WHAT DO YOU SAY TO A GAY CHRISTIAN?

Homosexuality is becoming one of the most explosive issues in the church

today. How did such a wide variety of opinions about this subject come

about? There have been recent trends within the Church which have set the

stage:

1. A Changing Attitude Towards Scripture.

During the 20th century, an increasing number of churches have begun to

drift sway from the "traditional" view of the Bible as without error in the

original manuscripts. The Bible's ideas are "dated" and no longer

applicable to our day.

2. The Elevation of Science and Personal Experience to a Place of Equal

(or Higher) Authority than Scripture.

What modern psychology says, what I feel about a moral issue, or what my

own experiences tell me have become more important than what the Bible has

to say.

3. A Changing View of Christian "Love".

Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep my commandment" (John 14:15) Christian

love is founded on obedience to God. not on feelings, which are constantly

changing.

SETTING THE STAGE: Genesis 1-3

The proper place to begin any discussion of homosexuality is in the

Creation and Fall of Man passages in Genesis. The Creation story

establishes that "God created man in His own image ...male and female He

created them." The Lord said, "It is not good that man should be alone."

He did NOT mean that Adam was without another HUMAN BEING, but that he was

without a FEMALE. I believe that if two or more men had been created, God

would still have said, "It is not good for them to be alone", meaning

without the completion that that only a female could bring.

The way these early chapters of Genesis are presented throughout the Bible

shows that God intended marriage to involve three things:

1. a man and a woman (Genesis 1:27)

2. a sexual relationship (Genesis 1:28a)

3. a lifetime commitment (Matthew 19:3-8)

If only one or two of these elements are present, there is a distortion of

God's intentions:

Genesis 16 What About Sodom & Gomorrah

One of the first Bible passages to come to mind when talking about

homosexuality is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. But we must be careful

not to read into the story our preconceived ideas. For example:

the Bible never says that the men of Sodom were homosexuals

the Bible never says that God judged Sodom for homosexuality.

1. The gay church says that the sin of Sodom was inhospitality, not

homosexuality.

They insist that when the men said to Lot about his angelic guests, "Bring

them out unto us, that we may know them" (Genesis 19:5), they were not

referring to sexual relations.

The original Hebrew work (translated "know") is yadha. It has a great

variety of meanings, such as:

ACQUAINTED WITH -- "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew

not Joseph." Exodus 1:8 (KJV)

UNDERSTAND -- "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that

they were naked..." Genesis 3:7 (KJV)

HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH -- "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she

conceived, and bare Cain..." Genesis 4:1 (KJV)

The Meaning Of The Word (YADHA) Is Determined By The Context!

Although yadha occurs over 900 times in the Old Testament and only refers

to sex in 10 of these cases, the context in this story supports a sexual

meaning.

a. why was Lot alarmed that the angels wanted to sleep outdoors (19:3)?

b. why did Lot tell the men, "Please ... do not act wickedly." (19:7)?

c. why did Lot offer his virgin daughters for the men to rape (19:8)?

d. why were the men struck blind by the angels (19:11)?

e. Why did the men still weary themselves trying to get at the visitors

(19:11)?

f. why did their actions warrant such dramatic divine punishment (19:24)?

Other Bible verses (Ezekiel 16:49, Jeremiah 23:14) mention many sins of

Sodom which were non-sexual. However, II Peter 2:7, Jude 7 and Ezekiel

16:50 mention such sins as: sensual conduct, gross immorality and

abominations (homosexual behavior is called an abomination in Leviticus

20:13).

These verses show us that Sodom and Gomorrah were judged for a wide variety

of sin, including homosexuality.

2. The gay church says that the sin of Sodom was not "normal" homosexual

sex, but a distortion of it: homosexuality involving violent gang rape and

men with angels.

BUT ... God had already declared the city to be wicked (Genesis 18:20), and

simply sent His messengers to confirm the city's decadence. Besides, rape

did NOT occur, and there is NO indication that the Sodomites knew the

visitors were angels. The city was already exceedingly wicked long before

this event (Genesis 13:8) and this was only "the last straw" that finally

brought an end to the rampant evil already flourishing.

However, never use this chapter as proof of God's wrath against homosexuals

as people -- God was judging sin. God does not wish for any man to perish

(II Peter 3:9), and this includes the person caught in homosexuality.

The first explicit mention of homosexual practices is in the moral and

ceremonial commands given to Moses during Israel's time in the wilderness.

To distinguish between these two types of commandments is very important.

TYPE OF LAW: Dietary/Ceremonial Moral

DURATION: Temporary (Acts 10:15) Permanent (Psalm 119:160)

APPLICATION: Cultural Universal

RESULT / PENALTY: Uncleanness Death

(Leviticus 11:24f) (Leviticus 20:2f)

This chart shows why many of the Levitical laws are no longer followed by

Christians today. However, because the laws concerning homosexual

behaviour are moral, they are still to be obeyed.

1. The gay church says that Christians are no longer under the Law, so we

can ignore these commands, including the ones on homosexuality.

However, Matthew 5:17 teaches that, although Jesus Christ was the

fulfillment of the Old Testament Law, He did not come to abolish it.

Also, Jesus said of the Old Testament moral commands in Matthew 5:19,

"whoever keeps and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of

heaven."

Besides, the gay church believes that some moral laws are still to be

followed, such as those concerning adultery, incest and bestiality. Who

decides which moral laws to follow, and which to ignore?

2. Another argument you will hear is that these laws against homosexuality

were solely to encourage rapid population growth to ensure Israel's

survival. The men had multiple wives and concubines for the same reason.

Just as polygamy is no longer followed, so the anti-gay laws can be

dropped.

BUT, this reasoning does not explain the following:

God forbade adultery and incest

God lead the nation of Israel into war

God said to kill those those who disobeyed the moral law

... ALL of which helped to reduce the population, just the thing that God was supposedly trying to avoid! This is a weak argument, to say the least.

ROMANS 1:26,27 -- HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOUR: NATURAL OR UNNATURAL?

This passage in Romans is usually considered to be the most thorough and

clear condemnation of homosexuality (both male and female) in the Bible.

But those in the gay church use these verses to further support their life-

style. (This is the only reference to lesbianism in the Bible.)

1. The gay church says that Paul's moral statements are "culturally-

bound".

This means that, because they are addressed to first-century Jews, they

don't apply to us.

To say that the Bible morality is no longer valid implies one of three

things:

God's standards have changed ... implying God has changed (but: "For I am

the Lord I change not." Malachi 3:6) - or

Bible writers were prejudiced by their own cultural standards ... implying

they were not sharing absolute truth ... implying they were not inspired

... implying God's Word is not inspired (but: "men moved by the Holy

Spirit spoke from God." II Peter 1:21) - or

Bible copiers altered the text (or made major errors) which altered the

meaning ... implying the Bible text is no longer true ... implying God's

Word is not permanent (but: "the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah

40:8 and "... every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting."

Psalm 119:160)

2. The gay church protests that Christians today don't follow all the other

New Testament commands, so why follow this one on homosexuality?

We must be careful to distinguish between the two types of laws given:

TYPE: CHURCH RULE MORAL COMMAND

APPLICATION: cultural universal

DURATION: temporary permanent

SCRIPTURAL woman have heads covered no fornication

EXAMPLE to pray (I Cor 11;13) (I Cor. 6:18)

3. "Gay Christians": But Paul is only condemning perversion

(heterosexuals abandoning their normal sexual desires for homosexual

activities), not inversion (the condition of being "born gay" -- never

experiencing anything but homosexual desires).

Paul lived in a society where homosexual practises were commonplace. It

was a popular activity among the Greeks and Romans. Paul was an articulate

writer -- in other moral issues (e.g. divorce), he was careful to give the

exceptions (if any) to his moral commands. In the case of homosexual sin,

he would have mentioned exceptions to his blanket condemnation statements

if he felt there were any.

An important question: "What did Paul mean by his phrase `against

nature'?"

Some possibilities:

i. Against nature means contrary to what a person feels is "natural" to

him/her. But ... in context of Romans 1-3, Paul shows that this phrase

does does not mean against the "natural orientation" or inner drives of an

individual. We live in a fallen world. Sin has distorted our perception

of truth and what someone feels is "natural" to them can be misleading

(what we feel is right does NOT make it morally right).

ii. against nature means contrary to the Jewish customs of the day. For

example, "does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long

hair, it is a dishonor to him..?" (ICor. 11:14) But ... Paul says long

hair is "a dishonor (shame)", whereas he calls homosexual acts i

ndecent, degrading, and depraved. His much stronger language in discussing

homosexuality, as well as his mention of it at the beginning of a long list

of major moral sins (Romans 1:29f) suggest that it is more than just a

cultural taboo.

Others think that "against nature" means contrary to the world of nature,

to the animal world. They protest, "But Paul was wrong. Modern science

has found homosexual activity among sea-gulls, monkeys and other animals."

But ... since the fall, the natural order of animals has been just as

distorted as human nature. What animals do proves nothing about God's

original intentions.

iv. against nature means contrary to God's original intention for human

sexual behavior, plainly visible in the natural and complementary function

of the male and female sexual organs and temperaments.

Why does God look at homosexual behavior as such a serious sin? The reason

is that it has such widespread consequences in an individual's life:

Romans 1:23-26 mentions three kinds of "exchange":

1:23 - exchange of: worship of God for worship of man (area of destruction:

spiritual)

1:25 - exchange of: the truth for a lie (area of destruction: mental)

1:26 - exchange of: the natural for the unnatural (area of destruction:

physical)

In other words, homosexuality has devastating consequences on the SOUL, the

MIND and the BODY.

A reminder: at the end of Romans 1, Paul describes some of the roots of

homosexual behavior. Such things as envy, deceitfulness, hatred of God,

pride and rebellion are sins we all struggle with. They simply reveal

themselves in different ways in different people. The Bible reminds us to

avoid pointing a finger at others as being more sinful than ourselves, for

when we do that, we are revealing our own hearts also ...

"Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment for

in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice

the same things." Romans 2:1 (NASV)

I CORINTHIANS 6:9 and I TIMOTHY 1:10: WRONGLY TRANSLATED?

Although these are two clear and powerful verses in the English

translations, the exact meaning of these verses sparks constant debate.

What did Paul really have in mind when he wrote them?

There are two key words of interest to us here:

TRANSLATION: "effeminate" abuses of themselves with

(KJV) (I Cor. 6:9) mankind (I Cor. 6:9)

or "them that defile themselves

with mankind" (I Tim 1:10)

Original Word malakoi arsenokoitai

Literal "soft" or "a male who lies with

Meaning "effeminate" a male"

Definition Of "men and boys who "the active partner in male

English allow themselves to be homosexual intercourse"

Equivalent: misused homosexuality"

(passive partner)

Because there is a wide variety of of opinions among Bible scholars, most

of the pro-gay arguments for these verses centre around an intense debate

of what these two words really mean in the original Greek. For example,

some say that arsenokoitai refers to male prostitution or to lustful,

unloving and uncommitted relationships, NOT to permanent loving commitments

between two men.

But ... the literal meaning of the word ("a male who lies with a male")

shows that Paul is not simply referring to one category of homosexuality.

There are no qualifications -- gay sex is forbidden, no matter what degree

of love or absence of lust is involved.

If you meet someone with homosexual problems, share I Cor. 6:9-11 with

them.

I CORINTHIANS 6:11 IS AN IMPORTANT VERSE TO SHARE WITH A HOMOSEXUAL

This verse shows some interesting facts:

"such were some of you" -- Paul knew former homosexuals in the church at

Corinth. God had delivered them from that life-style, so such a change is

possible!

"washed" -- homosexuality is not a clean, wholesome life-style

"sanctified" (set apart for God) -- a person is not walking close to the

Lord when involved in the gay life-style

"justified" (declared righteous) -- it is not a life-style that God

approves of I Cor. 6:11 shows that God is BIGGER than any problem - He can

heal and forgive any sin!

Another argument you may hear: Jesus didn't speak against homosexuality

You can point out:

i. There are many things that Jesus said that the Bible doesn't record

(John 21:25). So He could have mentioned it, although He probably had no

occasion to -- the Jews of His day were strictly against such practices.

ii. There are many things Jesus didn't mention (e.g. incest, rape,

bestiality). That doesn't mean they are therefore O.K. to do.

iii. Jesus always upheld the Old Testament law (Matthew 5:17-19), which

strictly condemned homosexual acts. Jesus only spoke of sexuality in a

heterosexual sense. The only alternative to marriage He spoke of was

celibacy (Matt. 19:12).

iv. As Christians, we believe all of the Bible is inspired by God, not

just the recorded words of Jesus.

There is absolutely no support to any accusations of homosexuality among

Jesus' disciples. Their enemies would have gladly exposed it

(homosexuality was a capital offense among the Jews of the first century).

P.S. WHAT ABOUT JONATHAN AND DAVID?

Reference to check: I Samuel 18:1, 19:1, 20:17; II Samuel 1:26

I do not believe this was a gay relationship. The Bible never even hints

that it was. Bible love does not imply a sexual relationship. The

relationship between these two men was God-centered (I Sam. 23:16). The

love they had for each other is the EXACT SAME WORD that God commands us to

have for one another:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Leviticus 19:18

---------------

For further information about homosexuality or about other areas of sexual

brokenness, please contact:

LOVE IN ACTION

G.P.O. Box 1115

ADELAIDE SA 5001

Phone (08) 371-0446



MINISTRY TO HOMOSEXUALS


Database Listing - Ministry To Homosexuals.
Christian Resources on Homosexuality on the web


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