FACING HOMOSEXUALITY
(Part 2 of 4)
In the first installment of this series we considered the Christian’s overall response to the world of sin in which he lives. The Christian’s approach toward someone caught in any sin will be one of deep concern. In part two we take a closer look at the sin of homosexuality.
Identification: Sin
God leaves no uncertainty in His evaluation of homosexuality. Plain and simple, it is a sin. God says:
* "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination"
(Leviticus 18:22).
* "...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..." (Romans 1:26f).
* "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
5:9-10).
The sinful world seeks to remove all talk about “sin” from the discussion of homosexuality. A God-pleasing response to homosexuality will never lose sight of God�s condemnation of the sin. However, it must also be said that a proper Christian response also views each of our own pet sins with equal disgust and outrage. The sins of gossip, lying, cheating, dishonesty and the like are no less damnable than are the sins of homosexuality. Likewise, the sin of homosexuality is no less atoned for by the death and resurrection of our Savior than are all the sins every Christian commits on a daily basis.
Psychology not Biology
(but still a sin)
In recent years, research and studies have been conducted in an attempt to find a biological cause for homosexuality. This effort grows largely from the desire to “prove” that there is a flaw in the body that leads to homosexuality and thereby excuses it as biological, unavoidable, and certainly not a sin.
While there have been numerous statements claiming to have found a “gay gene” and other biological evidence for homosexuality, there are no such conclusions that are scientifically sound.
Although there is no biological connection for homosexuality, there are psychological reasons for it. The psychological connections to homosexuality do not change the fact that it is a sin, nor do they excuse the sin. Rather, the psychological aspects of homosexuality show how sin has influenced and corrupted every part of our natures and this world. They also demonstrate how Satan will attempt to use every human weakness to his advantage.
When God created mankind, He did so with two distinct genders: “�male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). When God established marriage, He did so with one man and one woman: “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 1:24). God also blesses marriages with children and establishes mothers and fathers as His representatives to oversee the training, instruction, and correction of the children: “Honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12).
God’s design is that men and women be distinct according to the way in which He has created them, and that a home have both father and mother who will each use their distinct characteristics for the training of the children. God speaks much of this in his Word.
The scientific community has recently come to realize what God has been saying all along. So in recent years we have heard how the types of interaction between children and their parents are different in the child-to-mother vs. child-to-father relationships. Similarly, the world has recently begun to see the importance of a father (or father figure) in the lives of children, both for sons and daughters.
A son’s view of his father and their relationship provides his understanding of “maleness” and will take part in shaping the son�s adult role as husband and father. The same is true for daughters in their relationship with their mothers. The inverse is also true. A child’s relationship with the opposite-sex parent helps to shape the child’s attitude toward the opposite sex.
These observations (and others like them) have led to the understanding that a solid, scriptural home is important to the health of all its family members (again, this is something God�s Word has always said). What the psychological community is discovering is that God’s design of families and His intent for the role of both men and women in family life are indeed the best plan for success. When sin disrupts God’s intention for the family, the resultant family condition may become a fertile field for the temptation of homosexuality.
No psychological explanation of homosexuality should ever be used to dismiss sin. Nor can there be any true help for those caught in homosexuality, if that help involves only psychology and not Scripture. It is, however, helpful to make use of what the medical community is finding (especially the Christian medical community) to better understand how the condition of our present-day society may become an effective tool for Satan’s plans.
With that awareness and the greater enlightenment of God’s Word, we will be better equipped to shore up our own weaknesses as well as respond to what we encounter in the world.
(to be continued)
–Pastor Wayne Eichstadt