It has been disappointing to me to see the steady drift in our culture towards all out acceptance of homosexuality. Many states have now passed laws allowing some type of gay marriage. The media promotes tolerance. It is an aggressive and in your face agenda. But I can expect these things from the world.
What I have been the most surprised by is the move by many within the "church" to accept this type of behavior as normal. Churches are not only teaching that homosexuality is OK, but they are going to the point of appointing leaders who are open about their involvement in this lifestyle. This breaks my heart. The "church" looks so much like the rest of society instead of like the spotless bride.
Is not Romans 1 quite clear about this perversion? Doesn't the Bible consistently (OT & NT) show homosexual practice to be offensive to God? Why is this clear issue so easily ignored today?
Does anyone else have strong feelings about the way many in the church have handled this issue?
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7 comments:
Yeah man I feel you! I am in one of the states (California) that just passed the law. They celebrated by having a huge wedding ceremony in San Francisco where a ton of people "said their vows."
It hurts that the church is down with this in some capacaties.
I like your point about the agenda being very "aggresive." Man is this ever true. Especially when they bring in the Bible as a part of their aggression.
God help us!
I am torn on this issue, not with the fact that it obviously offends God, but with the how to deal with it part?
I am intriqued as to how this is another HUGE issue sometimes for certain Christians, along with abortion. There are lots of sins going on all over the place that the church ignores or glosses over like adultery, divorce, dishonesty, lack of biblical knowledge, homelessness, extreme poverty....but abortion and homosexuality bring them to a screeching halt. Like somehow this sin is the be all end all. All of the other sins I mentioned also lead to the breakdown of family and values.
I just dont think that it is a bigger sin than all the rest.
But Yes, I was sad when those states choose to legalize same sex marriages. And I was worried. I havent been able to understand my worry yet. What was i worried about?
good thought provoking post, KG.
i like it.
Aaron,
Yes, God help us.
Sarah,
I see what you are saying to an extent, but I don't see many churches actively promoting these other sins as they are homosexuality.
Many churches are now saying that it is OK to practice homosexuality. Few churches are saying that it is OK to lie, commit adultry, mistreat the poor, etc. I guess that I would see that as the difference. The church may not be doing all that it can to speak out against these sins, but that is different than saying that they are no longer a sin.
It is not a different level of sin, but I do think that it is being treated differently by being promoted as OK by many in the "church".
Good thoughts, Kevin
Sarah's right about sin gradation: They all carry the same weight. Homosexuality is a little different in that it is not only sinful, but unnatural.
It boils down to this, I think... a significant chunk of the church effectively abandoned the Bible over a century ago. Officially.
I'm not talking about people who say they believe the Bible but don't honor it, but rather a theological rejection of inspiration.
Once the Bible is no longer seen as God's Word, an inevitable slide begins toward leaning on reason (alone) rather than revelation. It's only a matter of time before anything goes - before what calls itself the church simply mirrors secular society.
Of course the conservative church is guilty of this in other ways, like materialism and self-centeredness. But those are really ancient human sins. That doesn't make them any less deadly, but definitely more common.
Homosexuality is much more flagrant - a thrashing of God's order and image. Again, not worse than failing to love one's neighbor, but much more insidious. It is a fundamental violation of the very image of God ("...so God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them..." Ge. 1:27)
Accepting it and embracing it is absolutely no different than accepting and embracing polygamy, incest and pedophilia. Those are all rank perversions of God's design for sex.
But again, the church accepted divorce long ago, which is another perversion of God's design. Now we have no moral high ground to stand on. This debacle should not surprise us.
Sarah,
I agree that these sins are "elevated" over others. My distaste of it in the church was not to put it on a pedestal but rather to call it what it is.
God says that PRIDE is an abomination to HIM so there is no way that God see's some sins as "not as bad." James 2:10
But I guess what I am saying is that I hate it that the union between a man and a woman is no longer sacred and that if you are opposed to anything that isn't of God then you almost feel guilty.
I can still be "loving" and yet be a truth teller. Not necessarily raising a banner that says "God hates Fags!" (I think that is just crazy and stupid) but I can speak the truth in love and be intentional about forming relationships with folks who are of a different sexual "persuasion" with one of the goals being sharing the love of Jesus.
Not in a "project" and disingenuine (spelling) way but rather just pure outreach and friendship if you know what I am saying.
So all this to say I don't have a sin "barometer" but I do hate that God's design is not celebrated.
Peace,
It is interesting that you say that a large portion of the "church" rejected the idea of inspiration a while back.
I was talking about this with a couple of other men from our church a couple of days ago. When this is true, everything is a slippery slope.
I think you nailed it too, Kevin.
Nobody would argue that one sin carries more weight than another in an eternal sense. The wages of sin is death, whether it's a little lie or genocide.
But nobody is fighting for the ordination of people who are openly liars or materialists or self-centered. Nobody is celebrating those sins and calling them OK.
The rub with homosexuality in the church is that people want to call it normal and healthy and NOT SINFUL. You stated this so well.
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