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| The church should neither hate nor condemn homosexuals. |
Searching for the word "homosexual" within the pages of the Bible is a waste of time, because it just isn't there, but neither are the words "death penalty", "domestic violence", "abortion", "right to bear arms", "child abuse" and many other issues facing us today. Just because a specific "word" isn't mentioned in the Bible certainly doesn't mean that a particular issue isn't discussed.
Those who believe in God and believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God must also understand that the Bible is a complete book and not just a lot of chapters and verses, which can be interpreted differently. Taking one verse of the Bible and trying to understand its true meaning would be similar to reading the last paragraph of your favorite novel and trying to understand the theme of the book.
A perfect example of Bible interpretation is found in Exodus 20:13 which simply says, "Thou shalt not kill." and Christians recognize that verse as one of the Ten Commandments.
Now, if we take only that verse from the Bible and read nothing else, we would have to assume that God felt all "killing" was a sin. Living by just that principle would mean that we believed all members of our military, in time of war, would be destined to hell for killing the enemy.
Now, if we read the rest of the "book", we find incidents of murder and killing all throughout. I guess the question here would be, why would God speak the words "Thou shalt not kill." then scatter accounts of killing all throughout the rest of the Bible?
The Bible teaches us that "killing" out of anger, revenge, or hatred is wrong, but being forced to kill to protect certain freedoms or for self-preservation is not intended to be a sin and some newer translations of the Bible have changed the word "kill" to "murder". We must understand the difference.
So, what does the Bible say about homosexuality? There are those who say the Bible is silent on the subject, but could it be because they are only looking for the specific word?
To get a foundation of what the Bible is trying to teach us about homosexuality, we must go to the very beginning, in the book of Genesis. It is impossible to present the entire book of Genesis here, but I think we could agree that this book describes the "Creation", the first people, the first sin, etc.
In Genesis 1:27 we find,
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."So, what does this verse have to do with homosexuality? It is important to note that the term "in his image" is repeated to make us understand that the first people in the world were created pure and free from sin and that they were of different genders, "male and female".
In Genesis 2:24, we can find how God felt about the relationship between a man and a woman -
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."Some believe that the first marriage between a man and a woman was sanctified in the book of Genesis. For Adam and Eve to "Be fruitful and multiply", they obviously would require sexual desires and sexual interests, which at this point, were reserved for a man and a woman. I don't understand how that issue could be debated; there was no one else.
It is in the book of Genesis we find the foundation for terms yet to follow, like "natural affection", "natural use of a woman", "against nature", and "abusers of themselves with mankind".
In the book of Romans, Chapter 1, verses 26-27 we find:
"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet."This referenced scripture not only speaks against homosexuality in men in stating -"their lust one toward another", but is the only place I can find where the Bible speaks against sexual behavior between women.
Let's move on to the book of Corinthians, were we find in the sixth chapter, verse 9:
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."We could move on through the books of Timothy, Matthew, John and Jude where we will find references to homosexuality and unnatural affections, but possibly the most dramatic proof of how Jesus actually felt about homosexuality can be found in the book of Luke. In Chapter 17, verse 34, we find:
"I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left."In this chapter, Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he is trying to prepare them not only for his death, but more importantly for his return and he is describing some of the things he will see upon his return and of the consequences for them. If is significant that Jesus described women and men working in the fields and other circumstances, but he singled out "two men in one bed", why? Could it possibly be because Jesus knew that there were homosexuals on the earth and since he considered "unnatural affections" a sin, these men who had a lust for other men would have a choice, to repent of their sin and enter heaven or not repent and face eternal damnation?
It seems that very often the relationships of men with men are defended more vigorously than those between a man and a woman. We some how want to intentionally destroy the traditional "marriage" as we have always recognized it, and by doing so, we are sending a clear message to our children that "morality" is just a matter of personal options which can change based on public opinion.
If the members of our churches are true followers of the teachings of Jesus and if they sincerely desire to adhere to the lessons found in the Bible, they have no choice but to teach that homosexuality is wrong.
We should neither hate nor condemn homosexuals, for it is our Christian obligation to pray for them and welcome them into our congregations. There are no such things as "good sin" and "bad sin".
I appreciate and respect differing points of view on this subject and would like to hear what you have to say. Please leave your comments below. Also, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.
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