What It's Really All About

Last night, against my better judgment, I watched Larry King Live to see Dr. Albert Mohler, along with a panel of leaders from other denominations, discuss the ordination of gay priests/pastors/ministers. I usually avoid watching these types of debates because I get extremely frustrated with the inability of those that represent the conservative evangelical Christian side to effectively present our side’s case. By the end of the program I am ranting and raving and my blood pressure is up considerably. Last night was no different.

Not to say that Dr. Mohler didn’t do a good job. He did fine until his last opportunity to speak when what he said made it SOUND like he was saying, “All you people need to do is get saved. Then you’ll be fine.” Yikes! Whether or not they are saved is NOT the issue in a debate like this because regardless of their actual spiritual condition, not only do they think they are saved, but several of the panel members were leaders in their respective churches, and they consider themselves to be much more enlightened than our side.

First, their position. The side supporting the ordination of homosexual church leaders’ position is as follows:
*They recognize that the Bible teaches homosexuality as sin.
*Their position is that they didn’t choose to be homosexual. God made them this way, and God loves them anyway.
*They do not take the position that the Bible is not God’s word, but that His truth is continuing to be revealed through the Holy Spirit, and the ordination of homosexual church leaders as well as gay marriage are areas where new truth is being revealed.

Of course, the position of our side, is:
*The Bible is God’s unchanging authoritative word, and it teaches that homosexuality is an abomination to God. (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13 (KJV); See also Romans 1:26-28.)
*Natural law demonstrates that sexual union was made for male and female, and that it ultimately results in reproduction.
*Any sexual practice outside of marriage disqualifies a person to be a church leader.
*Marriage is defined by God as the union for life between and man and a woman.
*Believers are equipped through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in them NOT to sin. (This point was never brought up last night by our side.)

My frustration with these types of debates stems not from what is being said but from what is NOT being said. When the lesbian pastor from the United Church of Christ responded to the Catholic priest’s natural law argument that her relationship was completely natural for her, I wanted to shout: "It’s completely natural for me to want to sit around with my head in a book all day and to ignore my house and my children, but that would be sinful for me to do!"

Just because something comes naturally doesn’t make it right. In fact, when something comes naturally to us, it should be highly suspect. The reason God gave us His word for a guide is that our feelings are not reliable. Jeremiah 17:9 says: The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.

Homosexuality itself is not the problem, but is a symptom of the problem. The problem in a debate such as this is that the participants on their side are trying to justify their sin rather than to mortify it. Our side must present our case not from the standpoint of the sin, but from the standpoint of the provision God has made for us NOT to sin.

The other side knows the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong, but they have allowed Satan to delude them into thinking that they can’t do anything about it. He has convinced them that God has made them this way, and that God loves them anyway, and that it’s okay. God does love them. Whether or not He made them this way is a moot issue (Please don’t keep arguing about this, people!). Sin is not okay.

This type of thinking is used by Christians all the time to make excuses for their sin whether it be homosexuality, fornication, alcoholism, stealing, whatever. But the TRUTH is that those who are truly saved, do not have to sin. I must include a lengthy passage from Romans (6:1-14) to make my point:

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

This is what it is really all about. Most Christians, including practicing homosexuals (Yes, I do believe a homosexual can be saved.), do not understand what has happened to them. Believers have died to sin, and they must constantly make the choice to not present their bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, but to present themselves as someone alive from the dead. We must continually make the choice to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness. It is simple, but it is not easy. However, another thing that we must understand and believe in order to be successful is the extent of the power which is available to us in our efforts not to sin. Ephesians 1:18-20 says:

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

The power that resurrected Christ from the dead is available to us in our quest to mortify sin in our lives, but we must believe it in order for it to be effective. It is possible according to I Corinthians 6:9-11:

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Such were some of you. Fellow conservative evangelical Christians, let’s steer the conversation away from the particular sin and toward the transforming power of Jesus Christ. Let’s adequately teach the Word of God so that people truly understand what has happened to them in Christ and what they are capable of becoming through His power in their lives.