Village Schools of the Bible

Homosexuality and the church

Here in Minnesota especially the focus has been upon the meeting of the Episcopal Church and their approval of Gene Robinson to be the bishop of New Hampshire. Now what made this news worthy is that for the past fifteen years, Mr. Robinson has practiced an openly homosexual lifestyle. With his election, he now becomes the first openly homosexual person to achieve the status of a position of official church leadership in any religious denomination. To say the least, it has sparked controversy...and well it should. If I were pastoring a church, I could tell you this would be the subject of my sermon for this week.

What does the Bible have to say about this issue? Homosexuality is first mentioned in Genesis 19 as one of the sins being practiced in Sodom and Gomorrah and for which those cities were destroyed by God. In Leviticus 18:22 God commands His people not to lie with a man as one lies with a woman, and in Leviticus 20:13 we read where the penalty for homosexual activity is death. Although Jesus does not directly address this issue, it is still a subject of New Testament teaching. In Romans 1:26-27 the Apostle Paul states that men and women abandoned the natural desires and performed sex acts with persons of the same sex, concluding that God had given them up to their shameful lusts. This hardly sounds like a text where God smiles with favor upon such sexual perversity, even though Mr. Robinson stated on national television that every day God affirms what he is doing. He must be talking to a God other than the one I communicate with on a daily basis.

For me, one of the most convincing texts is found in First Corinthians 6:9-11. In that passage Paul describes the make-up of the Church in Corinth. Hardly the type that would entice many to come and pastor. Among those listed as members of this church are homosexual offenders. But, here is where I draw encouragement. In verse 11 Paul states, "That is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Yes, some had been homosexuals, but they were that no longer.

They had been changed by the power of the Spirit of God. Friends, God is still in the business of changing people from the inside out. Does God love homosexuals? Absolutely! Does God want homosexuals to come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior? Absolutely! Has God empowered the Church to share the Gospel with the homosexual community? Again, absolutely! Should the Church tell a homosexual that God approves of his or her behavior? God forbid! For then we communicate that our God approves of a sinful behavior and that cheapens the character of God. In fact, may I be so bold to say, it lessens God to the point where I would question the validity of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross for the sins of the world. For if God approves of homosexual behavior, then why should He not approve other forms of sin...lying, cheating, adultery, slander, etc. And, if God approves of sinful behavior, then it was ludicrous for Jesus to have died. I hope this is making some sense.

God hates the sin...God loves the sinner. In fact He loves the sinner enough that He sent His only Son to die a cruel death upon the cross so that the sinner might be set free from his or her sins. Ours is to be a message that God changes lives. Praise God for that! My life was changed and so was yours! I tell people that God does accept us where we are - I don't have to work to improve my condition so that God will accept me - but He does not leave us there. This is the message the Episcopal Church failed to affirm this week with their meetings here in the Cities. May it be a message that we never forget.

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