We said that we were going to base each discussion on three Scriptures.
Phillipians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Ephesians 4:2-5
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Galations 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In our last session we started to look at the question, “can homosexuality be cured?” That is a pretty strong and inflamitory question.
Let’s start with a Scripture.
Romans 1:18-32
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
This is where we are – people are not recognizing God and He is giving them over to what they want to believe, what they want to do, and who they want to be. To be a homosexual with a clean conscious you have to reject God and reject His Word.
But we need to keep reading.
Romans 2:1-11
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God "will give to each person according to what he has done." 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
We need to be diligent not to be judgmental or bigoted in our relations with those that are gay, because it is not our place to judge people. We can only judge the righteousness of behavior.
I found that there is great angst and lots of information on “coming out,” that is letting the world around you know you are gay. The first steps are all around convincing yourself that you have these different feelings and are allowed to act on them. These feelings, by the way, typically start at or around puberty.
And these feelings are often associated with the notion that we live in a homophobic society.
Definition: Homophobia
"Homophobia is a resentment or fear of gay and lesbian people. At its most benign it's voiced as a passive dislike of gay people. At its most destructive it involves active victimization."
Effects of perceived homophobia on gay people are pronounced before they come out.
- Increased levels of stress and depression.
- Increased risk for alcoholism and/or substance abuse.
- Unfounded feelings of guilt.
- And the list goes on…
So to come out, you essentially have to follow the pattern we read in Romans 1.
- God and Scripture.
- Convince yourself.
- Begin to be a champion for your cause.
So back to the question, "can gay people be cured?"
John 16:12-15
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
If you can convince yourself that homosexual behavior is permissible, then certainly with the Spirits help you can come to understand how God sees things.
Sounds like the body of Christ has work to do to introduce people to the truth of Christ.
Let’s look at some statistics and facts on how the Gay movement has been gaining power and acceptance.
Growth in Politics
- The first openly gay or lesbian elected official was Kathy Kozachenko, who
was chosen for the Ann Arbor, Michigan, city council in 1974. - In January 1980 there were 5 openly gay or lesbian elected officials in the
USA. - In January 1994 there were 133 openly gay or lesbian elected officials in
the USA. - The Democratic Party first adopted a platform plank favoring lesbian and
gay rights in 1980. The Green party has a gay rights plank. No Republican
Party platform has endorsed gay or lesbian rights. - Bill Clinton received 89.2% of the lesbian and gay vote in 1992.
- The first state to decriminalize homosexuality was Illinois, in 1961
- The first city to ban discrimination against gay men and lesbians was East Lansing, Michigan in 1972.
- The 7 largest concentrations of the lesbian and gay population in the USA are:
- Manhattan
- San Francisco
- Boston/Cambridge
- Seattle -Recently voted 5th gayest city - measured by gay support.
- Berkley
- Washington, D.C.
- Chicago/Evanston
- In 1942, the American Psychiatric Association declared that Homosexuality is a disease.
- In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed Homosexuality from its list of diseases. The next year, 37% of its membership voted to reclassify homosexuality as a disease; they were not successful.
Family/Relationships
- As of November 1997, all 50 states denied gay men and lesbians the right to marry.
- An estimated 6 million to 14 million children have a lesbian or gay parent. Courts in 11 states have ruled that gay men and lesbians, on the basis of their sexual orientation, are unfit to receive custody of their children. A review of 9 studies of aspects of personal development--such as self-concept, moral judgment, and intelligence-revealed no significant difference between children of lesbians and gay men and children of heterosexuals.
- In 1965, 82% of men and 58% of women said that homosexuality represents a "clear threat" to the American way of life.
- In 1977, 56% of Americans said homosexuals should have equal rights in employment.
- By 1992, that number had risen to 74%.
- 11% of Americans would object to having a gay airline pilot.
- 55% of Americans would object to having a gay elementary school teacher.
- 49% of Americans would object to having a gay doctor.
- In 1993, 66.3% of the American population believed that sexual relations between two consenting adults of the same sex were always wrong.
- In a 1993 U.S. News and World Report poll of 1,000 registered voters, 53% said they knew someone who is gay of these, 73% supported equal rights for gays. 46% said they do not know someone who Is gay or lesbian; of these, 55 % supported the same rights.
- In 1972 the United Church of Christ became the first Christian denomination to ordain an openly gay candidate.
- Homosexual relationships typically last less than 2 years.
- 55% of all aids cases are among male homosexuals, 27% hetrosexual.
- 50% of suicides can be attributed to homosexuals.
- Gay and Lesbian youth are 6 times more likely to attempt suicide.
- Should homosexuality be taught in sex-education classes in school? Grade School? Middle School? High School?
- No. Teaching sin as accepted behavior should not be tolerated.
- Additionally, having it taught in the classroom gives it automatic credibility.
- Should homosexuals have familial rights such as being on the same insurance policy, be considered dependents by the IRS, etc.
- We all relationships that relate us to one another as family, guardian, business partner, etc. So long as both parties consent I believe that people should legally be allowed to represent on another, so long as it’s done on a level, formal, legal playing field. I do not believe that any special considerations should be made on the basis of homo or hetero sexuality.
- Should homosexual couples be allowed to adopt children?
- Ephesians 5:22 – 6:3
- Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.61Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." - This sets a dangerous precedence. Children need a role model for a father and a mother to completely understand relationships. Both, one parent families, and same-sex families, lack one of the role models. A woman cannot possibly teach a boy how to be a whole man, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Neither can a man teach a girl how to be a woman. Perhaps I’m old fashioned, and I understand that relationships can change and marriages can fall apart, but I believe we shouldn’t be allowed to knowingly bring children into relationships that provide incomplete parenting opportunities from the start.
- Should we allow the formal, legal, definition of marriage?
- My opinion starts with several quotes:
- Marriage has “more to do with the morals and civilization of a people than any other institution.” -U.S. Supreme Court
- “Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman.”-Former President George W. Bush
- “Marriage is a gift that society bestows on its next generation. Marriage (and only marriage) unites the three core dimensions of parenthood -- biological, social and legal -- into one pro-child form: the married couple.” -David Blankenhorn
- And two Scriptures:
- Genesis 2:24
24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. - This is not possible in a homosexual relationship.
- Hebrews 13:4
4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. - I think this says it all. You can change the dictionary definition of marriage, or create a new word for a new relationship, but you can’t change the plan of God – One man and one woman, as one flesh, for life.
- Would you bring a gay or lesbian couple to Church?
- Of course!
Less than 3% of the population consider themselves gay,
I don’t think their voice should be heard over the voice of God’s people and I don’t think that 3% gay population should be able to outvote the Christian population.
Finally, please remember that we need to approach everyone with love and compassion not bigotry, hatred, and discrimination. Even in disagreement we are duty bound to be righteous.
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