Does God Say Maybe to Homosexuality Among Christians?
I hope you love the products and resources I recommend here at Foundational. It is possible that I get a commission and collect income from the links on this page. Click here for more info.
Can you imagine a time when God might change His mind and grant approval for one these commandments to be violated?
Do the commandments of God adjust to an ever changing world view, new cultural standards, or more open moral behavior?
“And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image… You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain… Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet…” (Exodus 20:1-17 NKJV).
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NKJV).
Apparently there are times when God says, “Maybe.”
How else can you explain super megachurch pastor Brian Houston’s explanation a year ago that Hillsong Church was having an “ongoing conversation” about gay marriage?
He went on to say, “This is a conversation the Church needs to have and we are all on a journey as we grapple with the question of merging biblical truth with a changing world.”
When the word of God is specific what biblical truth needs “merging” with a changing world? When God says, “No,” What is there to grapple with?
Apparently, from Pastor Houston’s perspective, there is a lot.
Pastor Stan Mitchell, pastor of GracePoint, a mega church in Franklin, Tennessee announced to his congregation that practicing homosexuals can be members of the church and hold their gay weddings in the sanctuary.
He declared, “Full privileges are extended now to you with the same expectations of faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill and willingness. That is expected of all. Full membership means being able to serve in leadership and give all of your gifts and receive all the sacraments; not only communion and baptism but child dedication and marriage.”
City Church, San Francisco’s largest evangelical church, announced in an open letter to their church family that LGBT Christians would now be welcomed into memberships.
Tony Campolo announced, June 8, 2015, “It has taken countless hours of prayer, study, conversation and emotional turmoil to bring me to the place where I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the church.”
According to these and a growing number of other church leaders, if the person professes they have received Jesus in their heart; they don’t have sexual relations with anyone until their gay marriage; they are faithful to their gay marriage partner; and they are living holy and godly lives; they should be welcomed into the church family and given full acceptance as born again believers.
They should also be eligible for leadership in the church.
And because “gay Christian couples relationships seem to work in the same way as ours,” according to Tony Campolo, we should accept, welcome and conduct gay marriages in the Christian community.
What are we to make of the following Scriptures?
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22 NKJV).
“There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel” (Deuteronomy 23:17 KJV).
“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).
So, apparently there are times when God says, “Maybe.”
Really?
Or are we facing the same issues as Jude?
Ah, but that is for our next blog.
Read more posts on this subject here:
4 Powerful Ways to Avoid Strong Delusion
What Happens When the Church Chooses Deception
Does It Matter What We Believe
The Shifting Sand of Political Correctness In the Church
We know that homosexuality is practiced and excepted by the secular world.
It is possible that you have heard that Jesus had many things to say about sexual immorality and put your trust in him for salvation. God is able to sanctify us and make the sinner holy, hence we except all manor of people as a Christian, Christ has helped us and helps those who trust him. Yet we read in the Bible that man and women alone should come together, that such a relationship is holy, that these two become one and are made holy, that the womb is holy in marriage and from it we find a holy seed. A holy seed cannot be achieved in homosexual relationship
Should another human judge someone else’s sexuality? I’ve met many young children that I knew were gay,and stayed that way into adulthood. People don’t decide what sex they are attracted to. What about hermaphrodites? Who are they supposed to partner with? You can’t force someone to be attracted to a gender that has no romantic interest ever to them. Humans are the most critical and judgemental. Not my loving God.
I am so sad to see this flooding the minds and spirits of the body of Christ, your LOVING GOD, knew how unhealthy, how perverse and how destructive that lifestyle is, that is why HE forbid it, my dear, you need to study the word, and see just where it all began, the darkness is creeping into mankind at an incredible speed in these last days. Repent…and He will forgive, cleanse and renew..
Me being a sinner as we all are feel that I have no right nor do I have any intention of judging anyone….I struggle every day with things and have to pray daily for the Lord to help me deny them. Sometimes I succeed sometimes I do not. BUT praise God I have a forgiving God that loves and forgives me. He has not given up on me yet so therefore I am not willing to give up on anyone either. I go to church and sit on a bench knowing full well that I am not spotless. This is why we go to Church so that we can learn more about the word of God and pray with others that have struggles of their own. NOW I was raised in a Little Southern Methodist Church in TN I know far to well what judgmental a spirit is I have felt it more than I care to admit. What did it make me do it made me want to run the other way. It made me feel unworthy and unloved and dirty….YOU see you are not supposed to put yourself above anyone else ONLY GOD is that high and when you make others feel that they are beneath you what are you really accomplishing? I love everyone and I do not struggle with being Gay that is not my struggle nor is it my duty to tell someone I do not know how to deal with a struggle I know nothing about. My thoughts are until you have faced that struggle you have no right to tell anyone they are wrong and surly they are sinful…. If you have struggled with that and overcome that battle then you do have the right because it can be done in love and compassion without a spirit of judgement. Because you can relate to them…. Maybe if we spent more time working on ourselves and praying for God to help us be who he wants us to be (more like him) then we would not have so much time on our hands for worrying about struggles we do not have one single clue about. Just a thought!
While I agree that Christians need to be careful that in their quest to live holy lives they do not become judgemental, to warn someone of their sin is not judgemental. God’s Word clearly defines what sin is, and even names those specific actions as sin – even some as abominations. To warn a sinner of their sin in a spirit of love and a genuine desire to see them restored is not judgemental, rather it is loving. In fact, the Word of God instructs us to do so – in several places. Just as when a mother disciplines her child for doing something that could harm him or someone around him isn’t harsh or cruel, but loving. To allow a brother or sister to continue in their sin, without warning them, is the most unloving thing we can do because their actions could have dire and even eternal consequences.
Thank you for standing for God’s truth.It is so painful to see how many people are blind.Please pray for my son,who is left God 10 years ago and living in a sinful life.Sometimes i am loosing hope,but i willpray for him till the end.
Yes – it is very painful. It grieves my heart. I said a prayer for your son today.
He is not judging anyone. Please read tge qhole bible, before you speak. Would you let a rapes watch your child? If you said no than you judging right, so we have to use righteous judgement on things daily. We cannot let rapes or people from prison watch our children. We have to have wisdom, and only that can come from the Lord.
I don’t believe it is our place to judge how others choose to live. I am a firm believer in loving those who choose to engage in homosexuality. But I don’t think they should be allowed a place of position in the church besides members. Saved or not they are choosing to continue to live in their sin. One must turn away from the sin, repent and ask forgiveness. I’m not saying homosexuals should not be allowed in our churches, just that they should hold no position as a leader. It’s as though telling a child, this certain behavior is wrong but we as the adults continue on in that behavior. Therefore teaching the child to say this is wrong but I’m going to do what I want anyway.
I believe that our church’s should open the door to all the lost, no matter who they are. However, membership is a covenant between the person entering membership and God that they will live holy and sanctified lives and mold their lives around the Bible an the teachings of that congregation. A person who identifies as a homosexual has, from the start, already broken that covenant.
I disagree on first sentence, but I agree on rest
I am so thankful that in my church I was welcome & loved, YET I was told to stop living in immorality (after repeatedly engaging in fornication & other sinful behaviours the bible warns about).
Telling me the TRUTH was the most loving thing the church did & it ultimately set me free to change. I was able to live celibate for a couple of years, seek God for healing/restoration & then find an amazing Christian man to marry 🙂
God knows what is best…thanks for your posts Dean. I appreciate your honestly & forthrightness.
Dear Rachael, your comment was more encouraging than you know. And the testimony you shared here needs to be read by everyone in the church, to hear a first-hand testimony that speaking the truth in a loving, gracious manner can help guide the sinner to freedom in Jesus Christ! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story. I pray that many will read your comment and take it to heart!
I am overjoyed that many churches are stepping out in faith (faith that this is indeed the right thing to do) and declaring full inclusivity of the LGBT community. Although I am living in a different state now, the church that I called home when I was living in Seattle recently declared its acceptance of the LGBT community. It breaks my heart that this group of people has been marginalized for so many years. Even if you don’t accept the behavior, you can accept the PERSON. They are real human beings, who I believe did not choose to be homosexual. Who would choose to have feelings that ultimately set them up for a lifetime of ridicule?! It is time to go beyond tolerance and move toward acceptance.
Here is where the church is divided. The Word of God does command us to love and honor all people because all mankind is made in the image of God. However, the Word of God also commands us to obey His commands and to hate sin. The question is whether or not we choose to believe God’s Word about sin. Clearly, in the verses I quoted in this article, homosexuality is a sin. So, while I love and honor all people, I cannot agree with nor accept what they do.
It grieves my heart. I cannot even imagine how God;s heart must ache to see His Word twisted to suit man’s purpose.
It grieves mine as well. The church is under a great deception!
So very sad to hear about these pastors/churches choosing to ignore God’s commands. There is quite an irony in the statement that gay couples will be expected to live in “faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill and willingness.” How can any of these things be achieved when one is living outside of God’s moral laws? It is especially sad because it conflicts with God’s desire to free the homosexual from a sin that will damage him/her. It isn’t loving for these churches to take this stand.
It is for me as well. And yes, that quote is such lunacy and filled with so much deception. It’s hard to fathom how people can truly believe this could be so!