I felt the need to respond to a question regarding homosexuality. I hope to shed some light on the subject because I have been privileged to have countless discussions with many living gay lifestyles…almost every one of them positive. I also wanted to respond because many have become embittered towards God, church, and “Christians”, something that bothers me, yet doesn’t surprise me. The question: “How can I, as a Christian, love a person who happens to be gay without agreeing with their lifestyle?”
How can we love without agreeing? We just love. And on purpose. If the situation presents itself and we’re asked about our thoughts or if we agree, we can simply answer that we don’t. That should in no way minimize our compassion for others. Did the Bible ever say that we need to agree with one’s lifestyle before we could love them? Quite the contrary!
Personally, a face to face conversation may be warranted if both parties are respectful and there is a desire for truth and understanding. But love must be at the very core. I have had many healthy discussions with people who are gay or bi-sexual…family members and non-family members. Nevertheless, our goal should be God’s goal, to love our neighbor as ourself. And that we present the good news of the Kingdom. That is real love being shown. I’d say withholding the gospel from others is not displaying His kind of love. But if the person already knows where you stand, fine. It’s comforting to know that God is not trying to modify the behavior of mankind. He wants to make you & me brand new. He intends to make an entire new breed (2 Corinthians 5:17), a whole new person. Some argue, “I was born this way”. Jesus says, “You must be born again (John 3:3).
The Bible’s take needs to be correctly qualified and understood. To be blunt, it states that homosexuals (or effeminate) will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). That is a point that doesn’t require much debate. We can go back to the Garden of Eden and see God’s original desire, if unclear. Now what I’ve just said could be a trigger point for you. You may not want to read another word I’ve written, but please continue on. They’re not originally mine, anyway. They came from Paul the Apostle who got it from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So regarding those that won’t inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, which incidentally the Garden of Eden was the closest thing we had to Heaven, neither will the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars (Revelation 21:8). So before we start passing judgement, Jesus said that we should first cast out the log from our own eye so we can see clearly to get the speck out of our brother’s (Matthew 7:1-5). The truth is that we’ve ALL sinned (Romans 3:23).
When it comes specifically to homosexuality; because of Adam, every man leans a certain way (Romans 5:12). One may tend toward same-sex attraction, another may tend toward extreme heterosexuality (sexual activity outside of marriage, which is called fornication). It’s only in Christ, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), that we can have life again (1 Corinthians 15:22). It’s only through Christ that we don’t have to be out of balance to one way or the other, but stand tall as a Son in liberty…to become new in Christ (Ephesians 4:24).