Before I suggest a
"worst case scenario" regarding homosexuality, allow me to interject that I do
not at all personally subscribe to this viewpoint on the subject. I only wish to present it for the sake
of promoting a loving God in his truest form - infinitely merciful and
ultimately restorative!
The worst case scenario
of homosexuality is that it is a sin, and not the ultimate design of the
Creator. In this scenario, we must
ask the questions, "If being gay is a sin, is it worse than any other
sin?" "How is being gay any worse
than being angry, jealous, greedy or covetous?" Somehow morality,
especially in religious circles, has become limited to sexuality, and integrity
has become defined solely by marital fidelity. Is it possible to be sexually
innocent yet morally guilty? I
think so. If we are sexually
faithful to a spouse, yet morally oblivious to the hurting and hungry society
around us, are we still being moral?
It is interesting to
note that Christ condemned divorce, but most of the Christian Church has now
made an exception for the divorced.
Yet, Christ never spoke on the gay issue, and we have excommunicated
members over it. So, we have accepted what Christ condemned and have condemned
what he never addressed.
Christ made it very
plain to us regarding sin. He
raised the bar from action to thought.
After Christ, no longer are we free from sin merely by abstaining from
sinful acts. If we even imagine a
sinful act, Christ asserts that we have already committed it in our
hearts.
Christ made it clear
that if we want to live by the law, we have to live by all of it. I
doubt, no, I know, that no one alive today can live by every law set forth in
Leviticus, which is the book of the Bible most often referenced by Christians
as their basis for believing homosexuality is a sin. Further, if we choose this
path of being justified by the law, and break just one law, it would be the
same as if we had broken them all.
Christ is an advocate for all who sin. He makes no distinction between sins -
He throws them all as far as the east is from the west! How is this relevant to the gay
issue? Even if being gay is
a sin, it is no different from any other human sin; it does not, and because of
Christ, cannot offend God. Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin (the offense) of the world (John 1:29). Jesus dealt with all the world's
offenses at Calvary - and that's the good news of the gospel!
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