The person that wrote this started by saying that homosexual relations are clumped in with the things in scripture that God says He hates. And that's true! The scripture cited is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." For the record, I LOVE when God says "do not be deceived-" that's how you know He's about to get serious with whoever's listening, like He wants to say "stop lying to yourselves!"
I guess the conclusion we were supposed to come to from the original article was that homosexuality is unique because it is being promoted by society right now, it is the new 'thing' society is attempting to convince us to accept as normal. And while that might be true, homosexuality is not exclusive in that respect. Let's look at the things Paul lists before he mentions homosexuality and take an honest look at society's perspective on them;
Fornicators - anyone who is engaging in sexual acts before marriage, either with multiple people or just with someone they're not married to. Last I checked, our entire culture is up to our eyeballs in sex everywhere we go, every day. And it is so deeply ingrained in the fabric of our society that it is almost odd, no, it is ODD to find a form of entertainment that doesn't mention sex or shove it down the throats of those who partake. Almost every single "Best Picture" nominee for last year's Oscars had graphic sexuality and nudity in it. "Wolf on Wall-street" had so many graphic nude scenes that the reviewer for Plugged-In said "it was hard to tell where one scene ended and the next began," relating it to that of a pornographic film. "Game of Thrones," which is a wildly popular show among church-goers and non-church goers alike, also contains graphic depictions of casual sex, fornication, adultery, the list goes on. People who have decided to save sexual acts until marriage are mocked on almost all public television channels, made out to be "freaks," no matter what their motives are. So I think it's safe to say that "fornication" is also a sin that is wildly endorsed by society.
Idolaters - anyone who has idols in their life that they devote more to than Christ. This is almost everyone, myself included. We live in a "what's in it for me" society where we do not partake in things for the good of others unless there is some benefit to self, including how it makes us look, or how many "likes" we can get on facebook. For many these idols could be themselves, their children, their spouse, their possessions, their job, their bank account, etc... the list goes on. It is extremely challenging for myself to stop at the beginning of every day and devote my day to the Lord. I know this is true for many.
Adulterers - This almost made me laugh when I heard it said that there are no societal influences that seek to glorify adultery. There are entire dating websites dedicated to cheating on your spouse. That you can actually seek out other married people who want to have a one night stand with another married person. There are billboards, commercials, web ads, etc., all glorifying this one purpose.
Then, right in the middle of his list, Paul tells us homosexuality is among one of the sins God hates. It is not a coincidence that he also lumped them in with the other sexual sins that the people of Corinth were participating in, because they are not so different.
We live in a society where "friendship" is a forgotten and lost art. I read a separate article the other day where a woman was saying she turned thirty, and realized why her relationships with men had never worked. What brought her to this epiphany was the fact that she fell in love and found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with - who just happened to be a woman. Whether that made her a "lesbian" or not, she really was indifferent to, because "to her it was about love." A lot of the foundation of the "gay agenda" is built on the principle that it's "about love," and "people in love shouldn't be denied the same rights as everyone else." And while that's all well and fine, the problem isn't that she deeply cared for and loved another woman, there was no sin in that. The problem was that we, as a people, have somehow become convinced that being "in love" inevitably leads to sex. While Jesus was on earth, he had several (twelve, to be exact ;)) men that He loved deeply, had profoundly intimate relationships with and served to the point of washing and kissing their smelly feet. This was the truest example of Godly friendship, and there was nothing wrong with it, the example He set for us was perfect. The problem is that we've lost this. I don't even see much of it within the church anymore - maybe it is because we fear TRUE emotional intimacy, maybe it is because we are distrusting, maybe it is because we don't know how to follow Jesus' example anymore. Whatever it is, our ideas of friendship, love, sexuality, intimacy, even marriage, have been perverted. And I'd gladly make the argument that it began being perverted when society began shoving sex down everyone's throat and making us think that casual sex was a normal, perfectly acceptable thing. And no, this is not a "new" issue, it was obviously taking place when Paul wrote his letter to Corinth, or he wouldn't have spent as much time on it. But it's the same problem that's created a sex industry that is RAMPANT all over the world, bringing in TRILLIONS of dollars to those who market it. It's the same problem that has influenced men to think they have the right to treat women as if they are nothing more than a physical body that was made for their pleasure, and even act on it as long as there's enough excuses to explain it away. It is FAR too common. It is the same problem that convinces young women that their virginity is no big thing, and that they should give it away as soon as possible and just "get it over with." AND it's the same problem that has convinced us that if we love someone, sex ought to be a natural element of the relationship. We put physical intimacy before emotional intimacy and try to draw out the same satisfaction, when in reality, it can't be done. It's a cop out.
Deep breath.
The point, at the end of all of this, isn't that homosexuality is OK, or that it's less significant than heterosexual sin, quite the contrary. My point is that none of it is new, and all of the problems have fed off of each other since before Christ died for us. We have been tricked. We have been tricked into thinking one type of intimacy can fulfill the need that we have for emotional intimacy, "Philia," or brotherly love. I have several women I have known in my life that I have loved deeply, and that heck, I'd be thrilled to maintain that relationship for the rest of my life. I have a couple of male friends that I have known for many years that I also love and care for deeply. But God didn't design marriage for brotherly love. He gave us the gift of sex, to be used within a marriage of a man and a woman, to demonstrate love to one another and bring us closer in our marital relationships with one another through the experience of physical intimacy. If someone gave me a really nice purse... (I'm out of touch with labels these days) but let's say someone gave me a Coach purse. And I decided I could do better than whoever designed that purse, and I decided to spray paint it all over, bedazzle it, and add keychains from the dollar store to it. That's what we've done to God's gift. We've cheapened it by thinking we could redefine it and do it better. My point is that homosexuality is not "the big problem," it's a symptom of the bigger problem that affects everyone, which is sexual sin.
So -- what do we do about it? Are we supposed to be against it? Are we supposed to accept it? I think it's funny that this question comes up SO much because nowhere in scripture does Christ say "now, go forth and handle this sin issue." He is on the throne despite what's happening in congress, and that's always been true. I think that as a church we have also been greatly deceived into thinking that because scripture speaks out against something, we must wholeheartedly resent the sin. And God never tells us to do that either. What He DOES tell us to do is to be an example for others in our life and the way we live. He tells us to be in the world but not of the world. He tells us to love one another. He tells us not to sin. And I think that all of these things will look different for different people, because those who are following Him and submitting to being led by the Spirit will be prompted to live slightly different from the next guy. So submit your will to His demand and commit to being led by His spirit. He will not take you where He cannot protect you.
Great read!
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