Last night I sat on the couch with my AWESOME wife and went from podcast to podcast, downloading different sermons…I’ve GOT to have something to listen to when I work out.
I came across a podcast of a church that has been called controversial by some…and so I decided to listen to a message by the people in this church…it was a message on why homosexuality is NOT wrong.
Let me be very clear about something before I continue. I am SO against the way the homosexual community has been treated by the church. I do not think God has called us to scream and yell at those who are homosexuals. I think the church should be a place where they can come and find refuge AND the answers to their questions.
BUT…saying all of that…I DO believe that homosexuality is a sin. This is not me being an intolerant, narrow minded bigot…but simply me taking what Scripture clearly says and applying it to my worldview.
As I listened to the message last night I found myself getting both angry AND sad at the same time. I was getting angry because this speaker was going through Scripture and twisting it to support his belief system…and then I was sad because I thought of the people in the room and how they were being misled.
I will not call out the speaker OR the church here because I have only listened to ONE message the church has given…and that is NOT an accurate way to develop a solid opinion. I know how I feel when this is done to me and so I refuse to do it to others.
BUT…what this experience did FIRE me up to do was to CONTINUE to preach God’s Word with clarity and passion during this upcoming year. I want to teach those at NewSpring EXACTLY what the Bible says…and HOW this can be applied to our lives.
I believe we must get past this idea of tolerance. The Bible is not a tolerant book—there ARE some black and white issues it addresses. Jesus was NOT a very tolerant religious leader—He actually claimed in John 14:6 that HE was THE way! AND…GOD is NOT a very tolerant God…just read the book of Revelation! DANG!!!!
BUT…as we are called to be intolerant of sin…we are also called to love other people. The speakers argument in the message that I listened to last night was, because Jesus said we should love one another, that we should accept homosexuality. NOW…I am NOT an expert in biblical interpretation…but I am about 1000% sure that is NOT what Jesus was addressing in that passage.
HOWEVER, and Christians, PLEASE hear me…when it comes to people who live differently than us…we are called to love them. They are human beings. They do have a soul. They do matter to God—so they should matter to us. BUT…loving them does not mean accepting their lifestyle if it goes directly against what Scripture says.
I do not hate homosexuals…to do so is a sin. However, I am not called to accept what they do…Scripture calls it a sin and so I must do so as well. Yes, I know, Scripture calls other things sin as well…however, that is not the point of this post. The point is that we ARE called BY GOD to love those who are different than us…but we are NOT called to accept a behavior OR lifestyle that the Bible clearly labels as sin.
BUT…we are also NOT called to scream and yell at people…but we are called to show them who Jesus is, with the hopes and prayers that HE will change their life!!!
Where Scripture is clear—we are called to be clear. On this issue Scripture does NOT leave any room for questioning. And please spare me the e-mails about how Scripture is clear on other issues as well. I agree with that…but “that” is not the point here.
People always ask, “What kind of church is NewSpring?” NewSpring is a church that teaches ABOUT Jesus…and teaches HIS WORD…the Bible…and we do not use it to support our views…we take what it says about life, marriage, kids, money…EVERYTHING…and we show people HOW to apply it to life. That is what we are called to do…and to do anything else is sin.