“The Surprising Truth About Homosexuality”
October 29, 2006
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Before we get to the sermon this morning, I want to thank you for all of your expressions of appreciation these last five weeks during pastor appreciation month.
Heather and I are very thankful for all of your gifts and kindnesses. Thank you for your cards, gift-certificates, taking us out to dinner, and holding an appreciation dinner for us here last Sunday–complete with deviled eggs and Texas Sheet Cake–it is good to be known! Thank you for babysitting our kids and for telling us how much our ministry means to you. We love you, and it is a real joy to be your pastor.
One of the big highlights for me each year is seeing what you put in the newspaper. I don’t know who that goofy bald guy is in the picture this year, but the little thank you in the newspaper for “helping us build our families on the Gospel” is a big encouragement to me. It’s great to know that you are listening.
Another encouragement to me along the same lines is how many of you have taken a free CD of the messages this Fall for yourself or to give away. As I have said before, the best way for you to show your appreciation for me and my ministry is for you to dig into the Bible yourself and to follow Christ with all of your heart.
Now, this is our seventh week in our Home Improvement Series: Building Our Families on the Gospel. We’ve spent the better part of the last two months on the topic of marriage. Next week, we will begin with children and parenting.
But between the two, I think it would be good for us to examine the topic of homosexuality. One of the world’s alternatives to God’s design for the family. Homosexuality. And I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9.
Homosexuality, of course, is in the forefront of our culture every day. The news is full of scandal right now with Republican representative Mark Foley and change with the New Jersey State Supreme Court this week ordering their legislature to create homosexual “marriage” as an equivalent to one-man-one-woman marriage which has been the norm in all cultures over all of history.
What is being proposed is a radical change in the definition of marriage that will have far reaching effects on the family in America.
Entertainment has homosexuality on the front-screen. All I have to do is to drop names like Will & Grace, Brokeback Mountain, and Ellen DeGegeneres to show how pervasive homosexuality is in our entertainment culture.
While only about 3% of all Americans have homosexual or lesbian desires and/or behavior, the issue is front and center in our culture.
And it is present in our community and our local culture. Just a few weeks ago one of you asked me for counsel on how to love and relate to a lesbian couple of your acquaintance.
And it is present in our families and our friendships. Most of know someone who identifies themself as an homosexual.
Thankfully, the Bible is not silent on the issue. It has much to say about homosexuality that is very clear and very helpful for cutting through the cultural fog.
And what the Bible has to say may be surprising to you or to the people around you.
I’ve titled today’s message: “The Surprising Truth About Homosexuality.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is actually part of larger passage about problems that the Corinthian church was experiencing–and here specifically, about lawsuits between believers. These Christians were acting like unbelievers, and Paul wants to warn them to cut it out or they may prove themselves to be unbelievers in the end.
But embedded in that larger context is the surprising truth about homosexuality. Let’s read verses 9 through 11 of 1 Corinthians 6.
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 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.” [NIV]
Surprising Truth #1. HOMOSEXUAL LUST AND BEHAVIOR IS SIN AND INVITES THE WRATH OF GOD.
Now that may be surprising to you if you are only familiar with homosexuality from our culture and not from the Bible.
Our culture is working hard to make homosexuality seem natural, normal, healthy, and (especially) good, morally good.
But it is not.
Look at verse 9.
“Do you not know that the wicked [wrongdoers, those who practice sin] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived [as the world wants you to be deceived...and then he gives a list]: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders [those are the two key categories for us right now] nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
The word the NIV translates “male prostitutes” (Greek: malakoi) is translated “effeminate” in the King James Version and the New American Standard. It refers to the more passive partner in a homosexual act. In the Ancient Near East men who did that often offered themselves as “call-boys” hence the translation “male prostitutes.” But it refers to more than men who do it for money.
The phrase the NIV renders “homosexual offenders” (Greek: arsenokoitas) refers to the more active partner in a homosexual act. That’s why it is translated “homosexual offenders,” that is, the one who penetrates.
It isn’t just talking about those who break sodomy laws. It is referring to both the active and the passive partners in homosexual activity.
The English Standard Version simply renders both in one phrase: “men who practice homosexuality.”
And both are described here in verses 9 and 10 as wicked.
And both invite and deserve the condemnation and judgment of God.
The Bible clearly says that (v.9 and v.10) they will not “inherit the kingdom of God.”
Instead, they will inherit spiritual death and Hell.
Homosexual Lust and Behavior Is Sin and Invites the Wrath of God.
This is the clear teaching of the whole Bible.
From the beginning, God made humankind in his own image, male and female He created them. And when He started putting them together into couples, He did it male and female.
Remember the biblical definition of marriage from last week? Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Homosexuality goes against the biblical design for human couples at every point, and therefore, is rebellion against God’s created order and must be opposed by Him.
We see that opposition at Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). And in the days of the Judges with the Gibeonites (Judges 19).
The Levitical holiness code for Israel made it very clear that it was an abomination for a man to lie with a man like he would with a wife.
And the New Testament has the same message. Here in 1 Corinthians 6. Also in Romans 1 and 1 Timothy 1.
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God.
Anyone who tells you anything differently is wrong. If you have questions about that, I’d be glad to loan you some good resources to study what the Bible says about it.
Notice that I say homosexual lust and behavior.
It’s not just outward homosexual behavior that is wrong.
Unchecked homosexual desire is wrong, as well.
Listen to Romans 1 describe the Fall of humanity:
“For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. [Idolatry.] Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this [the exchange of the truth of God for a lie], God gave them over to shameful lusts [out of control desires]. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. [Lesbianism.] In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust [desires] for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. [Judgment.]” [Romans 1:20-27, NIV]
Do you see how the Bible condemns their desires and not just their actions?
Beware of people who tell you that homosexuality is an orientation that they did not choose and that they are not responsible for. Maybe they are responsible for their acts, but not for their desires.
The Bible says that our sins go deeper than just what we do with our body parts. They go down and actually start with our wants.
And homosexuality is, at root, a perversion of desire.
It may not feel like someone has chosen it, most of our twisted desires do not (do they?), but we are held responsible for what we want, not just what we do.
And homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God.
Now, you may think, because I’m a Bible-thumping preacher, that that is easy for me to say. But it’s not.
People that I love are caught in homosexuality. My first real encounter with it was through two of my friends in high school.
If I could change this biblical truth to be a little less condemning, I would.
My heart has broken time and again over the fact that homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God.
But that is the truth, surprising or not, and we are called to speak the truth.
Now, you might not be surprised that this is truth about homosexuality. You may have already been taught to detest homosexuality as a perversion of God’s good plan.
But you may be surprised by surprising truth #2: HOMOSEXUAL LUST AND BEHAVIOR IS NOT THE WORST SIN THERE IS.
Did you notice something about homosexuality as a sin in this list of sins? Where does it fall in the list? Is it first because its worst? Is it last to reach a crescendo and be seen as the worst sin possible? Where is it in the list? Somewhere in the middle. Just kind of stuck in there.
Let’s read it again. Verses 9 and 10.
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Interesting. Are you in that list?
Maybe you struggle with homosexual lust and behavior. But if you don’t, are in that list?
I have been some of the things in that list myself.
I still struggle with some of things in that list.
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin, but it’s not the only sin there is, nor is it the worst.
Somebody ought to tell Fred Phelps that.
Fred Phelps is the leader (I can’t call him pastor) of the Westboro Baptist Church (which isn’t really a church either). They are hate group of people who claim to be Christians and love to get on television and proclaim that “God hates fags.”
They were the ones who wanted to protest the funerals of the Amish girls earlier this month. Sick and wrong.
They have the idea that homosexual sin is basically unforgivable. To research this sermon, I went to their offensive website to get an understanding of their views from their own words. I can’t bring myself to quote them.
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God, but it’s not the only sin there is, nor is it the worst.
In Romans 1, Paul uses homosexuality as an illustration of the dark exchange of the truth for lie, of the Creator for the creation. Homosexuality is a perversion and an illustration of what perversion looks like. But it is just a sin, like other sins.
And we are all sexual sinners.
We all have a sinful sexual disorder of some kind, whether it is same sex or not.
Maybe its heterosexual lust or misbehavior.
No one here is perfect in their desires and all of their behavior all of their lives.
And all sin is a falling short of the glory of God that invites and deserves the wrath of God.
We may be surprised to find out that homosexuals are not in a special category of worst kind of sinners.
And as side note to that, homosexuality is not the greatest threat to the family in America, either.
What we talked about last week is. Divorce.
Divorce is a much greater threat to the family in America than homosexuality.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Homosexuality is sin. It invites the wrath of God.
And what homosexual activists are trying to do in creating a new thing called “homosexual marriage” is a dangerous and bad thing for America that must be opposed.
If it continues unchecked, it will undermine our society.
But it got where it is because our society abandoned the family long ago with rampant heterosexual sin and escalating divorce rates.
And the church didn’t stop it. The church’s divorce rate is running neck and neck with the world’s!
We need to oppose same-sex unions in our nation, but we need to get our house in order, too!
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin, but it’s not the only sin there is, nor is it the worst.
Sometimes, we can get to thinking that we’re so much better than those “filthy gays.” There is probably a little Fred Phelps living in all of us.
We need to repent of that attitude right away.
And embrace surprising truth #3. HOMOSEXUAL LUST AND BEHAVIOR CAN BE OVERCOME BY THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. Look at v.11.
“[The wicked homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God...] And that is what some of you were [past tense!]. 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.”
There were Corinthians who were passive homosexual partners.
There were Corinthians who were active homosexual partners.
There were Corinthians who were a part of the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
Were! Past tense!
They were changed by Jesus and His Spirit!
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed [cleaned!], you were sanctified [set apart!], you were justified [named righteous] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
There is hope. Change is possible.
Homosexual lust and behavior can be overcome by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Remember, it’s not the unpardonable sin!
Jesus Christ died on the Cross for homosexuals!
He took on the penalty of lust and perverted sex acts. He absorbed the righteous wrath of God!
Jesus Christ died and rose again to free us from our sin.
Listen to Titus 2.
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
That is the only hope for all sinners, including homosexual sinners. Praise God.
Now, you may have noticed that we didn’t have a testimony this week.
I almost showed a DVD of a testimony, but I didn’t want to take the full 7 minutes in our time together to watch a screen.
But we do have this DVD in our church library now from Exodus International, the world’s largest network of ministries that serve people who want to escape from homosexuality. It’s called Homosexuality 101 and it answers several questions about what factors play into homosexuality and testimonies of those who have left it.
When we lived in Chicago, Heather and I had a friend who was a former homosexual, had lived the lifestyle, and now headed up a ministry that went into gay-bars and started spiritual conversations!
He and his wife were a part of this ministry together.
Change is possible. The Gospel can overcome our sexual sin, no matter how deep we think it runs. The Gospel goes deeper!
Homosexual lust and behavior can be overcome by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, three points of application.
First, if you personally struggle with homosexual lust and/or behavior, LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST FOR FORGIVENESS, HEALING, AND TRANSFORMATION.
Don’t try to just stop being homosexual on your own. It won’t work.
You need what we all need: repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Repentance is turning, our hearts turning away from our own agenda, our own way of doing things.
And faith is resting on Jesus Christ and His Crosswork on your behalf.
Become a faith-follower of Christ and you will find forgiveness, healing, and transforming power.
We will help you to do that and to start a new lifestyle of faith.
We’ll surround you with wholesome friendships and help you with discipleship, and walk with you through the process of being more like Christ.
That goes for anyone here who struggles with any sexual disorder.
Look to Jesus Christ for forgiveness, healing, and transformation.
There is a little booklet called “Homosexuality” by Ed Welch that we have back in the back. We’ll start by reading that together and talking about how the Gospel can change your life.
If you are a parent or another family member or a friend who has a loved one who is trapped in homosexuality, my counsel for you is to LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST FOR GRACE, WISDOM, AND BOLDNESS TO LOVE YOUR HOMOSEXUAL LOVED-ONE.
The Lord Jesus will help you to love them wisely.
I have a number of resources that I would recommend to any family or friend that was in that situation. I’ll be putting them up on my blog this week.
Talk to me. I’d be glad to help you.
Some parents need to realize their part in their child’s choices.
Many fathers especially have been aloof and distant and that is a contributing factor to homosexual tendencies.
If you have sinned against you child, you need to own that sin and ask for forgiveness.
There’s plenty of forgiveness in the Cross for you.
Don’t give up on your loved-one. Keep on loving them with the Gospel and with practical, tangible expressions of your love for them.
In a few weeks, I’m planning to preach on raising boys to be men and girls to be women.
If your child is not yet an adult, one of your major parenting goals needs to be to disciple your child toward and understanding and embrace biblical manhood or womanhood.
If you failed at that, there is still hope while you all live.
Look to Jesus Christ for grace, wisdom, and boldness to love your homosexual loved-one.
And thirdly, what should the church do?
Knowing these three surprising truths about homosexuality, the church as a whole should SPEAK THE SURPRISING TRUTH WITH SURPRISING LOVE.
The world thinks that we know only one of those truths, the first one.
And we can’t shrink from that first one.
But we need to keep them all in balance!
The world should be shocked to find out that the church loves homosexuals even if it hates homosexuality.
We are tempted in our day and age to love homosexuality or to hate homosexuals, but the opposite needs to be true of us.
Is it true of you that you love homosexuals?
And do you love them enough to speak the surprising truth?
Is it true of you that you hate homosexuality?
Not just the yuck-factor, but you hate the rebellion from God’s perfect plan?
There are churches who don’t hate it enough. There are churches that are ordaining practicing homosexuals to be their pastors and bishops.
We need to hate it.
And we to hate it enough to proclaim the gospel that changes people.
The world needs to know the surprising truth about homosexuality:
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath God.
Homosexual lust and behavior is not the worst sin there is.
Homosexual lust and behavior can be overcome by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And world needs to hear this surprising truth told with surprising love.
October 29, 2006
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Before we get to the sermon this morning, I want to thank you for all of your expressions of appreciation these last five weeks during pastor appreciation month.
Heather and I are very thankful for all of your gifts and kindnesses. Thank you for your cards, gift-certificates, taking us out to dinner, and holding an appreciation dinner for us here last Sunday–complete with deviled eggs and Texas Sheet Cake–it is good to be known! Thank you for babysitting our kids and for telling us how much our ministry means to you. We love you, and it is a real joy to be your pastor.
One of the big highlights for me each year is seeing what you put in the newspaper. I don’t know who that goofy bald guy is in the picture this year, but the little thank you in the newspaper for “helping us build our families on the Gospel” is a big encouragement to me. It’s great to know that you are listening.
Another encouragement to me along the same lines is how many of you have taken a free CD of the messages this Fall for yourself or to give away. As I have said before, the best way for you to show your appreciation for me and my ministry is for you to dig into the Bible yourself and to follow Christ with all of your heart.
Now, this is our seventh week in our Home Improvement Series: Building Our Families on the Gospel. We’ve spent the better part of the last two months on the topic of marriage. Next week, we will begin with children and parenting.
But between the two, I think it would be good for us to examine the topic of homosexuality. One of the world’s alternatives to God’s design for the family. Homosexuality. And I invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9.
Homosexuality, of course, is in the forefront of our culture every day. The news is full of scandal right now with Republican representative Mark Foley and change with the New Jersey State Supreme Court this week ordering their legislature to create homosexual “marriage” as an equivalent to one-man-one-woman marriage which has been the norm in all cultures over all of history.
What is being proposed is a radical change in the definition of marriage that will have far reaching effects on the family in America.
Entertainment has homosexuality on the front-screen. All I have to do is to drop names like Will & Grace, Brokeback Mountain, and Ellen DeGegeneres to show how pervasive homosexuality is in our entertainment culture.
While only about 3% of all Americans have homosexual or lesbian desires and/or behavior, the issue is front and center in our culture.
And it is present in our community and our local culture. Just a few weeks ago one of you asked me for counsel on how to love and relate to a lesbian couple of your acquaintance.
And it is present in our families and our friendships. Most of know someone who identifies themself as an homosexual.
Thankfully, the Bible is not silent on the issue. It has much to say about homosexuality that is very clear and very helpful for cutting through the cultural fog.
And what the Bible has to say may be surprising to you or to the people around you.
I’ve titled today’s message: “The Surprising Truth About Homosexuality.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is actually part of larger passage about problems that the Corinthian church was experiencing–and here specifically, about lawsuits between believers. These Christians were acting like unbelievers, and Paul wants to warn them to cut it out or they may prove themselves to be unbelievers in the end.
But embedded in that larger context is the surprising truth about homosexuality. Let’s read verses 9 through 11 of 1 Corinthians 6.
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 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.” [NIV]
Surprising Truth #1. HOMOSEXUAL LUST AND BEHAVIOR IS SIN AND INVITES THE WRATH OF GOD.
Now that may be surprising to you if you are only familiar with homosexuality from our culture and not from the Bible.
Our culture is working hard to make homosexuality seem natural, normal, healthy, and (especially) good, morally good.
But it is not.
Look at verse 9.
“Do you not know that the wicked [wrongdoers, those who practice sin] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived [as the world wants you to be deceived...and then he gives a list]: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders [those are the two key categories for us right now] nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
The word the NIV translates “male prostitutes” (Greek: malakoi) is translated “effeminate” in the King James Version and the New American Standard. It refers to the more passive partner in a homosexual act. In the Ancient Near East men who did that often offered themselves as “call-boys” hence the translation “male prostitutes.” But it refers to more than men who do it for money.
The phrase the NIV renders “homosexual offenders” (Greek: arsenokoitas) refers to the more active partner in a homosexual act. That’s why it is translated “homosexual offenders,” that is, the one who penetrates.
It isn’t just talking about those who break sodomy laws. It is referring to both the active and the passive partners in homosexual activity.
The English Standard Version simply renders both in one phrase: “men who practice homosexuality.”
And both are described here in verses 9 and 10 as wicked.
And both invite and deserve the condemnation and judgment of God.
The Bible clearly says that (v.9 and v.10) they will not “inherit the kingdom of God.”
Instead, they will inherit spiritual death and Hell.
Homosexual Lust and Behavior Is Sin and Invites the Wrath of God.
This is the clear teaching of the whole Bible.
From the beginning, God made humankind in his own image, male and female He created them. And when He started putting them together into couples, He did it male and female.
Remember the biblical definition of marriage from last week? Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Homosexuality goes against the biblical design for human couples at every point, and therefore, is rebellion against God’s created order and must be opposed by Him.
We see that opposition at Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). And in the days of the Judges with the Gibeonites (Judges 19).
The Levitical holiness code for Israel made it very clear that it was an abomination for a man to lie with a man like he would with a wife.
And the New Testament has the same message. Here in 1 Corinthians 6. Also in Romans 1 and 1 Timothy 1.
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God.
Anyone who tells you anything differently is wrong. If you have questions about that, I’d be glad to loan you some good resources to study what the Bible says about it.
Notice that I say homosexual lust and behavior.
It’s not just outward homosexual behavior that is wrong.
Unchecked homosexual desire is wrong, as well.
Listen to Romans 1 describe the Fall of humanity:
“For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. [Idolatry.] Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this [the exchange of the truth of God for a lie], God gave them over to shameful lusts [out of control desires]. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. [Lesbianism.] In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust [desires] for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. [Judgment.]” [Romans 1:20-27, NIV]
Do you see how the Bible condemns their desires and not just their actions?
Beware of people who tell you that homosexuality is an orientation that they did not choose and that they are not responsible for. Maybe they are responsible for their acts, but not for their desires.
The Bible says that our sins go deeper than just what we do with our body parts. They go down and actually start with our wants.
And homosexuality is, at root, a perversion of desire.
It may not feel like someone has chosen it, most of our twisted desires do not (do they?), but we are held responsible for what we want, not just what we do.
And homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God.
Now, you may think, because I’m a Bible-thumping preacher, that that is easy for me to say. But it’s not.
People that I love are caught in homosexuality. My first real encounter with it was through two of my friends in high school.
If I could change this biblical truth to be a little less condemning, I would.
My heart has broken time and again over the fact that homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God.
But that is the truth, surprising or not, and we are called to speak the truth.
Now, you might not be surprised that this is truth about homosexuality. You may have already been taught to detest homosexuality as a perversion of God’s good plan.
But you may be surprised by surprising truth #2: HOMOSEXUAL LUST AND BEHAVIOR IS NOT THE WORST SIN THERE IS.
Did you notice something about homosexuality as a sin in this list of sins? Where does it fall in the list? Is it first because its worst? Is it last to reach a crescendo and be seen as the worst sin possible? Where is it in the list? Somewhere in the middle. Just kind of stuck in there.
Let’s read it again. Verses 9 and 10.
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Interesting. Are you in that list?
Maybe you struggle with homosexual lust and behavior. But if you don’t, are in that list?
I have been some of the things in that list myself.
I still struggle with some of things in that list.
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin, but it’s not the only sin there is, nor is it the worst.
Somebody ought to tell Fred Phelps that.
Fred Phelps is the leader (I can’t call him pastor) of the Westboro Baptist Church (which isn’t really a church either). They are hate group of people who claim to be Christians and love to get on television and proclaim that “God hates fags.”
They were the ones who wanted to protest the funerals of the Amish girls earlier this month. Sick and wrong.
They have the idea that homosexual sin is basically unforgivable. To research this sermon, I went to their offensive website to get an understanding of their views from their own words. I can’t bring myself to quote them.
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath of God, but it’s not the only sin there is, nor is it the worst.
In Romans 1, Paul uses homosexuality as an illustration of the dark exchange of the truth for lie, of the Creator for the creation. Homosexuality is a perversion and an illustration of what perversion looks like. But it is just a sin, like other sins.
And we are all sexual sinners.
We all have a sinful sexual disorder of some kind, whether it is same sex or not.
Maybe its heterosexual lust or misbehavior.
No one here is perfect in their desires and all of their behavior all of their lives.
And all sin is a falling short of the glory of God that invites and deserves the wrath of God.
We may be surprised to find out that homosexuals are not in a special category of worst kind of sinners.
And as side note to that, homosexuality is not the greatest threat to the family in America, either.
What we talked about last week is. Divorce.
Divorce is a much greater threat to the family in America than homosexuality.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Homosexuality is sin. It invites the wrath of God.
And what homosexual activists are trying to do in creating a new thing called “homosexual marriage” is a dangerous and bad thing for America that must be opposed.
If it continues unchecked, it will undermine our society.
But it got where it is because our society abandoned the family long ago with rampant heterosexual sin and escalating divorce rates.
And the church didn’t stop it. The church’s divorce rate is running neck and neck with the world’s!
We need to oppose same-sex unions in our nation, but we need to get our house in order, too!
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin, but it’s not the only sin there is, nor is it the worst.
Sometimes, we can get to thinking that we’re so much better than those “filthy gays.” There is probably a little Fred Phelps living in all of us.
We need to repent of that attitude right away.
And embrace surprising truth #3. HOMOSEXUAL LUST AND BEHAVIOR CAN BE OVERCOME BY THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. Look at v.11.
“[The wicked homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God...] And that is what some of you were [past tense!]. 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.”
There were Corinthians who were passive homosexual partners.
There were Corinthians who were active homosexual partners.
There were Corinthians who were a part of the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
Were! Past tense!
They were changed by Jesus and His Spirit!
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed [cleaned!], you were sanctified [set apart!], you were justified [named righteous] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
There is hope. Change is possible.
Homosexual lust and behavior can be overcome by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Remember, it’s not the unpardonable sin!
Jesus Christ died on the Cross for homosexuals!
He took on the penalty of lust and perverted sex acts. He absorbed the righteous wrath of God!
Jesus Christ died and rose again to free us from our sin.
Listen to Titus 2.
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
That is the only hope for all sinners, including homosexual sinners. Praise God.
Now, you may have noticed that we didn’t have a testimony this week.
I almost showed a DVD of a testimony, but I didn’t want to take the full 7 minutes in our time together to watch a screen.
But we do have this DVD in our church library now from Exodus International, the world’s largest network of ministries that serve people who want to escape from homosexuality. It’s called Homosexuality 101 and it answers several questions about what factors play into homosexuality and testimonies of those who have left it.
When we lived in Chicago, Heather and I had a friend who was a former homosexual, had lived the lifestyle, and now headed up a ministry that went into gay-bars and started spiritual conversations!
He and his wife were a part of this ministry together.
Change is possible. The Gospel can overcome our sexual sin, no matter how deep we think it runs. The Gospel goes deeper!
Homosexual lust and behavior can be overcome by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, three points of application.
First, if you personally struggle with homosexual lust and/or behavior, LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST FOR FORGIVENESS, HEALING, AND TRANSFORMATION.
Don’t try to just stop being homosexual on your own. It won’t work.
You need what we all need: repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Repentance is turning, our hearts turning away from our own agenda, our own way of doing things.
And faith is resting on Jesus Christ and His Crosswork on your behalf.
Become a faith-follower of Christ and you will find forgiveness, healing, and transforming power.
We will help you to do that and to start a new lifestyle of faith.
We’ll surround you with wholesome friendships and help you with discipleship, and walk with you through the process of being more like Christ.
That goes for anyone here who struggles with any sexual disorder.
Look to Jesus Christ for forgiveness, healing, and transformation.
There is a little booklet called “Homosexuality” by Ed Welch that we have back in the back. We’ll start by reading that together and talking about how the Gospel can change your life.
If you are a parent or another family member or a friend who has a loved one who is trapped in homosexuality, my counsel for you is to LOOK TO JESUS CHRIST FOR GRACE, WISDOM, AND BOLDNESS TO LOVE YOUR HOMOSEXUAL LOVED-ONE.
The Lord Jesus will help you to love them wisely.
I have a number of resources that I would recommend to any family or friend that was in that situation. I’ll be putting them up on my blog this week.
Talk to me. I’d be glad to help you.
Some parents need to realize their part in their child’s choices.
Many fathers especially have been aloof and distant and that is a contributing factor to homosexual tendencies.
If you have sinned against you child, you need to own that sin and ask for forgiveness.
There’s plenty of forgiveness in the Cross for you.
Don’t give up on your loved-one. Keep on loving them with the Gospel and with practical, tangible expressions of your love for them.
In a few weeks, I’m planning to preach on raising boys to be men and girls to be women.
If your child is not yet an adult, one of your major parenting goals needs to be to disciple your child toward and understanding and embrace biblical manhood or womanhood.
If you failed at that, there is still hope while you all live.
Look to Jesus Christ for grace, wisdom, and boldness to love your homosexual loved-one.
And thirdly, what should the church do?
Knowing these three surprising truths about homosexuality, the church as a whole should SPEAK THE SURPRISING TRUTH WITH SURPRISING LOVE.
The world thinks that we know only one of those truths, the first one.
And we can’t shrink from that first one.
But we need to keep them all in balance!
The world should be shocked to find out that the church loves homosexuals even if it hates homosexuality.
We are tempted in our day and age to love homosexuality or to hate homosexuals, but the opposite needs to be true of us.
Is it true of you that you love homosexuals?
And do you love them enough to speak the surprising truth?
Is it true of you that you hate homosexuality?
Not just the yuck-factor, but you hate the rebellion from God’s perfect plan?
There are churches who don’t hate it enough. There are churches that are ordaining practicing homosexuals to be their pastors and bishops.
We need to hate it.
And we to hate it enough to proclaim the gospel that changes people.
The world needs to know the surprising truth about homosexuality:
Homosexual lust and behavior is sin and invites the wrath God.
Homosexual lust and behavior is not the worst sin there is.
Homosexual lust and behavior can be overcome by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And world needs to hear this surprising truth told with surprising love.
8 comments:
As a homosexual Christian I admit to conflictive views on homosexuality. It's not something that I chose. It's just the way things are. I don't believe that the desire can be taken away (short of a miracle anyway). The act can be avoided, of course, as can heterosexual fornication and adultery. Unless I accept a kind of Calvinism (Predestination) I can't believe that God would allow me to have homosexual desires and then condemn me to hell, especially if I try to avoid homosexual acts. I applaud the pastor's reasoned comments. It's often seemed strange to me that Christians are quick to condemn homosexuality yet tolerate divorce. Didn't Jesus himself prohibit divorce? And what else could possibly be more threatening to the family? Yet I have heard divorced Christians speak in the most aggressive manner against homosexuality as though it were the only sin. I would love to be able to lkiuve a normal heterosexual life. If only I could I would get marriage and would take marriage and family with all the earnestness on earth (I just can't underdstand how heterosexuals can be so self centered that they would destroy a family for their own pleasure and selfishness). For me marrying would be a lie and completely unfair to my wife. Thanks pastor, for shedding some light on this complex subject. Clearly you THINK!
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for visiting! It's good to have you around.
I'm glad you think that I'm a thinking person. I'm certainly trying to be.
Let me give you something to think about. Is it possible that your desires are something that is not God-given but sinful in and of themselves?
I know that my desires to lie or gossip or lust after women other than my wife feel perfectly natural and normal to me--but they are still wrong.
The Bible teaches that all of our sinful acts come out of sinful hearts (our insides) including sinful desires and beliefs. And the good news is that Jesus' death and resurrection have in them the power to both forgive us for our twisted desires and give us new desires.
That miracle that you've talked about is possible through repentance and trusting in Jesus. It may not be immediate or perfected in this life, but change is real.
I have experienced some real transformation through this good news, and I heartily commend it to you.
I'd recommend that you read some of the resources I've linked to in my follow-up post to this sermon. Especially helpful to you, I think, would be
John Piper's second sermon and booklet by Ed Welch.
I'll pray for you today!
Blessings,
-Pastor Matt
I'll look at the links you've given. Is it possible that homosexual sexual desires are not God-given but sinful? Is it possible that heterosexual sexual desires are not God given but are sinful? As a result of the fall, man is by nature sinful. Doesn't Paul tell us that sexual thoughts are sinful? If by your question you mean that sexual thoughts (other than those involving one's spouse) are not of God, then I would agree. Inotherwords, only that which is good can be of God. Sex outside of marriage is not good, therefore it is not of God. For the heterosexual the problem need not be great. The heterosexual can get married and enjoy marital relations. The homosexual is presented with a dilemma: remain celibate and try to avoid sexual thoughts or act out homosexual desires. Yes, one can and should pray but what if God does not respond by taking away the homosexual orientation? The Ted Haggard scandal illustrates this. Mr. Haggard said that all his life he has struggled with homosexuality. I have no doubt that he prayed for deliverance yet God did not change his sexual nature. This is where I have to disagree with evangelicals. Homosexuality is NO choice. It is inherent - call it biological. It is not something that one chooses. The only thing one can choose is to act it out. Ted Haggard got married and had children yet he continued to have homosexual thoughts. Evangelicals have a tough time acceptring that it's possible that homosexuality is NOT a choice. Accepting that idea makes hostility toward homosexuals equivalent to a kind of racism. No true Christian wants to be thought of as someone who hates or dislikes someone for something that person can not change - i.e. color of skin, etc. In this regard the Roman Catholic position is more logical: homosexuality in itself is neutral. There is no sin in being homosexual I(though homosexuality is considered disordered) but the homosexual act is considered sinful. The Roman Catholic view, from what I understand, is that homosexuals have a cross to bear and they must do so. Since celibacy is encouraged by Paul in preference to marriage, it seems strange that evangelicals tend to marginalize single adult Christians.
If I could suggest another possibility. There are many who believe that homosexuality has its root (like a lot of sexual sins) in a lack of a good relationship with parents. On the heterosexual side, I've known girls who had poor relationships with their dads who attempt to replace that male affection with promiscuity.
Is it possible that something was missing earlier in life, a lack of bonding, affection, security, from the father/son relationship that contributes to the desires?
In the case of Ted Haggard, it is often the case that leaders get so separated from real life that they live in a secret bubble and don't have a way of seeking help, advice, support from others.
Maybe the prayers and pleadings for deliverance fail because there needs to be a human component, real relationships with men that are non-sexual but deep. Maybe the thing that is needed is to heal the wound that was left there early in life so that the need to fill it with sex goes away.
Just a thought.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for interacting with me! I consider it a privilege that you returned to talk again.
I agree that marginalizing single adult Christians is bad. I'll be writing about that in a few weeks (early December) for this sermon series I'm engaged in.
And I also agree with you that hostility against homosexuals is wrong and must be confronted.
However, I disagree that homosexuality can't change. I think that's the point of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, as my message tried to show. I don't think that the change is instantaneous or easy, but the way of repentance and faith seldom is.
I agree with my friend Dan who pointed out the role of missing or abusive fathers in shaping many cases of homosexual desire and behavior. But I'm not ruling out a physiological shaping influence either. Regardless of the shaping influences, the deepest cause of our sin is our sinful hearts. If we were to find out a biological basis for murdering rage, that wouldn't make it acceptable desire or behavior--and the good news of Jesus would still be powerful enough to change it.
All too often, we have a wrong idea of sin, that is just a little thing or just a bad thing we do. But sin is a powerful force that is twisted down deep inside of us that affects especially what we desire and believe. But when we short-change the power of sin, we also short-change the redemptive power of the Cross. Jesus' death and resurrection are powerful to save--both to forgive and to empower us to live lives that please God.
Anonymous, I understand how difficult it must be for you to hear me invalidating your feelings. I know that they feel natural, normal, and a part of you. But they are a part of you that is in rebellion against God. And in the Gospel, He holds out the power of change and new hope.
I have several friends who have experienced true victory in this area. If you email me at hotorthodoxy@lansefree.org, I'll put you in contact with one of them who would be glad to dialogue with you in private. I'd also be glad to buy some of these resources I've talked about and send them to you--at no cost to you--as an expression of my and our church's love for you. I'll send them to Anonymous at whatever address you provide me in an email.
Praying for you today,
-Matt
I tried to post something but seems it disappeared! Sorry to have been away for a long time.
Of course God can perform miracles and transform homosexuals into heterosexuals. The problem is that God does not answer all of our prayers and desires with miracles. If God acted in this way our prayers for peace in Iraq would have been answered. Evangelicals insist that homosexuality is a choice, that God could not create homosexuals. Who creates babies with birth defects? Is this a choice too? The Catholic Church acknowledges the fact of homosexuality, condemns homosexual acts and teaches that the homosexual should live a celibate life. Evangelicals are under the impression that it will just go away if the homosexual works at it. Ted Haggard took a three week counseling course and he has been transformed into a heterosexual after three years of engaging in homosexual acts. Is this likely? If Mr. Haggard had not been pressured to conform to a heterosexual mold that denies his reality he would not have married and would not have created a family who must now suffer as a consequence of his inability to deal with the truth of who he is. The answer is that there is no answer. We don’t know why homosexuality exists. We simply can not understand the mind of God; we can only try to faintly discern it.
I want to clarify something that I said in the previous post: the answer is not that there is no answerl; the answer is that we DON"T KNOW the answer but in our hubris we often think we know the mind of God.
Anonymous,
Good to have you back!
I’m glad you are still dialoguing with me. It is a honor, and I am humbled by it.
I agree that it’s unlikely that Mr. Haggard has been fully transformed in a 3 week period (though God has done stranger things (cf. Acts 9!)). But that doesn’t mean that he is trapped forever in the grip of homosexual desire and behavior. It also doesn’t mean that homosexuality is the deepest truth about who he is.
The truth is that change is normal and expected for Christians. The Bible says that God changes Christians through the good news of Jesus Christ (ex. 2 Corinthians 5:17).
Yes, God rules over birth defects and homosexual tendencies, but the Bible doesn’t present both of those in the same category. The Bible doesn’t call birth defects sinful but does call homosexual desire and behavior sin (Exodus 4:11, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6). They are in different categories and need to be handled in different ways–though both with mercy and love.
I agree that pretending to know God’s mind is hubris. But when God has clearly spoken His mind, it is not prideful to know it–it is prideful to deny it. God has clearly spoken the verdict on the whys and wherefores of homosexuality in Romans 1, and He has clearly shown the way of change in 1 Corinthians 6. And I believe it.
Anonymous, I know it seems like there is no way to change, that how you feel now is how you will always feel. I empathize with you, as I often feel that way about temptations that often trip me up (Hebrews 12:1-3). But the Bible is clear on this one: change is possible and available through the power of Christ. And it’s not as rare as you think. It may not “just go away,” the battle may be long and hard, but Christ has won the decisive victory and is faithful to all of His promises. I commend Him to you.
My offer to send you those resources and/or connect you with friends who have experienced this transformation is still open.
Praying for you today,
-Matt
Post a Comment