True & False: One Pastor’s View on Homosexuality
By Matt Dawson
As we continue our series “Questions Without Answers”, it seems necessary to include the LGTBQ community in our discussions. Last year, even before the HB2 fallout, I began to feel a burden to find a way to address this topic for our church. How we view it, how God views it, and what our response should be as we are called to point everyone to the absolute Hope in Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, we will address the relationship between the Church and the LGTBQ community, but for this post, I want to specifically address homosexuality and same sex attraction.
With the likely chance I will offend many, please read all of this post and refrain from pulling any ONE line or statement out of context.
I appreciate it.
I obviously can’t cover EVERY aspect of this complex topic, but here are the 3 things I have found to be TRUE and FALSE about our approach to homosexuality. At the end, I will share with you the PRIMARY REASON I believe the church has struggled to show the love of Jesus to those living with same sex attraction.
TRUE
1. Homosexuality is a SIN. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Romans 1:25-27, 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Leviticus 20:13)
It is. You cannot read the inspired Word of God and not come to this conclusion. You may not agree with God about it… but who cares. God is the one who created all things, he’s allowed to label things as He pleases! SIN as an entity entered the world at the fall of man, it’s like a disease that has touched and broken ALL of Creation.
Everyone is born IN sin. Sinful Behavior is anything and everything that separates us from God (working outside of His Will and His Instructions for Life). The Bible states that ALL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR outside of marriage (regardless of gender) is SIN. That’s all I have to say about that.
2. There is NO SIN that Jesus’s blood does not cover and NO BEHAVIOR that keeps us from receiving the FULL GRACE of Jesus Christ.
When we read these words from Paul’s letter to the Romans, we cannot argue that homosexual sin is excluded:
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. – Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
As Paul describes the state of sinful man from Romans, chapter 1 (mentions homosexuality) through chapters 2 and 3, he does so to help us understand that there is NOTHING that we can do to EARN salvation (the law), and that we ALL fall short no matter what sinful behavior we have committed in our lives OR will commit in the future. Jesus, with underserved kindness, declares ALL OF US righteous because HE has freed us from the penalty (judgement) of SIN.
3. Our conviction of SIN and behavioral transformation is addressed through sanctification (including Homosexuality).
I’ll address some of this in the section below about some of our false beliefs. I also listed below some references for the theological understanding of sanctification. The simple definition is that AFTER SALVATION, with our eyes fixed on Christ, Jesus (by His Spirit) begins a transformational work in our hearts and we become more and more like Him the longer and closer we walk with Him.
We cannot CHANGE our behavior on our own (this is not self-help) nor do we SEE SIN fully or see it’s effect on us until the Holy Spirit leads us there through opening our eyes and conviction.
All Sinful Behavior is NOT addressed at the time of Salvation. Salvation is a turning point from living MY life to the START of wanting to live with Jesus as the Lord of my life. Salvation NEVER stops our sinful behavior. I was 6 when I got saved, and I’m pretty sure I kept sinning that same day.
Now, I’m 40 years old, the process of sanctification is still happening in my heart. I still engage in sinful behavior even if I “know” I shouldn’t and even if I’m convicted about it. The process of becoming more and more like Jesus is slow, but lasting.
It opens my eyes to areas in my life that I’m dealing with today (maybe it’s fear, deceit, gluttony, arrogance, whatever it may be) and it is helping me, guiding me, prompting me towards choosing transformation. Choosing to live like Jesus and choosing the NEW LIFE He’s given me and not fall back to the OLD LIFE that lingers within me. This applies to all sexual sin as well.
If you’re unaware of the scriptural references for sanctification, here are a few: Romans 12:2, Romans 7:15-25, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 4:23-24, Galatians 5:22-25.
FALSE
1. God hates homosexual sin more than all other sin.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul tells us that all those who sin sexually will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He also says that idolators, thieves, drunks, abusive and greedy people, and liars won’t enter either. Jesus also said these same words, about un-forgiveness and the rich.
Sure, we can take those single words and verses out and make our case, but we cannot do this in the context of Grace and the rest of scripture. We also know people who have slept with someone before they were married (as a Christian) and they don’t live in fear of not going to heaven. God’s Word is not our property to dismantle and rebuild in order to stack evidence against people.
“God’s Word is not our property to dismantle and rebuild to stack evidence against people.”Click To Tweet
Many misinterpret Paul’s statements in 1 Corinthians 6:18, when Paul says sexual sin is like no other sin. He references this specifically by saying that sexual sin is special because of how it hurts the person committing it. God doesn’t think less of sexual sinners than other kinds of sinners. Some Christians may view it that way… but God doesn’t view it that way.
When Jesus rescued a woman caught in adultery from being stoned, he looked at her and said this:
“Then neither do I condemn you… Go now and leave your life of sin.” – John 8:11
Does this mean that this woman NEVER sinned again – not likely. Jesus didn’t condemn her, His grace forgave her (even though she never ASKED for forgiveness) and then challenged her the way he challenges ALL THOSE WHO DESIRE TO FOLLOW HIM… Go and sin no more.
2. Homosexuals cannot be saved if they’ve justified their homosexual behavior.
The largest argument people make is that someone who has justified their actions cannot truly come to Jesus until they have repented of those actions and asked for forgiveness. However, this lies in a false assumption of what REPENTANCE implies and cannot be taken to the extreme when compared to other sins. (Remember: God views all sinful behavior as SIN… not on a sliding scale of degrees of sin.)
Repentance is a TURNING, and not a TURNING FROM something, but a RETURNING TO someone. When Jesus said “Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand,” he was asking them to TURN to what He knew they were truly needing and looking for.
Repentance in our culture has this tendency to IMPLY that we are turning FROM all the things we are doing that are WRONG. However, most folks who come to Christ have almost NO CLUE of all of the things that they are doing that are considered SIN. Everyone who starts a relationship with JESUS, starts at the foot of the cross with the FULL GRACE OF JESUS forgiving them for sins they have done and sins they have yet to commit.
The idea that a 40 year old woman who has lived with her same sex attraction for 30 of those years is going to fully understand the complexity of all of her SIN including how and why the bible states homosexuality as a SIN – is foolishness and a false understanding of the Gospel!
Remember what I said about sanctification: many who live with same sex attraction will come to the cross of Christ and receive grace and experience the HOPE of Jesus in their lives. ALL Sin will be addressed and revealed from this point forward as they walk with Jesus in Hope, Faith, and Love!
3. If Christians embrace and love people of same sex attraction – we are approving and condoning sinful behavior.
I’ve never fully understood this false thinking. If everyone is a sinner, and everyone sins, then aren’t we approving and condoning EVERYONE’S sinful actions?
NO!
To walk along aside a brother in Christ who struggles with an addiction to porn and continues to engage in this behavior. I have ZERO concern that he believes I’m approving or condoning his actions. This doesn’t keep me from walking with him. AS A MATTER OF FACT, this is reason to get closer and do my best to express the FREEDOM he has to overcome that addiction, temptation, lifestyle.
Jesus never seemed to be concerned about this when He went to Matthew’s house for dinner (a tax collector). Even though all of the religious leaders were staring at him and accusing him of approving and condoning “those people.” Jesus looked around and said – “those people” are who I came for!
So, go ahead, call me a friend to homosexuals, prostitutes, adulterers, and fornicators! As an ambassador for Christ – “those people” are what I’m here for!
Closing Thoughts: The Primary Issue for the Church
Honestly, I don’t know where you stand on this issue.
You may totally hate what I’ve said because I’m too grace-filled and not judgmental enough.
You may hate what I’ve said because you don’t believe the same way about the authority of God’s Word and what He calls sin.
You may agree with me, but still struggle to engage in this conversation with others because of fear and what others might think of you.
The primary reason the Church (western collective church organizations at large) struggles to approach this topic is this – We believe it’s OUR JOB to change people’s behavior!
We believe that as a church, we can legislate anger, lust, adultery, greed, prostitution, gluttony, idolatry, un-forgiveness, hatred, and abuse. We believe that if we say the right things, challenge people the right way, we can FIX THEM, CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR, and get them to ACT AND LOOK MORE LIKE WE THINK THEY SHOULD.
BUT . . .we don’t know how to FIX this!
We don’t know how to “address” same sex attraction. We don’t know how to get them to stop and change. And because we don’t know how to fix their “gayness,” we cast judgement and condemnation or worse . . . we remain silent and keep our distance.
Our job is NOT to fix people’s sin problem. Jesus said “I got this!”
Our call is to LOVE one another as much as we love ourselves, and BY THAT LOVE others will know we belong to Him.
We exist to humbly point everyone (including the LGBTQ community) to the absolute Hope that they can receive and experience in Jesus Christ.