Some people have no clue how to address homosexuals: particularly Christians. This billboard is a prime example of how NOT to show Christ’s love to homosexuals. Yet this can be done without compromising Scriptural truth on the issue. I was recently asked a question via a post on the blog regarding Ruth 1:16 and homosexuality in the Bible. Homosexuality has become a huge issue these days, thanks to Alfred Kinsey’s sexual revolution and false research. Nothing less than “complete and total acceptance!” This often is the answer given when homosexual activists are asked what they are seeking from the public in general. Such activists equate acceptance with civil liberties and equality. They believe that those individuals who do not accept the homosexual “lifestyle” are committing the unpardonable sin—the sin of intolerance. In fact, certain school systems today actively teach youngsters the idea that we must embrace every concept that society popularizes, else we will be unloving and intolerant. Thus, many children are quietly convinced from a very young age that if they do not give everyone “complete and total acceptance,” then they are bigoted and mean spirited.

Those who actually graduate from the halls of academia, and yet still object to homosexuality, are castigated as “homophobes,” “hatemongers,” “bigots,” “sexists,” “puritanical fanatics,” “religious fundamentalists,” etc. Homosexuality no longer is referred to as sodomy (the longtime historical term for same-sex relations), but rather as an “alternative lifestyle.” The media do not view homosexuality as sin, but rather as a valuable contribution to “diversity.” Individuals (or organizations) who dare to speak out against homosexuality in order to expose it as an immoral practice, often are confronted by militant activists who work diligently to spin the issue back into a “civil rights” matter.

Unfortunately, the success of the homosexual movement in this area has resulted in numerous Christians remaining silent, for fear of being labeled as hatemongers—or worse. Some Christians seem to have forgotten the words of the Savior:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake (Matthew 5:10-11).

Yet, the homosexual’s quest for “complete and total acceptance” often goes unchallenged because the Scriptures have been twisted and perverted to accept “alternative lifestyles,” while believers in Bible morality have been effectively silenced. That silence has allowed the social engineers of “political correctness” to achieve significant success in reversing the historically universal rejection by American civilization of the legality, political legitimacy, and social propriety of homosexuality, with the most recent being “gay marriages.”

I read an interesting article seeking to claim that Scripture teaches homosexuality that is being espoused by pro-gay supporters that is entitled Ruth Loved Naomi as Adam Loved Eve. The article says:

“The same Hebrew word that is used in Genesis 2:24 to describe how Adam felt about Eve (and how spouses are supposed to feel toward each other) is used in Ruth 1:14 to describe how Ruth felt about Naomi. Her feelings are celebrated, not condemned. . . . The fact that these words were originally spoken by one woman to another tells us a lot about how God feels about same-gender relationships.”

The problem with this argument (and many other pro-gay arguments involving Scripture) is that it removes the verse from its context entirely. Elimelech, who was Naomi’s husband, had just died and now Naomi was left with her two sons and no means to support her family. This is a totally different culture than what we live in today, and so being a single mom simply would not work, she had no way of making an income (ethically). Her sons marry two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, but then both of her sons die. So Naomi urges the women to return to their mothers and find another husband. Orpah reluctantly leaves, but Ruth “clung” to Naomi. But the real issue at hand was not only the relationship between Ruth and Naomi, the real issue was God!

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. (Ruth 1:14-18, ESV)

Ruth indeed was close to Naomi, but she also had come to realize that YHWH was God, and so she did not wish to return to pagan gods and people. In Ruth chapter 2, Ruth goes out into the field of Boaz in order to gain his attention and she ends up marrying him! Had she truly desired to remain in a supposedly homosexual relationship, she would have merely continued gleaning grain for herself and Naomi in the fields and continued in her relationship. The fact that Ruth desired a relationship with a man and Naomi encouraged it (Ruth 2:2) makes it clear that this was not a homosexual relationship.

But what about the world “cleave” which is used in the Hebrew? Ruth 1:14, referring to the relationship between Ruth and Naomi, mentions that “Ruth clave onto her.” (KJV) The Hebrew word translated here as “clave” is identical to that used in the description of a heterosexual marriage in Genesis 2:24: ” Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (KJV) The Hebrew word in question is dabaq, meaning “to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch.” In Genesis 2:24, three Hebrew phrases are used to describe the relationship between a husband and wife: leave, cleave, and become one flesh. Dabaq does not imply sexual union! The next phrase, “become one flesh,” certainly implies sexual union, but “cleave” is not indicative of such a relationship. This book was probably included in the Hebrew Scriptures because King David was one of the descendants of Ruth. Although this same-sex friendship appears to have been very close, there is no proof that it was a sexually active relationship.

The problem with this argument, as well the argument concerning David and Jonathan, is that it removes the Scripture from context. To say that God would tolerate His chosen King, David, being in a homosexual relationship is ridiculous! When David commits adultery with Bathsheba and kills her husband Uriah in battle, God sends the prophet Nathan to convict David of his sin and God punished him by killing his son born from the sinful union. With other Scripture passages regarding homosexuality (such as Sodom and Gomorrah), it is a ridiculous assertion that God would have tolerated a same-sex union between Ruth and Naomi or David and Jonathan.

Let’s look
at some of what the Bible says about the topic:

Lev. 18:22, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” (NASB)

Lev. 20:13, “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltness is upon them” (NASB)

1 Cor. 6:9-10, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (NASB)

Rom. 1:26-28, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” (NASB)

Homosexuality is clearly condemned by the Bible. It goes against the created order of God. He created Adam and then made a woman. This is what God has ordained and it is what is right. Unlike other sins, homosexuality has a severe judgment administered by God Himself. This judgment is simple: They are given over to their passions. That means that their hearts are allowed to be hardened by their sins (Romans 1:18ff). As a result, they can no longer see the error of what they are doing. Without an awareness of their sinfulness, there will be no repentance and trusting in Jesus. Without Jesus, they will have no forgiveness. Without forgiveness, there is no salvation.

What should be the Christian’s Response to the Homosexual?

Just because someone is a homosexual does not mean that we cannot love him or her or pray for them. Homosexuality is a sin and like any other sin, it needs to be dealt with in the only way possible. It needs to be laid at the cross, repented of, and never done again.

As a Christian, you should pray for the salvation of the homosexual the same you would any other person in sin. The homosexual is still made in the image of God — even though he or she is in grave sin. Therefore, you should show him same dignity as anyone else you come in contact with. However, this does not mean that you are to approve of their sin. Don’t compromise your witness for a socially acceptable opinion that is void of godliness.

I am not just another fundamental evangelical who is spewing hate-speech. I come from a family with a homosexual parent. I was raised around this sin and taught that it was not wrong. I have come to see the truth of the Word of God however, and I have seen the fruition of the sin, as my father is literally dying from his lifestyle. I love homosexuals, but I hate their sin, as does God.

This is a fundamental error on the part of many Americans: the teaching that God doesn’t hate. God hates sin! He must if He is truly holy. A holy God must be completely separate from sin, He can have none of it. That is why we are entirely unacceptable to God apart from the righteousness that comes from Christ, apart from the law! Many would like a God who lives in the gray area, but with God everything is black and white, light and dark, good and evil. There is no confusion of holiness and sin in God’s character and nature.

I’ve talked to a lot of people lately. The message I seem to be hearing is that the church they have attended for years has all of a sudden drastically changed. The Sunday morning service has been replaced with a collection of skits and stories. Preaching from the Bible is almost taboo. While in some “emerging churches” pastors do still teach the Bible, they seem to be the exception and no longer the norm.

So what is happening here? Why does it seem as though the emerging church has some sort of agenda to fix and reinvent church? Is it broken? I keep hearing that we need to change the way we deliver the message in order to be relevant to this generation (which happens to be my generation) of 18-35 year olds.

The problem is, somewhere along the way while the delivery was being changed, the message was changed as well. Instead of the source for preaching being the inspired Word of God, sound doctrine seems to be taking a backseat to a seeker-friendly message that makes the Gospel much more inclusive and non-offensive.

In order to support what I am saying, it would be helpful to examine how Pastor Doug Pagitt uses the Bible at his church (Solomon’s Porch). Quoting from his book Church Re-Imagined: The Spiritual Formation of People in Communities of Faith, Pagitt stated:

“At Solomon’s Porch, sermons are not primarily about extracting truth from the Bible to apply to people’s lives. In many ways the sermon is less a lecture or motivational speech than it is an act of poetry – of putting words around people’s experiences to allow them to find deeper connection in their lives. . . So our sermons are not lessons that precisely define belief so much as they are stories that welcome our hopes and ideas and participation.”

According to Pastor Pagitt, the Bible is not about truth and doctrine but about hopes and ideas and participation. Besides, rather than a pastor teaching the Bible, Pagitt believes there should be equal opportunity for everyone to dialogue in order to come to a consensus of what the Bible might be saying. Pagitt writes:

“To move beyond the passive approach to faith, we’ve tried to create a community that’s more like a potluck: people eat and they also bring something for others. Our belief is built when all of us engage our hopes, dreams, ideas and understandings with the story of God as it unfolds through history and through us.” (Doug Pagitt, Church Re-Imagined: The Spiritual Formation of People in Communities of Faith, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2005, pp. 166-167)

This potluck brand of Christianity that tends to take the Bible lightly has some serious flaws from a Scriptural perspective. While certain parts of the Bible may be read as poetry, there is much more to know than putting words around people’s experiences.

The Bible tells us that God is always right and man is almost always wrong. When we rely upon human consensus we will end up with man’s perspective and not God’s revelation. This is a dangerous situation that has the potential to lead people astray.

Next I’d like to call your attention to a recent article written by the Religious News Service and published in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), January 11, 2008, which can be found by clicking here.

The study, which is entitled, “What brought people to church may not keep them there,” talks about Willow Creek Community Church, which is located in a nearby suburban area of Chicago, IL. The article begins by telling us that the NCR conducted a study to determine if worshipers’ spiritual growth was in pace with their involvement with church activities. They defined spiritual growth as “increasing love for God and others.” Allow me to quote part of the article:

The findings were not only enlightening for Willow Creek and its 20,000 weekend worshipers, but also for the more than 12,000 churches in the Willow Creek Association that look to the church for guidance on meeting the needs of spiritual “seekers.”

Church activities “don’t seem to be lifting them up the spiritual ladder to a new level,” said Cally Parkinson, who helped manage the evangelical church’s research effort.

Senior Pastor Bill Hybels said it was “almost unbearable” to learn that nearly a quarter of his people were either “stalled” in their spiritual growth or dissatisfied with the church, with many considering leaving.

“It is causing me to ask new questions,” Hybels writes in Reveal, the 110-page book that detailed the research results. “It is causing me to see clearly that the church and its myriad of programs have taken on too much of the responsibility for people’s spiritual growth.”

The initial study looked at Willow Creek and six other churches across the country; it was expanded to include 23 additional congregations. In response to the research, Willow Creek is retooling its programs and providing pointers to churches that belong to the association.

What’s going on? Why isn’t it working? Perhaps the church doesn’t need a reinvention or more programs and activities, perhaps it needs the Word of God, through which God promises to work! God says about His Word,

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:10-11, ESV)

I don’t find those promises regarding man-made programs and agendas anywhere in the Bible! On the contrary, I find Scriptures such as Jesus pointing out how the Pharisees void the Word of God for the sake of their traditions in Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

Hang on a second? Don’t I remember the apostle Paul talking about this sort of thing happening in the last days? That is, people will stop listening to sound doctrine and begin surrounding themselves with non-offensive preachers and motivational speakers? Yes! The Word says,

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, ESV)

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4, ESV)

This study shows that you can’t look at numbers as an accurate indicator of success in ministry. For the same reason, you can’t pursue numbers as an accurate means of ministry. The old saying is true, “discipleship over membership.” These church members of Willow Creek may be numerous, but they are largely unhappy and unfulfilled, because they have not received the true Gospel!

In today’s consumer-driven society, people look at church as another service to the community – it ought to be tailored to my desires. But we know from experience that what we think we want is not always what we need! The Gospel is just this. It’s not what we might naturally ex
pect. The Law is written on our hearts, but the Gospel is not self-evident. Jesus didn’t have to die for us, He chose to because of His great love for us! That’s the beauty of it! But without a knowledge of sin which comes through hearing the rightly handled Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), we will have no need for a Savior.

We must understand that eternal life is a free gift (Romans 6:23). It is not earned or deserved (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one can earn their way into heaven, because we are all sinful (Romans 3:23). Because of our sinfulness, we cannot save ourselves, we are not perfect (Matthew 5:48). However, in spite of our sin, God is merciful and does not want to punish us (1 John 4:8; Jeremiah 31:3). But the Bible also tells us that God is just, and as such He must punish sin (Exodus 34:7; Ezekiel 18:4). This creates a problem! God loves us and doesn’t want to punish us, but at the same time He is just and must punish sin. God solves this problem for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who came to earth and was fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14)! What exactly did He do on earth? He died on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sins and He rose from the grave to purchase a place for us in Heaven (Isaiah 53:6; 1 Corinthians 15:1-6). Jesus Christ bore our sin in His body on the cross and now offers us eternal life (Heaven) as a free gift. This gift is received by faith and only by faith(Acts 16:31).

The Holy Spirit draws the believer to Christ through the Word and creates faith in his or her heart. The Bible clearly teaches that our salvation cannot come about by our own works; it is entirely the work of God. Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life! It means resting upon CHRIST ALONE and what HE HAS DONE rather than what you or I have done to get us into Heaven.

Telling people the Gospel without first showing them the Law does them little good. By removing the offense of the message, which tells us that we are sinful and cannot come to Jesus Christ nor accept Him on our own, we remove the great power of the Gospel.

God’s laws and commands were not given to us to give us as a road map to heaven so we can find our own way there; they were given to prove to us that we really are lost!

“‘Run, John, run,’ the Law commands,
But gives us neither feet nor hands.
Far better news the Gospel brings,
That bids us fly and gives us wings!”
(John Bunyan in “The Pilgrim’s Progress)

God isn’t in the home improvement business. He isn’t remodeling. He’s into demolition and construction. New life in Christ means death to the old life in self. The central truth of the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ died in our place, not because it the nice thing to do, but because it was the only thing He could do to rescue us from hell. He took on Himself the punishment we deserve so that, through faith in Him, we could have peace and eternal life with God. Somehow this message has gotten lost, muddied up, and watered down by well-meaning people who’ve forgotten that Christ will offend – must offend – us, or He can’t help us. It has to hurt, or no spiritual surgery is occurring.

It is my prayer the many of the “Emerging Church” will hear this message and heed it, before an entire generation is spoiled and given false hope, which will eventually turn them off to the church entirely. My generation is not stupid. A false hope is no hope at all. I discovered this when Christ found me. I hope that you will learn this too.