This past Sunday I briefly mentioned something Jesus said on the topic of homosexuality in my sermon How to Interpret Scripture like Jesus (starts at 19:02 and ends at 23:33) to illustrate how some people twist the Scriptures and read meaning into them – to make them say what they want them to say.
The next day I received the following email:
“Your message has taught members of the church and the community to not accept and support the LGBTQ community. There is a lot of hatred going around in the world right now and it’s important that we do our best to love everyone the same.”
Let’s unpackage this a bit, shall we?
- It’s not my message. I’m the server, not the chef. If you don’t like the food, talk to the cook. My job isn’t to prepare the food, only to deliver it. Jesus prepared the spiritual meal in Mark 7:21-23. I just delivered it.
- The person who wrote this believes that accepting and supporting the homosexual lifestyle is loving, and to teach what Jesus said on homosexuality is hateful. I would like to propose that precisely the opposite is true.
The Bible teaches plainly that the person who lives the homosexual lifestyle – I’m not talking here about those attracted to the same gender, rather those who sinfully act on that attraction – will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.“
- Galatians 5:19-20, “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” The phrase “sexual immorality” here is a catchall phrase that would include the sin of practicing homosexuality.
- Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Again, the phrase “sexual immorality” here is a catchall phrase that would include the sin of practicing homosexuality.
In light of biblical teaching, how can it be loving to encourage someone down a path that will ultimately lead to eternal seperation from God?
Conversely, how can it be hateful to try and warn someone from heading down a path that will ultimately lead to eternal seperation from God?
If someone’s house is burning down and you don’t warn the people inside, how can that be loving? If you do warn them, how can that be hateful?
I would rather make someone temporarily uncomfortable, by lovingly confronting them with the truth of God’s Word that can save, than have them be eternally uncomfortable in hell.
Now I want to be clear that I don’t write this to justify my actions this past Sunday (I don’t believe sharing the truth of God’s Word ever requires justification). I write for three reasons:
- To expose the lie in the line of reasoning that says it’s hateful to share biblical teaching on the topic of homosexuality.
- To equip followers of Jesus with how to respond when someone tells them the same thing.
- To convince those who are accepting and supportive of the homosexual lifestyle that they are doing more harm than good (from an eternal, biblical perspective).