I was on another blog tonight reading some of their articles. They really focus on the gay/lesbian agenda in the church. I am writing this article particulary in response to the seeming disdain that this other blog has for those Christian leaders that are unwilling to blatantly “speak out” against homosexuality as a stand alone sin — as opposed to just grouping it together with other henious acts of sin.
Homosexuality is defined in the dictionary as “having an attraction for the same sex”. An attraction is no more than a “feeling” and a “feeling” in and of itself is not a sin. For example the Bible says, “Be angry and sin not”. Anger is a feeling and in and of itself, the feeling of anger is not a sin. It is what you do with those angry feelings that determine whether or not you have sinned. Therefore homosexuality, according to the above definition, is not in and of itself a sin. Those destined for hell would have to sign a waiting list to get in if “feelings” alone caused us to be guilty of sin!
I am for lack of a better term, a Christian Sex Therapist. What I do is help people overcome sexual sins through Biblical advisement and personal exploration and healing. The Bible is clear on the fact that fornication (sex outside of marriage) is a sin. That would of course include all gay/lesbian sexual activity because in God’s Word their is no allowance for homosexuals to marry. The Bible also makes specific mention of gay/lesbian sex in several places as it being a specific and abominable act of fornication.
You have to understand that the original translation of the Bible never used the term “homosexuality”. The Bible does speak specifically of fornication that takes place between those of the same sex — in other words the Bible clearly marks gay/lesbian sexual activity as sin — but it does so without ever condemning an individual for having homosexual “feelings”. No one is ever condemned by the Word of God for how they feel, they are only condemned for the sinful response to how they feel. You are not condemned for feeling stressed, but you are condemned if you get drunk in response to that feeling of stress. You get my drift I’m sure.
Ok, so I’m fessing up now – you get no argument from me about whether or not homosexuality is Biblically unrighteous. However, the Bible actually has a lot more to say about heterosexual fornication than it does homosexual fornication! One of the struggles that I have when counseling with homosexuals is convincing them that God loves them. This is because their mind relates God to the hateful and mean “so-called” Christians that try to make it seem as if homosexuality is the worse sin on the planet. Furthermore, my homosexual clients struggle with feelings of guilt for their very existence as human beings because they are “emotionally” attracted to the same sex. It is how one deals with those feelings of attraction for the same sex that determines whether or not they have sinned, but this is not the picture that the church paints for them.
What is my point in saying this? I am certainly not an advocate for homosexuality! But this is my struggle… If I can’t get people to accept their very existence as good purposeful; or get them to receive the Love of God; then there will be no success in counseling them. Thus I have to spend numerous sessions proving to homosexuals that God loves them and that He is not hateful and mean like the heckling Christians that have taunted them. It is often difficult to get beyond the guilt and condemnation that they experience simply because they are still having homosexual feelings of attraction. This puts us almost in a catch 22 type situation because those homosexual feelings cannot be resolved outside of understanding and receiving the love of God and their purpose for existence; yet at the same time the love of God and purpose for existence cannot be embraced when one is weighed down with guilt and condemnation – uggghhh!
Therefore, in direct response to “Gay Christian Movement Watch” weblog I say this:
I don’t think it is neccessarily wrong that some mainstream Christian leaders have not blatantly spoke out against homosexuality specifically. Sin is sin and I believe to focus on one particular sin can be dangerous. With so much focus on homosexuality, others that don’t struggle in this area may become pious and self-righteous, believing that they have arrived. I believe that the biggest sin in the church is PRIDE. That needs to be talked about more than anything else! Once pride, carnality and disobedience is delt with, and people are taught to have “relationship” and not just “religion”, there will be no sin – including gay/lesbian fornication. Right now, it may be more important for mainstream Christian leaders like TD Jakes and Creflo Dollar to do “damage control” on behalf of some of these other idiotic people out there that are (mis)representing Christianity with hatred instead of with the Love and Grace of God. If we cannot get homosexuals to come to church then how can we minister to them, and if we cannot minister to them then how will they be saved and healed? Yet, why would they want to come when they feel as if they are the absolute worse thing that has happened to humanity according to our religious standards?
It is every Christian leaders responsibility to raise the Biblical standard of righteousness on this earth. The Bible talks about “sin” period. Of all the words written in the Bible, there are a mere handful that specifically address gay/lesbian sexuality. So why should we as leaders put it on a pedastal as the sin of all sins? We as Christians have to live HOLY and that is the bottom line. Not being a homosexual is included in living HOLY, but so is not gossiping, backbiting, being prideful, lying, ignoring the Sabbath, cheating, stealing, not praying, oppressing the poor, being disobedient, practicing witchcraft, not reading the Bible enough, regarding zodiac signs, watching rated “R” movies, using profanity, disrespecting our husbands and wives, not tithing, not submitting to authority, speeding on the highway, being manipulative, refusing to fast, not giving to the poor, murdering unborn babies, etc…
You see how long this list could get? You see how small the one act of homosexuality can look in this big long list? Why should we highlight that one thing? Why don’t we stop fooling ourselves and start promoting HOLINESS and righteous living and stop living carnal worldly lives? Once the church begins to live HOLY, we won’t have to make ourselves feel better by beating homosexuals over the head with condemnation! It is then that they will come and be cleansed and made whole…
In His Power,
Anavah
Christian Sexuality Senior Administrator
www.myspace.com/sexuallytransmitteddemons
Great Article. We the Church need to move away from hypocrisy whereby we overlook some sins in the Church, but always say how disgusted we are with homosexuality. Sin is sin. I myself have been guilty of such hypocrisy, and I thank God for exposing areas of my heart that I wasn’t aware of. Thanks Laneen, for writing this article. It helped to crystallize my thoughts on this issue.
“Homosexuality is defined in the dictionary as “having an attraction for the same sex”. An attraction is no more than a “feeling” and a “feeling” in and of itself is not a sin.”
#1 Homosexuality is not just a “feeling”, it is a sexual attraction or inclination towards the same sex. True, The Bible does not say directly that “feelings” are sin, but the Bible does make it plain that unnatural desires, aka lust, is sin. Now before you think that I mean sexual lust only, let me explain; it is not natural, which means it is against the nature of humanity, for a man to have any attraction towards another man(or woman to woman) that is beyond the scope of natural male to male interaction(i.e. brothers, friends, comrads). So therefore even if someone’s attraction to the same sex is not sexual right now(and I say right now because it all leads down the same road to the ending)it is still a lustful(unnatural) attraction and that is a sin. Homosexual attractions or “feelings”, with or without actual gay sex involved, is a sin because the attraction is stemmed out of lust, or unnatural desires.
#2)Christ himself said that if a man looks upon a woman and lusts after in his heart, then he has already sinned in his heart because given the chance he would do so. So to say that “feelings” are not sin is not exactly scriptural. All feelings are not sin, but those that stem from lust are.
#3)The Bible makes it clear that it is not just the gays/lesbians that are having sex with each other that are giong to hell. It also states that “effeminates” will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. The word effeminate simply means a male that is more inclined to be feminine than he is to be masculine. He likes to wear women’s clothes better than men’s; he speaks with a false feminine tone, he walks like a woman, etc. This scripture is not just for men, this applies to women too. By this definition, whether you are having gay sex or not(which, by the way, is fornication), if you are purposely portryaing yourself more feminine than masculine or vice versa then it is a sin.
I do agree that sin is sin and that it is not just the homosexuals that need deliverance. Anybody who thinks that whatever sin that they are doing is not as “bad” as others needs to realize one thing; some sins may be easier to escape and break free from, but all sin pays the same wages: DEATH!!!
Cameron,
I really appreciate comments like yours. It really gives me something to sink my teeth into, lol.
1)I have to disagree that to have an “unnatural desire” would be sin. Yet, to say lust is “unnatural” is an oxymoron to me. The very “nature” of the flesh is sin and therefore every sinful or lustful desire one has is very natural indeed! I think perhaps what you are trying to say is to have desires that are against the will of God for your life is sinful, but again I would have to say that if desires outside of God’s will causes us to be in sin, then we are all hopeless sinners that are hell bound.
2) Yes, to look upon someone with lust in your heart is definitely a sin. But the implication of that scripture is not that of someone that glances at another human being and has a fleeting sinful thought. That scripture implies that you would actually look at someone and begin to plan and meditate on in your mind how you would carry out an act of fornication with that person. I think that it is biased to say that every person that is homosexually inclined is a sex fiend. Many are but not all. Some people have a distorted or misplaced “affection” for the same-sex that is not at all sexually or lust-driven. These are the ones that I am talking about. As for the others that you mention, yes they certainly are in sin – but not simply because they are attracted to the same – sex but instead because it is a lust-driven attraction.
3) To be effeminate, or a person that attempts to portray yourself as the opposite sex, to me speaks not so much of homesexuality, but instead rebellion. This is a person of reprobate mind that has chosen to go against God’s will for his or her life. This has nothing to do directly with homosexuality as a “feeling”. This is simply rebellion and disobedience.
I think for the most part we agree Cameron. It is just a matter of the specific choice of words that we don’t agree on and perhaps our general perception of homosexuals. I like the way you think though so thanks for your comment!
Anavah
Be like Christ,
You are so welcomed. I have been guilty of this hypocrisy too – me of all people. The gall and audacity of human flesh!
Anavah,
I would have to disagree with the statement that sinful desires are natural because of our sin nature. Natural desire become unnatural when the flesh desires things that are natural in an unnatural way or on a unnatural level. So the natural desire itself is not what I am referring to, it is the unnatural way that it is desired by some people that makes it lust, and therefore sin. For example a normal sexual desire is not sin because it is the natural God given desire. But any unnatural desire towards sex is lust. It is not the desire for sex that makes it sin, but the unnatural desire towards the perverted fulfillment of the natural desire. I hope this clarifies what I mean.
Thanks for the solid teaching!
I am glad that this post brings a lot of light.
There are so many websites and posts which only critisize one and other, but we need and want sites where people just share the wisdom of God.
We have gotten talents frfom God to edify the Kingdom of God. We haven’t beeen given those talents to attack eachother with.
God bless you and make you prosperous in all you do!