since we usually don’t have people walking on our roofs, that law makes no sense to us today.

The third category is CEREMONIAL LAW. These are the laws that governed Jewish worship. They concerned Israel’s requirement to offer live sacrifices of sheep, goats, etc. We could not fulfill these laws today even if we wanted to do so. Furthermore, as a Christian I understand that Christ fulfilled the Ceremonial law. He became our once-for-all sacrifice for sin. It would be an abomination for a Christian to go and offer a sacrifice.

So here’s the point: As a Christian I have to pick and choose. I cannot fulfill the Ceremonial law because to do so would deny the whole point of Christ coming in the first place. I also am not bound by the Civil law because I do not live 3000 years ago in Palestine. I AM, HOWEVER, BOUND BY THE MORAL LAW, because the moral law is a reflection of the very character and nature of God that defines what is right for all people everywhere for all time. You see, picking and choosing make PERFECT since when you understand how to rightly interpret the Bible.

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But someone will object and say, “You still have a big problem, Rusty. How do you know that God intended the ban on homosexuality to be included in the moral law? It’s not in the Ten Commandments after all.

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Well, not so fast. In the first place, I think it should be pretty obvious that the ban on homosexuality is a moral statement by God because the clear definition of marriage and sexuality goes all the way back to creation. It is called an abomination and is not linked to anything civil or ceremonial. And by the way that is more than just my opinion. There is also Biblical evidence for it.

There is a passage of Scripture in 1 Timothy that makes this clear. says:

1 Timothy 1:8–11 NKJV

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

If you look at these verses you will find that it lists commandments 1-9 of the Ten Commandments and makes an interesting statement. Paul says that these commandments are all “in accordance with sound doctrine for a Christian.” But will you notice what Paul adds when he is speaking of sexual sin? In v10 he says, “ . . . for fornicators, for sodomites . . .” Paul goes out of his way to include homosexuality in this list and then says that the ban on homosexuality is what constitutes sound doctrine for a Christian! So, if we are “picking and choosing” we are in good company. So was the Apostle Paul!

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So the arguments that are offered to convince the church that a Christian can be gay just will not work.

When they say that we should give in on homosexuality because others are doing it, we know that our stand cannot be based on the ethics of others but on the ethics of Scripture.

When we are told that we should give in on homosexuality because of the pain caused by our rejection, we reply becoming the holy people God intends us to be is absolutely worth any pain we endure.

When we are told that we should give in on homosexuality because Jesus never mentioned it we reply that he mentioned every time he talked about marriage and that, as a member of the Trinity, His message is one with His Father’s.

When we are told that we should give in on homosexuality because of the pain caused by our rejection, we reply becoming the holy people God intends us to be is absolutely worth any pain we endure.

When we are told that we should give in on homosexuality because the New Testament is all about love not law, we reply that it is the love of Christ that is meant to lead us to repentance and give us the power to live the lives we have been called to live.

When we are told that we should give in on homosexuality because for 2000 years we just didn’t understand what the Bible was saying, we reply that the Bible is very clear and that it is a misunderstanding of Scripture to redefine homosexuality in a way that makes a monogamous practice of it ok.

And when we are told that we should give in on homosexuality because we are hypocritically picking and choosing which Old Testament commands should be followed, we reply that our choice is based on sound hermeneutics and supported by numerous New Testament passages.

But we can make this convincing case and still lose the battle. We can win the argument and lose our opportunity to see life change. You see the final argument is the hardest to deal with. You see many people think we must give in on our stance on homosexuality because of

The Approach of Christians.

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Simply put, when it comes to this issue, many Christians have been harsh, judgmental, and willing to write off those who struggle with this issue rather than helping them.

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When I was in Bible College homosexuality was a lot less prevalent than it is today, but since I lived in a large town like Nashville, Tennessee, there was still a rather large gay community. They often gathered in Centennial Park. I had friends in college who bragged about riding through Centennial park and trying to antagonize the gay people they found there. That was shameful, uncalled for, and a very un-Christlike thing to do.

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And I recognize that many of you may be very uncomfortable reaching out to befriend someone who is living this kind of lifestyle. You might ask this morning, “How should I go about reaching out to someone who lets me know that they are gay?” Well, let me offer some suggestions:

First, thank them for being honest with you and sharing that information with you.

Second, assure them that you are not going to reject them as a person, nor refuse to be their friend because you may disagree with their lifestyle.

If they ask, tell them that Christians take a different view than the culture around us in MANY areas of sexuality and that you’d be willing to discuss it with them when and if they want to do so.

Listen to them: Hear their story and how they got to where they are. They are where they are for a reason and before you can even love them like you need to, you need to understand them.

Pray for them! You will NEVER change them but God can.

When it comes time to witness to them, share the gospel and share your own salvation story with them. Remember, Jesus saves us BEFORE He changes us. Make sure that they don’t have to change to be accepted by God. He will do the changing if they are willing to come to Him.

When it comes time to talk about the issue of homosexuality, be kind, but be clear about what the Bible teaches and about why God has the right to say what He says about sexuality.

Let them know that following Jesus will mean repentance: Turning from their sin to God.

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Here’s a picture of what this life change can look like!

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