Daily Devotions
Homosexuality & Christianity (part 2 of 3)
Reading for October 9th: Matthew 18-19
Weekly reading for October 4-10: Hebrews 10-13
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Hebrews 13:4
What's the Christian perspective on homosexuality? How can we communicate this? Here's another talking point from Ben.
#2. Homosexuality is not the ultimate sin.
Obviously, homosexuality is a dishonor to the marriage bed and is clearly condemned in Scripture (Romans 1:25-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19) is often cited as an example of the judgment that God brings on this rebellious sin that disrespects His creative authority and dishonors Human sexuality. We should note however that homosexuality is never held up as the worst sin in the Bible. When God expressly states why he destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah, He doesn't even specifically mention homosexuality except by grouping it with others under the label of "abominable acts." Pride, greed, decadence, self-centeredness and lack of concern for the needy were specifically mentioned as the reasons for God's wrathful judgment (Ezekiel 16:48-50).
Romans 1 teaches us that homosexuality is just another way that God "gave [Humanity] up." We have continually struggled to remember the Creator, and so we have been given up by God to "lusts of the heart" (1:24-25), "degrading passions" (1:26-27) and ultimately "a depraved mind" (1:28-32). In our search for something that satisfies our deepest need (God Himself), we have lost not only the true Satisfaction we search for, but ourselves as well. Homosexuality is simply another tragic demonstration of this problem that is common to all who have sinned and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).
This begs the question: "Would I be in any better shape than my homosexual friends and neighbors without the grace of God?" The cure of salvation is common to every human soul regardless of the sin that has brought corruption into his or her life. We all need the power of the Gospel in our lives to free us from the plague of Sin (Romans 1:16).
Father, give us wisdom that our response to our culture on this delicate issue might be both biblical and seasoned with salt.
