And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Genesis 2:18)
Men and women were created equal, but with important and
divine differences. We shouldn't live in ignorance of this nor fight against
it. The world does, but Christians ought not to. These differences are not only
beautiful, but necessary. When we fight against it we fight against God and the
order of His creation and thus will live profoundly discontented lives always
seeking but never finding. Since the world accepts and even condones these evil
practices many can be led astray and it’s made worse by the lie that for a
season many can find “a sense” of the acceptance they’ve been seeking their
entire lives, moments of pleasure or happiness. However, even though we may “doing
well” in the eyes of the world, we will be miserable and/or dead inside and so
the incessant seeking of the flesh continues.
When we ignore the differences between men and women we miss
out on an aspect of creation and then wonder why our lives feel so empty. The
relationship between a man and woman should reflect the wonder and beauty of
God. This is why it's a sacrament of the faith. This is why gay marriage,
adultery and fornication are so wrong. Each of these sinful practices are
fleshly drives for perceived acceptance and momentary pleasure. They aren’t
wrong simply because they are against “nature” or different than “the norm”, or
even threatening to a particular way of life. The world makes the issue out to
be discrimination and freedom of choice, the way of the world and acceptance, but
it's not. Unfortunately, many on the other side of these issues do have prejudice
in their hearts as they react out of fear, ignorance and hatred. All of these
perspectives are wrong. It’s not about acceptance, freedom to choose, forcing
views on others, abandonment, fear or hatred. You see at least the homosexual,
the adulterer and the fornicator acknowledge outwardly their deep inward
longings to be accepted, to find happiness, pleasure, love and acceptance in a
crappy, hurtful and broken world. At least they see the hole in their hearts
and are trying to fill it with some form of relationship. However, where they
go wrong is in where they seek this. Other broken people, of which comprises all
of humanity, are never the answer to these longings. Only a sincere and humble
heart seeking after Jesus Christ is the answer. Everything else is at best a
temporary distraction. Homosexual or heterosexual doesn’t matter. The sense of
longing and deadness will still be there whether it’s sought in a same sex
partner or opposite sex.
Now to the response of the church.
The church seems to always have one of two reactions to
these above sexual sins, especially homosexuality:
1. 1. Excommunication. Get away from us we want
nothing to do with you. You are wicked, foul, openly disobedient and outside of
the faith. We want nothing to do with you.
or
2. 2. We love you. We forgive you. We accept you. The
above people are wrong. Come join us. No need to repent because you have
nothing to repent of.
Both of these responses are wrong and not taught anywhere in
scripture.
The crowd in camp 1 have missed the lesson of 2 Corinthians
2 about forgiving the offending brother. Also they ignore 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
with regards to the Christian response to the non-believer (i.e. the Christian
worldview shouldn’t be expected or forced on anyone).
The crowd in camp 2 ignore Matthew 18 about confronting and
responsibility to the sinful brother and 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 about the churches
response to the sinful brother. They also completely miss the need for
repentance (turning from sin to Jesus). While forgiveness and love are
paramount in the Christian life, love is meaningless without a response and
that response is often times repentance.
If one person tells another they love
them, but are unwilling to commit to an exclusive relationship, risk their own
heart or tell them when they cross a boundary or hurt them, then is this really
love? In the same way if we say we love God and others, but are cruel,
unforgiving and intolerant how are we showing love? If we never set boundaries,
enable destructive behaviors, never confront or admonish how are we showing
love? It's far too easy to marginalize or dismiss people and it's too easy to accept others without boundaries.
We are all free to make choices which can ultimately destroy
us, but does this mean others should stand around as bystanders using the
excuse of "This is the choice they made, so we ought to accept it. Didn't
Jesus say to love one another and not judge?" or “They are too broken to be
concerned with” then criticize and do nothing to help. The response is to hold
to Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Jesus always loved and yet
He was always clear about what was wrong and why. He loved too much to allow us
to keep on sinning in ignorance, but loved us enough to know we would. Yes His
message was one of love, but also repentance.
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