Rethinking Homosexuality

Homosexuality has become such a divisive issue as of late that I think it is time to rethink it briefly.  Some think it is the worse sin imaginable truly an abomination before the Lord.  Others assert because of our progressive society that we should overwhelmingly accept their chosen lifestyle as legitimate and healthy. And there are others, the vast majority, who fall in between. 

This is not an easy issue to address since the Bible condemns it.  But the Bible also condemns adultery, cohabitation and even pornography.   In fact the Bible prohibits any form of sexual expression outside of the marriage relationship between a man and a woman.  Now that may sound narrow and old fashioned but it is what the Bible says.

So I asked myself, “How would Jesus respond to homosexuals?”  I believe he would respond the same way as he did with the tax collectors and prostitutes, “the sinners,” of his day.  He would love and spend time with them caring for their needs.  I remember the story of the woman caught in adultery and Jesus told her to go and sin no more.  He did not condemn her.  Neither did he condemn the Samaritan woman at the well when he told her she had been married five times and the one she was currently with was not her husband.  She went home and told her family she had met the Messiah the one who gave her living water through which she would never be thirsty gain. 

So what can we do?  We need to remember the homosexual as well as the heterosexual are both image bearers of God and both are fallen creatures.  All image bearers have inestimable dignity, therefore, that we need to acknowledge and affirm.  Let’s tone down the defamatory rhetoric and opt for truth couched in love.  Jesus told his Jewish listeners, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”   Since Jesus was that truth, some accepted it but many rejected it.  For those who rejected it, unfortunately, they remained in their prison of falsehood.  I believe we as Christians need to show homosexuals we love them.  We need to back it up with marriages that are healthy and strong.  And we need to present the truth in such a way that will set them free from the falsehood they have bought in to from society. 

So what about those who come out of the homosexual lifestyle and continue to struggle with feelings and longing for the same sex?  Let’s affirm and accept them the same we do with people who were once addicted to drugs and continue to struggle.  Let’s open our lives and churches sharing the truth of Jesus with them in love and acceptance and grace.  As I look at this issue, I’m convinced that’s what Jesus would do and have me do.  

The Gun Control Debate

Now that our President has issued 23 different gun-control initiatives, I thought it was time to chime in. We can all agree that the Newtown, Conn. and the Aurora theater shootings and all the others are horrific events that we ought to put our minds together to prevent. And that is what I am proposing in this post. No one segment of the issue is going to resolve the problem. If we believe, for example that gun control is the answer, then we are being hopelessly myopic. While gun control is an issue, it is not the central issue. It is peripheral as are violent entertainment, mental disorders, and poor parenting. I believe representatives of each need to come together to focus on the central issue. That issue is sin. As a Christian I believe if we focus on sin bearing in mind the salient concerns of each of the peripheral issues, we can come together to prevent tragedies like these in the future. So here is my proposal. President Obama, Sen. Harry Reid, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi need to sit at the same table as Speaker John Boehner and other leaders from the Republican party. The NRA needs to be present as well as leaders from the entertainment industry. Also they need representatives from the mental health and medical professions and both conservative and liberal theologians from Christianity, Judaism and Islam to tackle the present darkness of evil that is plaguing our land. Only then will initiatives based on broad input from our society be effective in preventing future tragedies.