God loves gay people. God loves people. God loves us so
much, He sent His son to die on the cross for us so that we could be
restored to relationship with Him. The Bible teaches us God dislikes
some behaviors and hates others, but that He loves people. He loves you!
I recently wrote a book titled, Gay Awareness,
because I want people to be aware of God's heart towards them,
homosexuality and those who experience same-sex attraction.
In this book
I share the heart of the Father and the mind of Christ on sexuality
through His words (the Bible), not through my own or any other man's
opinions. I want you to be aware of what the Bible says and what it
teaches followers of Christ.
Over the years, the church
made three primary mistakes in dealing with sexuality and those who
struggle with same-sex attraction. The first mistake was to make
homosexuality the greatest sin.
Homosexual practice is
not the greatest sin. Pride is! It's because of pride that Satan and his
angels fell from heaven. Pride keeps us from repentance. It also keeps
us from a relationship with God. And pride can keep us from entering
heaven. This mistake has led to the demonization of people instead of
the demonization of devils. When people feel demonized, it keeps them
from coming to church. It causes them to not want to be around
Christians.
The enemy uses this to push them toward
unhealthy people and unhealthy places. It needs to be noted that the
slogan for the community is "pride." Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes
before destruction." The pride of man hardens our hearts and keeps us
from soft hearts surrendered to the will of God. Pride keeps our hearts
and spirits at war with the perfect will of God.
The
second mistake the church has made is that it has not addressed
homosexuality. When this particular issue is unaddressed by the church,
it leaves room for many unbiblical opinions and immature conversations
to fill in the blanks. Due to a lack of biblical knowledge and the
silence of the church, people are confused, left to wonder, and end up
making unhealthy decisions that can be very destructive to everyone.
Leaving this issue unaddressed helps no one, and can end up hurting
everyone. Every church must address homosexuality. And every church must
use the Bible as its ultimate guide for wisdom, love, and truth.
The third and most harmful mistake many churches have made
is to affirm the sinner in his or her practice of homosexuality. It's
impossible to affirm what God never affirms. It's impossible to call
good what God never calls good, and it's impossible to call blessed what
God never called blessed. Because of the lack of biblical awareness,
many churches have given in to the pressure forged in hell and embraced
by man, affirmed homosexual practice and asserted all that comes with it
is blessed by God.
In my book I show readers that God
loves the sinner, but sin separates us from the God of love. As
followers of Christ, we must respond with unconditional love to
individuals dealing with same-sex attraction, and we must remain
unwavering in our loyalty to God's Word.
So what do
dedicated Christ-followers do? You love God and love people, so it is
most likely you have people in your life for whom you care deeply, who
struggle with same-sex attraction or claim to be practicing homosexuals.
It's a challenge when the God we serve contradicts the actions of the
people we love. You want to know how to help those you care about, how
to comfort a family member or friend and how to honor God at the same
time.
Let's not make these mistakes any longer. Let's love people
and not elevate this particular sin above all others. Let's not wait for
the conversation to come to us but meet people in the conversation with
kindness and respect. And let's not endorse any form of sexual sin
(heterosexual or homosexual). We can't be afraid to have the challenging
conversations. We need to love people enough to let them know the heart
of the Father and the mind of Christ on sexuality with love, grace and
truth.
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