Equally Loved, Equally Forgiven

I haven't written for a while for two reasons: one, time is always an issue. It's hard to summon the energy to write after a long day, and my thoughts are not always creatively charged with brilliant writing ideas. I'd prefer to wait for those rare moments of inspiration. Two, I'm a little bit of a coward. I've had something on my heart for the past two months or so, and I've been slow to share. Maybe I've just been thinking on it and prayerfully considering what I'd say. But today, on my off-day from work, as I lay in bed scouring Facebook, it seemed like the right time.

I want to do a post on my thoughts about gay marriage. This is scary because of all the hoopla going on right now. I don't particularly love tension and I especially hate conflict. I'm not sure who my audience will be- whether my readers will agree or disagree. But here's what I want to write about: I want to explain the Christian response to homosexuality. On Facbeook lately, I've been accused of being hateful (and not just me, but every Christian). And my latest run-in with a sweet good friend and homosexual, left us "at peace", but with him saying I must be an idiot, to explain away my stance.

So, let me begin: Hi, I'm a Christian. I'm not hateful. I've never hated any person on the planet. The only thing I genuinely hate and loathe are beans. I'm not a rocket-scientist, but I definitely am not an idiot. And I want to explain why I both understand that, as a free nation, marriage equality has to happen, but also why I'm saddened by it.

For me, it starts with our relationships with God.

Some basic background: I'm starting with Genesis, but not in the way you think. I'm not going to bombast you with threatening speeches about Adam and Eve, rather than Adam and Steve. I'm going to talk about the Fall, because everything comes from that. In the Beginning, God created everything, and because He is good and wanted people to see that goodness, he created all of us. But in the garden, we sinned. We (our ancestors) chose to disobey God and break the only rule He had set up. When we did that, we saw our nakedness and sin, and sin entered our hearts. From that first day (however long ago it may be, I'm not arguing about creation), we have inherited our sin nature from our parents and their parents. We all sense it, even if we don't want to admit it. We are broken people, desperately searching to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be loved. We try to fill those gaping bleeding holes with the things around us that promise fulfillment: dream careers, money, family, sex, romance, etc etc. But those things don't bring us complete fulfillment. This is what every religion on earth seeks to answer: why are men broken and what can we do about it? I believe the answer to that is that souls were designed to be in fellowship with God.

Sin separates us from God. In the garden after the Fall, sin literally PHYSICALLY separated us from God. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve lived directly in the God's presence. He walked among them. He visited them, like a good friend. Afterward, they lived outside of God's presence, no longer with Him physically. For us today, sin separates us from God. Haven't you felt that? After really going off on someone, after lying to friend, after cheating on your spouse, don't you feel farther from God- like your soul is dirty and your conscious is blaring at you? So, we try and make amends by ourselves. And maybe our friends and spouses will forgive us. But what about our souls? Can we cleanse ourselves?
We can't get there on our own, because (again) we are flawed, sinful, messed-up people, and even our best attempts we have to recognize are selfish and mien in nature. How can people like us approach a perfectly holy and just God? Luckily, we have a promised Savior, a mediator , but I'll get to that later.

I believe engaging in homosexual sex is a sin. I'm not just pulling this out of nowhere because I "think it's gross" or I think I'm better than them. I want you to fully understand this: I understand that everyone sins, and that no sin is greater or worse than other. A gay's sexual sin is no greater than my own sexual sin. That gay man or woman and I are equally loved by God. That gay man or woman is made in God's image, and I am directly prohibited from judging them. But I do believe homosexual sex separates people from God, in the same way that heterosexual sex outside of marriage separates us from God. As a Christian, I believe the word of God (the Bible) is perfect. You don't have to, if you aren't a Christian. If you do profess to follow Jesus and believe the Bible to be failable, then you need to examine why you feel comfortable dismissing verses to fit your own life. The point of scripture is that it's powerful enough to change YOU, not the other way around. So, I encourage you to do some searching on that. Either Bible is true, or it isn't. You have decide that for yourself.

Anyway, here are the verses that have been on my heart regarding this issue:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11: "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

This verse shows us that no one can get to heaven on their own, for who on earth hasn't done one of those things: either sexual sin or idolatry (worshipping something other than God), cheated on their spouse, homosexual sin, stole, struggled with greed, drank to escape their problems, spoken badly of someone else, cheated someone out of money, etc etc etc!? The point of this verse is not that homosexuals alone will not inherit the Kingdom of God- it's that EVERYONE will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Two thousand and some years ago, the disciples asked Jesus, "Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The amazing good news- THE GOSPEL MESSAGE- is that God sent his Son to pay for our sins. This is the fundamental truth of Christianity: that all fall short of God's glory and that we NEED a Savior.

Wrapping it Up
As an American, I understand that the Marriage Equality act is going to be passed. From a secular standpoint- if I was going to forget all this Biblical information I know and the voice the Holy Spirit in my life- I would say it makes sense that we can't tell one group of people they CAN marry and one group they can't. And, I understand that Christians can't thump their Bibles and say "the Bible says this" and expect those who aren't Christians to obey. I believe Jesus is profoundly sad with the way a lot of Christians handle the homosexual issue. If I were a non-Chrisitan person looking at the Christian response with no understanding of the biblical background, I might also say: "you are hateful. How can you limit someone's happiness because of your beliefs". 

But hopefully now you understand what I'm saying: I'm not against equal marriage because I think homosexuals don't deserve to marry, or I think they are sub-human, or I think they are beyond redemption and that heterosexual people are better somehow. And while it does sadden me to see marriage- a creation of God- dismantled and re-created, that's not the issue either. After all, heterosexual married couples have been destroying marriage for a long time. We've perverted God's creation of marriage- the life-long bond between man and woman- long ago with our own sin and selfishness. I can't encourage homosexual marriage because I can't encourage homosexual sin. If all sin is damaging to the soul, and all sin separates us from God, how can encourage anyone to walk into a situation that would promote that soul death?

Directly to fellow Christians who are against marriage equality, I would offer this challenge: We've lived in this "Christian nation" for 200 plus years. Can it be that you've made America your home and hope, instead of heaven? We keep saying, "America is Christian nation"? Why? Because it was founded by Christians? What about the last hundred or so years has been Christ-honoring? Our civil war, the 20's hedonism, the 50's white-washing and perfectionism, the 60's sexual sin, the millions of babies aborted (and the millions of mother's lied to), the high divorce rate (equally high among Christians)... what among that says, "we follow Christ"!?! Beloved, remember that, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12). Your struggle is not against the politicians, or against gays everywhere or the liberal agenda. Our struggle is, and has always been, against evil, and against the real agenda: Satan's plan to destroy us. So, pray for this country yes. And pray for our homosexual friends ensnared in sin the same way you would pray for your heterosexual friend ensnared in sin. But remember this is not our home. Jesus is coming back, and He will take His faithful to our real home.  It's evident it's about to get harder. We're gonna face real persecution: not the kind of slap on the wrist and name-calling we get now. So remember to fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and protector of our faith. 

“Yes. I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.