“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6, NKJV)What a sad statement. The king was the authority and he was supposed to rule in righteousness as God led him. The king was under the authority of the Word of God like everyone else. During the time of the judges, God wanted to be the King of the people but they rejected God as their King and preferred man to reign.God gave them their human kings and when the King was godly, the people prospered; when he was evil, the people suffered. Later on, the people were presented with The God-Man to be their King and they rejected Him as well. Rebellion and rejection of God’s authority persist even now.
Intro: Why preach on this message? Because part of my responsibility as your Pastor is to help you think through the issues of the day in light of the truth of the Word of God—not only so that you can better live for Christ but so you can better engage your world for Him.
Well Pastor, we all know that homosexuality is a sin. Do we? I see 4 dangers that are very much a part of our world today and often we as believers are so saturated in the society in which we live, we don’t see what is going on—or we do see but don’t know what to do about it.
The 4 dangers are:
- The relentless push by Hollywood, presenting homosexuality as a cultural norm.
- The radical political agenda by homosexual and pro-homosexual activists.
- The growing acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle.
- The embracing of homosexuality by “so-called” Christians and Christian organizations.
Today we will evaluate the Homosexual position, state the Christian position, and come to a conclusion about how we as believers should approach this subject with resolute conviction and Christian love.
The Homosexual Position.
A. People are born gay.
This position holds that same-sex attraction develops because of a biological and likely genetic characteristic that is present from birth. Therefore, a person’s sexual orientation is what they’re born with; they can’t help it—it is a personal characteristic like race.
In the 1990’s there was a great hope that a “gay gene” would be found. It was never found. There was a recent scientific study among sets of identical twins. Twins don’t have identical DNA, but they do have identical genetic makeup.
The percentage of cases where both twins were homosexual when at least one of them was was so low that the idea that homosexuality is a fixed, genetically determined trait is dismissed.
So, where do same-sex attractions come from? Well, there is no definitive proof. The simple answer is the sin nature, but there are other factors that researchers speculate can play a part, (hormone levels, childhood experiences such as abuse, lack of bonding with a parent of the same sex, societal pressure, and genetic predispositions).
For example, Ken Ham points out that research has shown that some people are genetically predisposed to alcoholism, potential violent behavior, obesity. But, just because someone is genetically predisposed to something, doesn’t do away with choices. People are not forced to be violent, take a first drink or to eat at Wood Grill every day.
B. Homosexuals can never change their sexual orientation. This position claims that a homosexual doesn’t choose to be gay and therefore can never be otherwise.
However, (according to the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Human Sexuality), many psychiatrists, psycologists, and counselors have reported success in treating clients who had unwanted same-sex attractions. This type of therapy is called Sexual Orientation Change Efforts or SOCE.
Moreover, the Bible says: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such weresome of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11, NKJV)
C. There is no difference between being gay or straight except gender attraction.
D. There is no harm in being gay. The truth is, there are lots of differences as well as harms and those will be discussed soon.
So, when we take a look at the Homosexual agenda, we see that these activists want to have their own identity. They want to be treated as a protected group with equality in relation to straight people. They want rights of marriage, insurance, tax benefits, affirmative action.
The Christian Position.
“And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:2, NKJV)
Are homosexuals people? A person is made in the image of God and is worthy of respect because he is a person for whom Christ died. We do not believe in labeling them and segregating them into a group—they are doing that to themselves.
We have a completely different paradigm in the Christian position than the Homosexual position has.
A. Attraction/Conduct. There is a difference between attraction and conduct. Just because someone has a same-sex attraction—that does not make them a homosexual.
A homosexual is someone who engages in homosexual activity. Someone can struggle with same-sex attraction and not pursue a homosexual relationship because they know its wrong. The Bible makes it clear how sinful it is-abomination.
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sins—especially sexual sins. They were sodomites (that’s where the name came from). When God sent two angels to rescue Lot. The men of that city were beating down the door because they wanted to rape the angels thinking they were men.
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22, NKJV). “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” (Romans 1:26–27, NKJV)
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10, NKJV)
There are people who have been homosexuals and have been saved out of that lifestyle and become attracted to the opposite sex, have gotten married, and had a family. There are others who got saved and were asexual (they never became attracted to the opposite sex and chose to not have a relationship at all).
In the Christian world there are those like Paul that had the gift of celibacy. “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” (1 Corinthians 7:8–9, NKJV)
B. We do not believe that as humans, homosexuals are inferior. As Christians, we must always hate the sin and love the sinner.
We put our focus on a person’s conduct. Homosexual conduct is harmful to the individual on multiple levels. It is the conduct/lifestyle that we condemn. Just like when a heterosexual couple has sex outside of marriage, lives with each other outside of marriage.Sex is for marriage and marriage is from God. That is why the Supreme Court had no right to make a decision about Gay marriage.
“And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”” (Matthew 19:4–6, NKJV)
When you understand what marriage is and what it represents, you want to shudder at the idea of the complete blasphemy of a homosexual wedding. I even shudder to see a woman wear white at her wedding if she is not a virgin.What should our response be to homosexual activism? We should oppose it. As Christians, we should want what is best for an individual and for the society in which we live—and homosexuality is harmful.
C. Homosexual behavior is harmful.
D. God judges sexual immorality with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, Hepatitus A, B, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydia. and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” (Romans 1:26–27, NKJV)
Researchers recently calculated that homosexual men are 50 times more likely to be HIV positive than heterosexual men. Also, homosexual men are at an elevated risk for having and spreading all of the diseases I have just mentioned.Homosexual women according to the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association reports that Lesbians have higher risks for many gynecological cancers. Lesbians have a 2.5 fold increase in the likelihood of Bacterial Vaginosis. Evidence shows that homosexuals experience higher levels of mental illness. This is a fact beyond dispute. The Southern Poverty Law Center stated,“It is true that LGBT people suffer higher rates of anxiety, depression, and depression-related illnesses and behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse than the general population.”
The homosexual position would reply that the mental illness is brought on by discrimination; however, a recent study found that in the Netherlands (the most gay-friendly country on earth), there was a “higher prevalence of substance use disorders in homosexual women, and a higher prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in homosexual men.”It Contributes to the breakdown of the family unit, confusion in children, instability in society, weakness in military.It brings about the judgment of God because of the mockery of marriage and the command to be fruitful and multiply. It also opens the door wide to future defilement.
We have this notion today that what the majority of people “believe” makes it right. First of all—that’s wrong. It works out well when the majority is Christian, but now the majority is not Christian.“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” (Matthew 7:13, NKJV)
Society changes. What if society says you can have multiple marriage partners, or approves of beastiality? What about pedophilia? Pastor Steve, that could never happen.Well, that’s what every naïve, uninformed Christian believed about Abortion and Gay Marriage. What if society said it was ok to kill a new born because it had a defect? Where does it end?
Conclusion: Modern society’s acceptance of Homosexuality is just a symptom of a much larger problem—the rejection of the Bible as the final authority. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Man has rejected the authority of God.
What must the Christian do? We must stand against the radical homosexual agenda in America. We must believe the Bible and stand for what it says unapologetically. But, we must treat the homosexual with respect and love. We reject a sinful lifestyle while not rejecting the individual.
Engage a homosexual just like you would any other sinner. Share the gospel with them. The subject of his lifestyle will inevitably come up. Be honest. Every sinner must be willing to repent of a wicked lifestyle. Let them know that God hates the sin of homosexuality, but He loves them and will set them free!