Friday, February 22, 2013

When the Lions Become Vegetarians


Christian blogger Tom Gilson said in a post last week that he often hears people say that in future years, Christians will be ashamed about how the church opposed same-sex marriage.  That statement caught my eye, not because it is speaking out in favor of homosexuality, but because it shows that there are God-believing people who believe that homosexuality cannot be condemned, and can even be favorable, in the sight of God. 

Unfortunately, this doesn’t even begin to describe the gravity of the problem.  There was a billboard that was circulating for a while that said “Jesus affirmed a gay couple.” The minister that was originally going to pray at President Obama’s second inauguration, Louie Giglio, backed out due to some criticism he received for “anti-gay” comments he had made in some sermons about 15 years ago.  Perhaps the most upsetting part of this was the president’s inaugural committee’s statement: “[We] were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection.”  There was a time when it would go without saying that a minister of God’s word would be against homosexuality.  That is no longer the case.  As a matter of fact, last year the Presbyterian Church decided to allow openly gay men and lesbian women to be ministers.    In 2009, the Episcopalian Church appointed its second gay minister.  The same year, the Lutheran Church voted to allow gay clergy, so long as they are “monogamous.” 
Clearly, this is an issue.  To those who may be reading this and aren’t familiarized with homosexuality as it pertains to scripture, allow me to clear it up for you. 

Romans 1:26-28: “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” 

1 Corinthians 6:9: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.” 

1 Timothy 1:9-10: “understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.”

Also, the billboard that I mentioned earlier had a scripture reference: Matthew 8:5-13.  In Matthew 8:5-13, Jesus healed a centurion.  It has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality.

Are you a little confused?  You should be.  After all, why would all of those people who claim to follow God be openly endorsing something that is blatantly contrary to His word?  The answer is simple.  They aren’t truly loyal to God.  There is unfortunately a heart disease that is quite prevalent, and it really is not a new disease, although the symptoms have changed somewhat.  I like to call it peculiaphobia.  It presents itself in God-believing people who know that God exists and that they should be pleasing Him, but they don’t want to be those weird religious radicals who condemn everybody.  So they find creative ways to justify joining the sinful progression of the culture.  Christians have always been called to make difficult choices; to stand out when it’s difficult.  It’s time to make a choice: will we follow the sinful culture’s sexual liberation movement?  Or will we stand with our Lord and Savior?  I’ve made my choice, it’s time for you to make yours.

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