Thursday, April 30, 2009
What Makes Homosexuality The One Sin That To Some Seems To Stand Out The Most?
Lately I am hearing a lot of people saying that homosexuality is no different than any other sin out there. Well, I would imagine that in God's eyes that might be true (not that I know how God thinks mind you.) However I, personally, believe that it is a much different sin than others in that it is a sin that more than 1% of the world population has taken on as an identity. You do not see 'thieves", "liars", etc asking for special rights. The other sins do not push themselves upon society and ask to be accepted, or rather should I say make it that it is forced upon us to accept it. So, with that said, allow me to think on this some more and I invite your thoughts . . . till then!
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I see what you're driving at, and I think that a more accurate phrase for what people mean - what I mean when I say "no different" is "no better or worse."
ReplyDeleteSin is sin.
Whether it's lying, homosexulity, murder, gluttony (ouch), disobediance - whatever the sin, it's still sin and sin seperates us from God. The thing is that people don't go around saying it's just a little white murder.
The thing about homosexuality is 1) it's a sexually based sin and the bible tells us that sexual sin is different from other sins in that when you sin sexually you're sinning against your own body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Whether that's by fornication or adultery, regardless of who the other person(s) is/are.
The other thing that makes homosexuality different from other sin is that, yes, it is one of those sins that the sinner takes on as one of their defining traits. No, this is not unique to homosexuality in anyway except that those bound in the sin of it are fighting for legal and societial recognition and acceptance for it. Liars and thieves aren't fighting for legal recognition - in fact, they try to avoid that - but those too are sins which a person puts on and has it become a defining characteristic in their life.
But as to the point of your entry, I think what most people when when they say "no different", I know what I mean and I usually clarify that statement with the rest of my sentance, is that homosexuality is no worse than any other sin. Because there is a stigma - and this stigma is a true predjudice that needs to be addresse and driven out of the church - to the point where it's not acceptable to ask for prayer for someone struggling with homosexual thoughts and feelings.
I've experienced it myself; where was I supposed to go to get help for these feelings when the two options presented to me are Christians who say "IT's A SIN!" and then turn around plug their ears - condeming without leading through to redemption - or secular pro-gay programs that would say "Gay's okay and everything else you believe is bad."
When I asked for prayer for my cousin when she was going through being a premie and having heart defects (all fixed now, praise God) and when my aunt and her partner were going through in vetro to concieve her, my prayers were looked down upon because I was praying for lesbians to get pregnant!
Charlene, I think you are on target with your post. It is most certainly an issue of identity, but I also think that this is an area where those who have come out of a homosexual lifestyle can teach the church. People who steal or lie or covet are more likely to say "that's not really who I am, I was just put in a desperate situation" or use similar means to try and separate themselves from their sin. God makes no such separation: if you sin once, you ARE a sinner in the eyes of God.
ReplyDeleteHomosexuality is different in the sense that those who give in to the temptations of same-gender attractions are encouraged by the homosexual community to make their sexual preference the primary factor in determining their identity. I have long felt that this is perhaps the most tragic aspect of the homosexual agenda, because I know that those who struggle with homosexuality are worthy of being defined by so much more than what they do in bed... we all bear the image of God, and that gives us decency and dignity no matter how much we corrupt that image with our actions. Being made in the image of God, and being able to relate to God are much healthier foundations on which to build one's identity.
Biblically speaking, I think that homosexuals who don't know Christ are right to identify themselves with their sin. The biggest issue is that they often don't see it as sin. Other sinners simply believe the lie that if they only sin once or twice a week, they are still good people, worthy of God's acceptance, and on their way to Heaven. I think that those who have come to Christ out of a homosexual lifestyle often have a much better understanding that to become a Christian is a dramatic shift in one's identity (or at least it ought to be). This is where I feel that believers who have come from that lifestyle could really teach both the church and the world. ANY sin that a person commits really does determine his/her identity before God, and Christ does more than just take away our sin; He gives us a new identity!
Sexuality is at the core of our being. In Genesis chapter 2, Adam and Eve have disobeyed God, hide from Him, discover they are naked, and make attempts to cover their bodies. There it is, and there it will always be because we are not clean.
ReplyDeleteSure, there are lots of sins, but sexual sin hits us hard, harder than most others. I know this personally. Homosexual behavior--not only sinful behavior but it goes against our very nature. And sure, of course I mean, this cannot be acknowledged by homosexuals because it would be way too painful. So then every effort must be made to normalize homosexual behavior, which is where the same sex marriage comes in.
Let me say sincerely that even if every state in the unior, an every nation of earth were to accept homosexuality, it would not solve the inner problem that homosexuals have. Even if every disapproving voice is stilled, even if every thought that there might be something wrong with homosexuality were to be outlawed, still, it would not bring peace to the practicing homosexual, whether if a "marriage" or not.
How strange to have to coerce a people, through whatever means, to accept something so obviously unnatural. And it is by coercion, too, the gay agenda, manipulating the law of the land, passing civil rights laws--and masking it as something akin to obtaining equality for people of color. This is wrong and people who have been cowed into public declarations of agreement deep down with not really agree but know that the whole mechanics of it is wrong.
Will pro-gay activists try to become the thought police somewhere along the line? No of course not, would be their answer, but I think otherwise. Kent Philpott
I wonder how many homosexuals out there have brought other people into the gay life and ruined their lives? Or, if not ruined all together, at least created great pain in their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis process goes on constantly, and it does no use for the gay community to deny it. And here is a barrier created between those have caused even little ones to stumble that the gay person must go deep into denial and fear.
How can I say this? One of my unpublsihed books for the 1970s dealt extensively with gays, both men and women, who were drawn to youth. Plus, I have beem a volunteer at San Quentin Prison for 27 years and I have learned more than I ever wanted to know.
If the general public were to become aware, as I am, and many others are of course, there would be a great deal of resistance to the gay agenda. And this will come because the strangeness and utter sinfulness of homosexuality will become increasingly apparent. Kent Philpott