A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF HOMOSEXUALITY

SUNDAY BULLETIN INSERT, 5/6/07 Back to Articles

BIBLICAL PASSAGES

RELATING TO HOMOSEXUALITY (1)

CREATION AND GOD’S PLAN

Genesis 1:26-28,2:18-24 CREATION OF HUMANS

Matthew 19:3-12 Jesus on marriage

1 Corinthians 7:1-9,25-40 Paul on marriage

OTHER RELATED PASSAGES:

Isaiah 56:3-5, Daniel 1:1-7

SIN OF SODOM

Genesis 19:1-29 SODOM

Genesis 18:1-33 Context of the story

Judges 19:1-30 A related story

Ezekiel 16:44-58 A statement of Sodom’s sin

Jude 5-10 Another statement of Sodom’s sin

OTHER RELATED PASSAGES:

Genesis 13:10-13, Deuteronomy 29:22-28, Isaiah 1:7-17,3:8-9,13:19,

Jeremiah 23:13-14,49:17-18,50:39-40, Lamentations 4:6, Amos 4:11, Zephaniah 2:8-9,

Matthew 10:11-16,11:20-24, Luke 10:8-12,17:26-36, 2 Peter 2:4-10,

Revelation 11:7-10

PROHIBITIONS AND LISTS

Leviticus 18:22,20:13 THE LAW

I Corinthians 6:7-20, I Timothy 1:8-11 LISTS

Leviticus 18:1-30,20:10-26 Context of the laws

THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW AND ISSUES RELATED TO SEXUALITY:

Exodus 20:14-17,21:1-11,22:16-19, Leviticus 12:1-8,15:1-33,19:20-22,19:29,21:1-20,22:4-7, Numbers 5:11-31, Deuteronomy 5:18-21,21:10-17,22:5,22:13-30,23:1-2,23:10-11,23:17-18,24:1-5,25:1-12,27:11-26

THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE LAW:

Galatians 3:10-26, 5:13-15; Romans 7:1-25: The law was our custodian until Christ; brought us the knowledge of our sinfulness

Matthew 19:3-9, Mark 10:2-12: The why of the law is more important than what

Matthew 12:1-14, Mark 2:23-3:6, Luke 6:1-11: The law is for humans

Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28: The Great Commandments;

On these depend all the law and the prophets

BIBLICAL PASSAGES

RELATING TO HOMOSEXUALITY (2)

SIN OF THE GENTILES

Romans 1:26-28 “GIVING UP THE NATURAL USE”

Romans 1:16-3:26 Context of the passage

Wisdom of Solomon 13:1-15:6 Background understanding

Amos 1:3-2:16 Argument form

SAME-GENDER RELATIONSHIPS

I Samuel 18:1-4, 19:1-7, 20:1-42, Jonathan & David

2 Samuel 1:25-27 Jonathan & David

Ruth 1:1-18 Ruth & Naomi

1 Samuel 17-20,31, 2 Samuel 1 Context of the passages

Ruth 1:1-4:22

OTHER BIBLICAL MODELS OF RELATIONSHIPS:

Genesis 12:10-14,16:1-6,21:6-14,23:1-2,24:62-67 and more…(examples of good male-female relationships)

THE PERSON IN THEIR NEED

Matthew 8:5-13 The faithful slaveholder

Acts 8:26-40 The faithful eunuch

Luke 7:1-10 Alternate story of the centurion

JESUS’ ENCOUNTERS WITH INDIVIDUALS IN MATTHEW AND JOHN:

Matthew 8:1-4,14-17,28-34; 9:1-9,18-26,27-31,32-34; 12:9-14,22; 15:21-28; 17:14-21; 18:1-4; 19:16-22; 20:29-34; 26:6-13

John 3:1-15; 4:1-30; 5:2-9; 8:1-11; 9:1-7,35-38; 11:38-44

UPDATES AFTER THE SUNDAY WORSHIP

FOLLOW-UP TO SUNDAY MESSAGE.

There are churches that remember the first part of the passage “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) and the people take the attitude that “I won’t meddle in your personal life if you don’t meddle in mine.” People can feel very comfortable together knowing that some things will never be spoken. Many of those congregations may grow and seem to flourish.

But this is not the kind of community we are called to be. In Ezekiel 3:16-21 and 33:1-9, the prophet is called to be a watchman for his people, and God’s word to him is that if he doesn’t warn his brothers, he is partly responsible for their sin. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul challenges the church to confront a member living in fornication. Ephesians 4:15 says that we speak the truth in love. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. Later in verses 19-20 we are called to convert sinners from their error of their ways. And even the “Judge not” passage, Matthew 7:1-5 goes to say that the measure we use to judge others will be used to judge us, and then he says that we are cast the beam out of our eye, and then cast the mote out of our brother’s eye.

My take on all of this is that we have to make judgments in life, but the judging the Bible condemns and is so roundly condemned in Romans 2 is the kind of judging that sets us up as superiors – as if we were the ultimate decider. The judging that we are required to make is that of brother and sister to each other. It is the deepest form of loving for one another because we are genuinely concerned for their physical and spiritual well-being. It is the kind of judging that says we want the best for each other.

So when Paul points out “their” sins in Romans 1, including homosexual sins, and then comes back in Romans 2 to condemn the prideful, judgmental attitude of the religious people, he is not excusing anyone’s sin – he is just putting us back on even ground and reminding us that we all need a Savior in Romans 3.

But this idea that the “measure” with which we are judged, we will be judged (Matthew 7:2) gets to me. I know that God is my judge whether I want Him or not. But I am also blessed to know that the Lord Jesus knows everything human and everything about me – and so there is also no better qualified judge. Among other people, I believe we respect the judgments of people who care about us, and try to understand what we are going through. For me, anyone who thinks that I am drifting from the right path and doesn’t say anything really does not love me. Likewise anyone who warns me but does not try to get to know what I’m dealing with does not love me either. We in the church have no excuse for either.

So when people ask me if homosexuality is a sin, I guess I could say that what you and I are picturing in our mind about the matter is sin, that maybe 99% of what we see on the matter around us is sin, but not everyone who takes on the label is in that position. So many (especially among our youth) are confused by a culture that says it’s not about what you do, but who you are.

So as I stated in the sermon, the ultimate calling of the church is to be the true lover of homosexual/gay/lesbian persons, as well as our other brothers and sisters. This doesn’t mean excusing anyone of sin, including ourselves. When we love enough to see each person as God sees them, and to challenge them (and allow them to challenge us), then we will see that our Lord has the real power over all sin.

But if we are to truly be the kind of community that loves enough for us to challenge each other, that means we have to be willing to risk hurting feelings because each of us is meant for more than this. Christ says “Follow Me,” and you cannot follow and stay where you are. So my brothers who asked to speak in the service this Sunday were not only welcome to do so, they were doing their duty as your Christian brothers.

It is a risk to speak up; sometimes we are wrong, but where we need to ask forgiveness is not for speaking up, but when it was NOT out of our love for Christ and His children.

And not only them, but among the greatest good you can do for me (and each other) is to raise the question if I ever seem to be straying from the right path… perhaps the Holy Spirit has meant for you to offer the word today that would change someone’s life.

EVALUATION OF THE SERIES.

After this week, I’ll be returning for a time to preaching in a way that is more comfortable for me: to serve a passage of scripture and try to bring it alive and into other people’s lives. But I appreciate the feedback from others; I wish I could have used more of the thoughtful/prayerful response to the written questionnaires – they were very good, but I realized I could go on for days about these subjects. Let me know what you think – what questions remain, what should be addressed in some other way.

Remember, my job is not to tell you what you want to hear… you might not like me or my message… but my job is to do everything I can to prepare you for that day when you face the Almighty God… and it won’t matter what I said or believed, only what you believe. That can be a day of terror and guilt, or it can be a day of joy and peace beyond your imagination. Let us all work to help each other see the second kind of day.

Yours in Christ,