Homosexuality and the bible

Recently I have gotten really annoyed with the talk (it's not even a debate anymore) about homosexual marriage. I find both sides presenting petty and flawed arguments. I'll start this blog with some biblical background on homosexuality and then I'll look at the two main 'arguments.' Please read this all the way through to the end and then, if inclined, comment with a thoughtfully created idea or objection.

So, what does the bible say about homosexuality? Is it a sin? Debatable, it is clear that by reading the Mosaic law, prophets and epistles that homosexuality is a bad thing and a sign of other bad things. Do homosexuals deserve to go to Hell? Yes. However, they deserve to go to Hell for lying, lusting, idolatry, or hatred, etc. In fact, every sin anyone commits creates for them a debt worthy of Hell. So, yes homosexuals deserve Hell, but everyone deserves Hell because "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23).

The most extensive passage about homosexuality is presented in the Romans 1: 23-32.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

It says that God gives people over to their desires. He lets people indulge in their sin if they don't choose Him (note: this goes beyond homosexuality).


Now to the 'arguments' about homosexuality. I'll start with the 'religious' argument. Within this camp I see people claiming that 'God hates gays,' 'gays are going to Hell,' etc. (I don't usually see biblical basis for these claims, but when they do they often use the texts I alluded to above). The problem I see is that people elevate homosexuality to some supremely evil sin. Something that is so evil that God Himself hates it and will send you to Hell for it. Yes, God does hate it, but He hates that you stole two dollars from mom's purse just as much.

I feel like this argument is presented to make the presenter feel more righteous. To scapegoat the gays and make oneself feel more holy because they 'aren't as bad as them.' (a similar thing is done with criminals). However, their sin isn't 'more sinful' than yours. All sin is equal in God's eyes. A humbling activity I've been taught is to, when we see a 'sinful' person, call ourselves 'just as bad or even worse.' When I see a murder think 'I am just as bad, even worse.' When I see a thief know that 'I am just as bad, even worse.' The same goes for the liar,


Also, the bible doesn't say we should reject the sinners and take away their rights. Christ gives very few commandments, but two of the most important are "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind'. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:37-38). It doesn't say we should only love those we like or the righteous people. During Jesus' ministry He didn't surround Himself with self-righteous priests. He lived with tax collectors, adulterers, gluttons, etc. He loved them, taught them and lead them to a life of serving Him.Regardless about whether you feel homosexuality is a sin the truly Christian way of treating homosexuals is not with contempt, but with love.

As for the other side of the argument the pro-homosexual side I have grown quite disappointed. There are some very good arguments that can be made, both biblically and culturally, that homosexuality is not evil or sinful. Arguments that have put a great deal of effort and thought into coming to a reasonable conclusion. Arguments that can be contested, but are rebutted calmly with intelligent thought. Unfortunately I do see many of these arguments, instead I see people using mockery and satire in an attempt to make their competition seem unintelligent. I'm a fan of satire, but when you can't make a legitimate argument with it. (here I'm speaking mostly about all of the facebook links I see on my news feed)

Both sides have legitimate arguments at their base, unfortunately these thoughts are shrouded by petty, biased and uninformed views. People taking texts out of context and using the bible to support their own view as opposed to seeing the message of the bible as a whole. People using mockery to try and make a legitimate point (also why I dislike political commercials), but after all I am just as bad, even worse.

Feel free to comment, but don't just yell at me. Take some time and put some serious thought into your comment and I'll put some serious thought into a reply.

Live for Him,

Travis

Emotions

I just watched a documentary on human trafficking called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls. I left the showing with many emotions; anger, confusion, shame, fear, hopelessness, conviction, etc. I'll be processing these feelings for a while and to get started I figured I'd just start writing. I have no plan or rough draft for this blog, it'll just be my train of thought as I try to grasp at some of the feelings and ideas in my mind. (I'll put my feelings in parenthesis so you can track my emotions)

I've seen plenty of films and shorts on human trafficking and I've done a fair bit of research. As I watched the film I knew most of the facts they were using. It seemed like other things I've seen before, group goes into an area, interviews trafficked people, pimps, traffickers, etc. The thing that caught my attention this time was that they kept digging. Most films I've seen show the researchers finding the trafficked victims, we hear their story of how they were abducted or forced into the sex trade. This film opened with that, but it continued on further. It talked about how a women's family can be so poor, that she would go sell herself to bring food home for her siblings and parents. Even that motive I am familiar with, but the next two levels I was unknowing of (at least in how severe they are).

The next part of the film focused on areas in Southeast Asia, namely Thailand and Cambodia. It talked about how parents will sell their daughters to make money for the family. I knew this occurrence happened when the family was starving, but it showed fathers who sold their daughters so that they could drink beer and smoke cigars all day long, or get a new cell phone or tv. It even mentioned that when a woman would give birth to a daughter they would tell her, 'congratulations. Jackpot. You have a financial safety net. If you're family is ever in financial need you can just sell you daughter.' I'm not a parent and yet I find this invigorating. Who would consider selling their daughter into a life of prostitution for personal gain? (Anger, confusion)

The film then took a domestic approach, looking at trafficking in the US. It talked about how women are lured into prostitution with the hope that they will meet a rich many who will marry them or that they will make a profit and be able to afford college. The disturbing part was that most of the women who entered prostitution did so because they felt that their body had no worth because they were abused as children, often times by family or friends. One pimp commented, 'I thank the abusive fathers, they prepared the girls for the life of sex and pain they were going to be apart of. I'm simply continued their work.' Broken homes driving young girls (average age 13) to live a life of selling their body. (Anger, disappointment, fear)

During the next part of the interviews focused on the girls' stories when reality set in. When they realized that their initial goals were not worth it. That they were never going to meet a nice husband or get the money for school. That their shame was too much. Any gain they got was not worth the cost it took to get it. (Anger, sadness). Every girl said they had a moment when this reality set in. They broke down crying by the side of their bed. They were full of shame, anger, depression. They thought that no one will ever love them. They all lost the reasons for living. Many turned to drugs for temporary happiness, others just lived in their depression, day after day with no hope for joy or a future. (Anger, depression)

One girl told a story of when she reached the point where she lost hope in life. She felt unloved and had recurring nightmares of the people who have abused her. When she reached the bottom of her depression she had another dream, one where she was in a garden and Jesus was sitting there. He didn't judge her, beat her, or abuse her. He would simply look at her and say, "I love you." There were many stories similar to this, but the thing that caught my notice was the women when they were telling their stories. When they were talking about their lives in depression, feeling unloved and shameful, they had sorrowful looks on their faces. But when Jesus enters into the picture there is a glow that comes to their persona, their face lightens, they start weeping. (A feeling I can't describe at the moment)

Then I thought back to some passages in Jeremiah I've read in the recent past. In chapter 3 the Lord repeatedly compares Israel to and adulterer and prostitute. "But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-would you now return to me?" (Jer 3:1) At first I glanced over this verse, but now I'm starting to see that in our sin we are just like those prostitutes. Living in depression and shame with ambitions in mind that justify our actions. Then we reach a time when we decide it's not worth it, that we have been chasing a fruitless dream. We are dead in our sin and we're too far in to know what to do. We either live in our depression or find quick fixes of happiness, but we always go back to terrible life we know we're living. And the ONLY thing that can change that is Christ Jesus. We are just like the prostitutes in our sin, shouldn't we be just like them in our rejoicing over Jesus when he brings us into new life? (Awe)

I feel like this blog is reaching its limit, though there is still many thoughts I have flying around my head. I'd love to talk with some of you about them. My final thought comes from the last Cru meeting of the past year. In Bill's final talk he said that, "God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way." God loves you as a His child when you come to Him. He loves you in your sin and sorrow, in your joy and pain. He loves the broken prostitute you are when you come back to Him. BUT He loves you too much to leave you where you're at. He wants to blossom the relationship and make you into a new creation, fearfully and wonderfully made for the Glory of God. (Joy)

Live for Him,

Travis