Culture shock! Culture is shifting! I heard a Christian leader say, “In 5 years we’ll either have chaos or revival.” I vote for revival, but there are some pressing, looming issues that must be addressed or the America we’ve known – and the church we have known – will become a thing of the past. On some of the most important cultural and biblical topics of our time, some of the leading people of our movement have been mute, reticent or confusing in their communication.
We must be clear in our statements, but we must also speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). To just speak truth, often alienates. To just speak love, gives license to anything. With that in mind, I want to address this issue, Can you be gay and be a Christian? I know in doing so, I am opening myself up to “pot shots” but someone needs to address the issue with some clarity, as a starting point to conversation.
There’s no doubt that homosexuality has made “inroads” in culture and in the church. It has gone from, can a person be gay and be accepted by society, to can a person be gay and be accepted by liberal churches, to can a person be gay and be accepted by conservative churches? The question has intimidated some of the strongest and noteworthy ministers from the charismatic and evangelical churches who have retreated to say, “We’re still trying to figure out how to express what we believe.” Let’s begin by examining some biblical basis to establish a Christian worldview.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states:
“Do you not know the unrighteous (in character, not act) will not inherit the Kingdom of God (as initiated in this life and in the life to come). Do not be deceived (as many Christians were…and are), neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (a male who submits himself to unnatural lewdness), nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of God” (parenthesis mine).
There are those in the gay church who calculate that the terms effeminate and homosexual are only applied to abusive relationships and not directly to homosexuality. This is obvious eisogesis (subjective interpretation) because those two Greek terms mean to be sexually active, contrary to your nature, with someone of the same sex. Exegetically, such notions are incontrovertible that God is listing homosexual behavior as sin.
However, there is also an obvious tendency to brand homosexual sin as the worst of all sins. James helps us to understand that if we are guilty of one aspect of the law, we are guilty of all of it (2:10). There can be no doubt that homosexuality is immoral and unnatural from a Christian worldview (Rom. 1:26-27). Nor, is it a sin Christians are not vulnerable to its foibles.
So the question remains, can a person be gay and be a Christian? If that means, can a Christian struggle with homosexual behavior the way a heterosexual person struggles with adultery, the answer is yes! Perhaps, a question more to the issue is: can a person be Christian and be gay? The answer to that is, no! By restating the question you are declaring that being gay is an acceptable way to be a Christian. By examining scripture collectively, it is obvious that a person cannot be a Christian and be gay (1 Cor. 6:9, 10; Rom. 1: 26,27; Gen. 19; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; 1 Tim. 1:10).
It is also obvious from the tenor of scripture that individuals are not born this way, because God is telling them by choice to avoid such behavior. For a person to call themselves a gay Christian would be acknowledging they are actively, perpetually and unrepentantly living a homosexual lifestyle that God says to avoid.
However, this does not condone that we speak truth in a way that the front row shouts and the back row leaves. We love people who struggle with gay lifestyles without condoning the sin. We must commit to walk through life with people to help them find life and life abundantly. If a person is gay, they should be loved and accepted by those of us who claim Jesus as Lord! This cannot simply be a declaration that simultaneously and in reality ignores what may be uncomfortable, but demonstrates legitimate love.
While I cannot condone the eisegesis of certain gay Christian “scholars” to legitimize “gay Christianity,” I am committed to love them in their pilgrimage in Christ without condoning such lifestyle.
Credit: Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
