For what it’s worth, this isn’t some sort of attempt to stir up trouble or incite yet another vicious internet controversy; I’ve never actually enjoyed conflict, least of all the kind that never actually reaches any sort of verdict. I may have a lot of fun with casual debates, but I don’t gain pleasure from stirring up tempers because anger doesn’t really ever solve anything. Battles and attacks can win some wars, but negotiations can diffuse them, too… often with much less collateral damage or lingering grudges.
There have been several instances in my life where I have hurt others or been hurt by them, often by accident — and nine times out of ten, there was no better solution than to calm down for twenty-four hours, then go back to the offender in private and calmly explain to them how we felt. Talking out the matter in patient humility rather than through anger made the both of us feel better, without either of us being publicly humiliated or creating even more trouble — or even being forced into changing our opinions. With that being said, the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America has made multiple public decisions to allow homosexual marriage in its churches, and therefore a public response is appropriate.
Their point of view has been made known to all, and therefore it’s in the interest of fairness that an opposing opinion be explained out in the open as well. After hearing years' worth of ugly, profitless arguments about the issue of homosexuality in the church, I realized I have never actually heard a sermon or read an article on the subject that I could really agree with in full: and that's why I'm writing this.
I’m not the first person to struggle over the matter of what Christians ought to think about homosexuality, and I’m certainly not the last — nor am I finished hunting for the truth myself. But to those who are at least open to hearing a rebuttal, and to those who want to know why some divisions of our faith are so confused by this issue, hopefully my explanation of my own discoveries will aid you in your personal search. The P.C.U.S.A. isn't the first religious group to declare an official stance on homosexuality — even my alma mater, Asbury University, has received their fair share of debates for their own choices about the matter. Because while the public may hear an organization's brief statement about their final decision, what they don't get to hear is the actual reasoning behind said decision; the long and arduous struggle that has been weeks, months, perhaps even years in the making.
Now I don’t pretend to have any answers about secular, legal, or governmental solutions on the matter; and this isn’t an attempt to explain my religious opinion to people who don’t believe in God and want the majority of my arguments to be based on something besides ancient holy texts; but as a believer in the Bible and as a child soaked in the world of the church since I was born*, I do have something to say to an organization that is striving to obey the same God that I am.
* I'm not claiming that being born into a family of faith somehow makes me a Christian; I personally came to grips with God and chose to serve Him when I was eleven. But long before that major turning point in my life, I was taught much foundational knowledge of the Bible at a young age, and that intense study has continued up to the present.
It’s not hard to understand why present-day Christians are uneasy forming a solid opinion about homosexuality. After all, our religion is often split into two whenever a major ethics debate arises in the world. Whenever equality is demanded for other religions, genders, or races, a new division of Christians fights back and declares the victims somehow unholy in the sight of God.
Now that equality is being demanded for homosexuals, they’re taking the spotlight as the new mistreated minority that must be liberated. Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of a conflict like that. We all want to make a positive difference in the lives of others, and we don’t want to end up looking like the stubborn bigots who are sticking with primeval opinions simply because they’re what we were raised to believe. That’s why I have been combing the pages of my Bible, year after year for nearly a decade, to see if there’s something I’ve missed on this specific matter: to see if there’s some way for those ancient words of God to still make sense in the face of this latest controversy. Because gender and racial equality are not equal to sexuality; people are inherently born with a certain skin color and a certain gender. But sexuality is chosen by us, not bred into us.
So to some of you, my conclusion may be a relief: a surprising middle ground between a desire to seek God and a desire to make peace with others. You may have already figured out this solution for yourself. But to some (perhaps most) of you, my results may not seem like much of a help at all… because the bottom line is, they’re not going to make this problem go away.
1. The Old Testament
The first argument by many Christians is that homosexuality is forbidden only in the Old Testament, as part of the now-void Law that Moses was given by God in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (this is the same set of laws that also monitored what the Israelites ate and drank and how they dressed). First of all, part of that statement is false, because homosexuality is mentioned in the New Testament — but we’ll get to that in the next section.
According to this argument made by many Christians, the new covenant of Christ made the Law of Moses void: “For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well… On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God,” (Hebrews 7:12, 18-19). “Therefore [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant,” (Hebrews 9:15). If that’s the case, then it is argued that we needn’t condemn homosexuality any more than we need condemn those who eat bacon.
Certainly, there are sections of the law of Moses that seem strange now: but we need to take a moment to understand their context before we dismiss them altogether. The purpose of those laws was to preserve the nation of Israel (an abruptly-freed nation of slaves who had no idea how to govern themselves) in the midst of an ancient, contaminated, and morally-depraved world. There was no plumbing, there were no building inspectors, there was no knowledge about how meat spoils. Other cultures would scoop roadkill off the road for dinner, engage in orgies with immediate family, and burn human sacrifices to make the land more fertile — because there was no one to teach them not to.
So first of all, there was no sense in God trying to explain the concept of “germs” or “psychological health,” to the Israelites, any more than you can explain such things to a pack of wild kindergarteners. So he sat them down and gave them an intense list of hygienic and behavioral rules, “just because He said so.” Shellfish carry parasites and are among the more common foods to incite allergic reactions; scavenging birds carry pests; rabbits carry tularemia; and hogs carried trichinosis, because they wallowed in their own filth. Molds and fungi had to be exterminated, sicknesses had to be quarantined, and legal order had to be created. If you read through the laws of Moses for yourself, you might be surprised to find that the majority of these laws make sense if you just look a little deeper.
Second of all, even if you’re just looking into the science of the matter, the studies that claim a pregnant mother's female hormones will affect her child's sexuality are incomplete at best; they attempt to explain why some males are 'born to be more effeminate' than others, but they also cannot account for the reverse, when a female adopts more masculine features in order to be bisexual or homosexual. Sexuality isn't something determined from birth, because children aren't born with sexual desires: they develop them at puberty. They're taught about sexuality because it isn't something that everybody naturally knows about (or thinks is appealing when they first learn it). Furthermore, bodies have specific organs designed for specific purposes, and certain types of sex (including but certainly not limited to homosexuality) aren’t physically or mentally healthy. And sure enough, the particular chapter of Moses’ law (Leviticus 18) that condemns homosexuality also condemns other twisted sexual sins — not just for hygiene’s sake, but also to protect the psychological health of the people (which is why, for decency's sake, I won't quote the entire chapter in detail here). They had to be told not to sleep with parents, step-parents, offspring, the spouses of one’s offspring, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers and sisters in-law, and more.
Even if the other surrounding chapters could possibly be considered “out-dated,” this is one section of the Law with sexual practices that most atheist Americans wouldn’t even want to think about promoting. And it’s important to note that out of these many colorful relationships, a select two were written with special emphasis: homosexuality and bestiality were labeled as perverse abominations in verses 22-23. If we start to claim that any one thing from this section is exempt from condemnation, where are we going to draw the line before things like incest and worse are invited back into the church?
2. The New Testament
As mentioned above, many Christians think that homosexuality is only an Old-Testament subject — but that is incorrect. Homosexuality is actually discussed multiple times in the New Testament, and it may behoove readers to once again look at the context under which it is being written. It is grouped always with other sins, such as greed, slander, murder, swindling, envy, maliciousness, and others. Furthermore, it is often categorized as one of many kinds of “sexual immorality”: a blanket term that is used throughout the New Testament, which still points to the original law of Moses for guidance. Though most of the law of Moses was considered void by the new covenant in Christ, sexual deviance was the one sin that all the apostles and saints agreed to keep banned — without any need to debate.
“For although [men] knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves… 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 be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteous evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them,” (Romans 1:2124,26-32).
“…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…” (1 Timothy 1:9-10)
“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints… For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous (that is, an idolater) has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience,” (Ephesians 5:1, 5-6).
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you… and you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you… I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you’,” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 9-12).
“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, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God,” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
But just because homosexuality is clearly labeled as a sin does not justify the hatred that church-goers often display towards those who struggle with it. Organizations that hurl abuses at homosexuals are not serving God nor casting a negative light on anyone but themselves and their beliefs. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen,” (1 John 4:20).
There are other sins in those passages, too — like theft and lying and abuse and neglect. Homosexuality isn’t the only sin that’s lurking in the lives of believers; we have more than our fair share of porn addicts, drunks, and cheats. Everybody’s messed up. “No one is righteous, no, not one,” (Romans 3:10). We all have our own struggles and shortcomings, some merely emotional and others more physical. Struggling with any of these issues doesn’t make you an enemy of God, or unwelcome in His house: the trouble comes when you claim that you’re not sinning at all.
“They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness,” (Ephesians 4:19-24).
As explained by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone… but if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you… if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Back then, Gentiles (meaning foreigners and pagans) and tax collectors were still welcome to listen to the teachings of Christians and probably even enter their places of worship (if they had any). But they were not considered trusted teachers, and they weren’t given the rights of congregational members — because they weren’t displaying any belief in God: just curiosity about Him. Sinners who aren’t making an effort to escape their own sins and seek God out should still be ministered to, but they can’t claim to be justified in their actions.
“If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother,” (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).
Whether someone’s struggling with sexual desires or substance addictions, they need guidance and love from others so that they can escape and live a healthier life. A man who struggles with porn shouldn’t lead a congregation, and neither should someone who struggles with homosexuality. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t come to church at all: on the contrary, the church should be their safehouse and their rehab facility.
They need security and support in order to recover. And they can recover, with God’s help.
“The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord… Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body,” (1 Corinthians 6: 13b, 18-20).
“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God,” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
“For Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret,” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come… Christ in God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation,” (2 Corinthians 5:17,19).
“For at one time you were darkness, but now you are a light in the Lord. Walk as children of light… and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord,” (Ephesians 5:8,10).
So in the end, if you would really like a single clear-cut answer from me, then yes: the Bible does say that homosexuality is a sin. There’s no getting around that fact.
But we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Jesus still loved sinners, even though He never condoned their actions. He approached them and ministered to them to help them change, and to let them know that they weren’t alone in their struggles. Their worth was not determined by anything or anyone but God, and God wanted the best for them. Whether they were swindlers or thieves or beggars or addicts or adulterers, He called them His children — and called them to leave their lives of sin behind for something better.
So I’ll admit, it’s not fun being on this side of the controversy… if my particular perspective could even be considered a “side,” at this juncture. I’ve had countless close friends who have struggled (and in some cases, still do) with various sexual desires that are contrary to scripture. But that doesn’t stop me from loving every minute I’m around them; they’re incredibly loving and fun human beings no matter what their inner conflicts are.
Some of them have stopped fighting the spiritual battle and have given in to their body’s desires… but others of them are still pleading with God and doing their best to obey him no matter the turmoil — and their honesty about it is why I trust them and love them even more.
Part of the trouble with swallowing the Bible’s statements on homosexuality is is the fact that, up until the present in history, God’s moral teachings and man’s moral teachings have more or less been aligned with one another. But now, ever since the start of the sexual revolution half a century ago, it seems that God may actually have rules against what most of our society is doing. Nobody wants a God with rules; rules are exclusive and difficult to follow. But if you have ever been a parent, teacher, counselor, even a babysitter, then you know: rules aren’t an end in and of themselves, but they keep children safe even if the children aren’t yet old enough to understand discipline’s value. Rules are loving.
Rarely in the Bible is God ever called a noun. He is called many adjectives, but he is only called a select few nouns: less than can be counted on one hand. In the New Testament, the two major titles He is known by are “The Word,” and “Love” itself.
The first title “The Word” is repeated through chapter 1 of the gospel of John in reference to Jesus, and in Greek the manuscript uses the term Logos: the basis for which we have our word ‘logic,’ meaning truth and reason. “God is true,” (John 3:33b) and, “anyone who does not know love does not know God, because God is love,” (1 John 4:8). That means He wants us to be free, but He also wants us to be free only in the best way. Kids running around a busy highway may be free, but they’re also endangering themselves.
Love is sacrificial and giving and kind… but Love must also be stern, on unfortunate occasions. Love must discipline its loved ones to promote understanding and eventual happiness. A truly loving parent will not simply stand back and give their consent when their child runs away and tries to join the household of a drug addict.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet… Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral,” (Hebrews 12: 11-16).
God made a lot of laws for His people to follow, and He summed them up multiple times in a brief pair of rules that often got far-too overlooked: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37-39). So yes, we ought to “strive for peace with everyone,” (Hebrews 12:14), but if we find ourselves stuck between the opinions of people and the statements of God, we ought to trust in the one Being that is the entire embodiment of love.
“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends,” (2 Corinthians 9:18).
We may not always understand His rules, and whether you struggle with His scriptures on homosexuality or on some other matter, it is still worth the risk to obey now and find the answers in time. After all, God has been right about so many other moral matters: doesn't He deserve a little faith on the confusing ones?
“I think He made one law of that kind in order that there might be obedience. In all these other matters what you call obeying Him is but doing what seems good in your eyes also. Is love content with that? You do them, indeed, because they are His will, but not only because they are His will. Where can you taste the joy of obeying unless He bids you do something for which His bidding is the only reason?”
— C.S. Lewis, Perelandra
Part of having faith is the need to make your own personal decisions regardless of tradition, but you do need to remember that tradition is the map that has been drawn out by countless other seekers who have delved deeper and searched harder than you have yet to do.
“I remember once when I had been giving a talk to the R.A.F., an old, hard-bitten officer got up and said, ‘I’ve no use for all that stuff. But, mind you, I'm a religious man too. I know there's a God. I've felt Him out alone in the desert at night: the tremendous mystery. And that's just why I don't believe all your neat little dogmas and formulas about Him. To anyone who's met the real thing they all seem so petty and pedantic and unreal!’
“Now in a sense I quite agreed with that man. I think he had probably had a real experience of God in the desert. And when he turned from that experience to the Christian creeds, I think he really was turning from something real to something less real. In the same way, if a man has once looked at the Atlantic from the beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of coloured paper. But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only coloured paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it. In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic. In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single glimpse, the map fits all those different experiences together. In the second place, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map. But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.”
(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
So yes, maybe I need to take a page from that book and respect the PC-USA’s decision. After all, the members of the PC-USA are much older than me, and likely much more educated. But I have been raised to learn the scriptures themselves — and I’ve spent over twenty years doing so, even if I never went to seminary or took more than three theology and philosophy courses. Not only that, but the hundreds of generations who studied the Bible before me were all in agreement over this matter up until the past few decades: it was secular opinion that started to change, and not us.
So I don’t expect everyone to take my word as law on this matter, nor should they. But neither should they rely solely on the PC-USA for answers, either — especially since the denomination is only keeping many of its pastors from leaving by threatening to take away their property and retirement funds if they should do so. That means long-established churches with over a century of history could be evicted from the very buildings where they were founded — and families that have served God faithfully for decades would suddenly receive nothing in return for their hardships. It’s an unfair struggle, to be sure… but even Jesus himself didn’t receive a fair trial. Those of us in the church were never promised a journey without obstacles, and this is certainly a massive one. The PC-USA is trying to cover up the main issue — the theological debate on homosexuality — by producing a financial one to tie down their pastors instead… and they are wrong to do so.
"A certain number of servants meet in the servants' hall; they have an order given to do such work, and they have also orders given them how to do it. They then consult with each other as to the minor details, how they can best observe the master's rule and do his bidding. They are perfectly right in so doing. But suppose they began to consult about whether the objects proposed by the master were good, or whether the rules he had laid down might not be altered! They would at once become rebellious and be in danger of discharge. So a church met together to consult how to carry out the Master's will, how to enforce his laws, does rightly; but a church meeting to make new laws, or a church meeting to rule according to its own judgement and opinion, imagining that its decision will have weight, has made a mistake and placed itself in a false position."
(Charles Spurgeon)
"Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the Lord. He is with you in giving judgement. Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God," (2 Chronicles 19:6-7).
The church is at a turning point in history yet again. Even without the bureaucratic entanglements thrown in by the PC-USA’s warning to its pastors, the actual debate on homosexuality is not an easy one if people are not willing to search hard and pray even harder.
I don’t pretend to know all the answers for everyone stuck in this mess, but I do know a lot more than I did ten years ago, because I didn’t for one second believe that God could somehow be wrong in the face of man. So if you really want to find out the God’s truth, you need to be seeking it for yourself.
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