Thinking about this topic and the huge divide on it between generations, denominations, and nations. I hear of Christian leaders being asked about their view on this subject as some sort of a "trap" in order that they may say something which could cause people to view them as intolerant or hateful of others. As true Christians, Love is the high standard. Love for God, Love for all others.
As Christians, our model is not a learned tradition, denomination, nor a particular leader we respect. Our model is Christ. Jesus instructed us to love others as ourselves. We would not hate ourselves and wish evil upon ourselves, would we? We may despise our behavior, what we said or did, but we must realize who we are as Christians, and what our identity is in Christ. We are blameless and righteous before our Father, perfect because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. This is the basic truth we must receive in our hearts. We must receive grace extended to us without condition. All the conditions were met on the cross.
Jesus also instructed us to love our enemies and not just by doing good, but by the motives of our heart towards others. This is where it gets tricky. We may donate our time, money or goods, but do we hold contempt, a grudge or resentment in our heart towards anyone? Only God can judge hearts. Jesus said that hating someone (esteeming them as less than you and elevating yourself as higher than them, or detesting them for even valid reasons) is as good as murder. The LORD looks at the heart, while we only see behavior.
So speaking on homosexuality, I see this as a behavior. I believe the reason it is such a dangerous behavior is that it produces self-righteousness and pride. Let me explain: In some situations, it may start as a curious interest, a belief you were accidentally made the wrong gender, or a compromise in your original beliefs due to awesome and loving people around you who are themselves gay. Without ever acting upon your new views, you may become an excellent candidate for supporting gay-marriages, gay-rights, etc. which will produce hatred in your hearts against anyone who does not agree with your beliefs. This is dangerous, because it is pulling you away from Love, while, blinded, you think you are fighting for Love's cause all along. (I can speak about political views in this way as well).
Secrecy is a terrible master. If not yet "brave" to act upon your feelings in this season of life, one may hide behind the internet or publications. This produces shame, guilt, and self-hatred. All of which God never intended us to live with. Don't forget He loves us in the midst of where we are. If the homosexual feelings are acted upon, at first, it fills one with an extreme and new sense of adventure, excitement and lust. These feelings come and go, depending on who you are with at the time or many other circumstances. Then, the "hiding in the closet" begins, due to fear of your family, friends, or any other person or group - and this also becomes dangerous. It creates more hatred in our hearts towards anyone who dare deny what you're feeling could possibly be "wrong." It causes you to compare and judge those who think and feel differently than you, all the while calling anyone who does not agree with you judgmental instead. This period may lead to depression, self-loathing, and more secrecy which again, God never intended for us to live with. It takes focus off of God and keeps it on us, where we have center stage. It paves a road in our life where self righteousness, not His righteousness reigns. It gives us a false sense of pride which will ultimately lead to our downfall. This is dangerous ground because we are not capable of setting absolutes that creation must live in accordance with, and in order to experience harmony. God set the standards and they can all be found in the operations manual: the Bible. If you do not agree with me, please, please take it up with Him.
Once someone actually finds like-minded people who either practice or fight for homosexuality, maybe enters a group online or in person with friends, his/her feelings are validated on a regular basis. This is dangerous because it produces a much larger safety net of acceptance in which one falsely believes this new-found life is the answer to all previous endeavors. It also gives way to unified hatred (seeing others as less loving than you - comparing in judgment) against anyone who does not agree with you. As with anything, the more active you become and the more time you spend trying to get your voice heard and feel validated, the more attached you become, and so much harder to reach. This is dangerous because it leads to false identity. The heart has been very hardened by this time due to resentment and hatred of others with opposing views. It only allows people in who are like-minded - completely opposing the teachings of Christ who said to love your enemies, extend the other cheek, and love others. Can you put God first? The heart is unable to completely give itself to God now because it fears losing the new group, and having differing thoughts than those you have been involved with. The bigger the platform to voice your opinions, or to support those who voice your opinion for you, the greater the trap in which you fall.
Now again, I'm speaking of homosexuality as a behavior. I could write this about, pornography, drugs or alcohol, or even more acceptable things like food or crafts. If anything can lead you to a point to where you cannot live without it, cannot part from it or let it go (mainly due to pride or fear) it has a hold upon you. God looks at the heart. It's not the behavior He wants to change - it's your heart! He wants you to be able to lay anything down, because this is the only way to freedom. Past hurts, pain, rejection - they all kill until you let them go. Addictions bind until you decide to dissociate yourself. Homosexual behavior as I described before, leads to a place of false identity. It leads to a place where you are not able to easily take hold of all God has to offer, and lay your life down. If God asked you right now could you leave this homosexual relationship and believe Him and that He set up marriage to be between a man and a woman - could you? Or would you fight Him? Could you change your point of view or is pride holding you back? (it's interesting how "gay pride" is a tag slogan) Would you give a deaf ear and ignore His promptings and hold an even tighter grip on what you believe to be right due to what you know, as if you were the Creator? It's impossible to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ when you are tightly bound by a life you are not willing to let go of. This is a result of pride and fear. Fear of rejection, fear of the new-found friends and groups mostly. Fear of people thinking you were wrong for so long, and admitting it makes you seem weak or stupid. Fear is rooted in lies.
Maybe this is why the LORD despises the behavior: It makes it so hard for gays to let it go and choose Him instead. It's the same with drunkenness for example - it is extremely hard for someone who likes to drink, drinks often and for various therapeutic reasons, has many groups of social drink buddies and happy hour gangs, to just completely give up alcohol all together if the LORD asked. It's become by this point such an identity and lifestyle, that you would ask "why would God want me to give up who I am, or something that makes me happy?" It makes is so hard to live out of Love because you're constantly judging those who do not agree with your lifestyle and hating them in your heart. God looks at the heart. The behavior does not matter to Him, because Jesus came to die for ALL sin. What matters to Him is us, and for us to find Him, choose Him, and love Him for the Good Father that He is. He loves us all, regardless of sexual preferences. But certain behaviors bind us so tight, that it becomes extremely hard for us to go to Him. We must never hold on to anything so tight that we would place it before Him and choose to hang on to instead of following Him. It's not that He wants us to get rid of anything that's dear to us and makes us who we are. It's that He is waiting for us to discover who we really are, and give us all the desires of our heart including an amazing and promising future and life, with real, genuine, and loving relationships. He waits with loving arms, but we continue to fight for the justices of our hearts we've judged as good and acceptable, ignoring His plan.
I'm writing this because I love people and hate the enemy of people who we are actually fighting against and not one another. I love ALL people. Regardless of behavior, or in this case sexual orientation. And the reason I can say this is that God has given me grace and showed me His own heart for His kids. Any good in me is His. My heart hurts for people caught up in bondage and being held by puppet strings by the enemy of our souls who demands we cleave to anything that our personality, talents, bents or feelings say we are. If our heart (even a tiny piece of it) is being held by another (being a person, viewpoint, addiction, tradition, etc.) it is not able to yield to God - Who is the ONLY One (person, place or any created thing- including viewpoints and beliefs) that can actually handle the attention, glory, fame, and the position of lordship. If it falls on any one or any thing else, it causes dissension, discord, and divergence. We are meant to live in unity.
In a world where some call themselves Christians yet do not love
unconditionally, or some that call themselves Muslim yet do not hate the
infidels, it's hard to choose a community to belong to. The safest routes have been Eastern practices which hold extremely valuable lessons, yet lack accountability to our Designer. We were all
designed to belong. This is why we feel safe in following family traditions and beliefs, for the fear of losing identity or "disrespecting" our parents - or on the other hand, why we go in the opposite direction of family teachings due to a bad experience and seek to belong in a group as distant as possible for fear of being treated the same way again by like-minded people. This desire in us has us constantly searching for clicks, groups, assemblies, companies, churches, etc. in order to find acceptance, and link with other like-minded individuals. But we're "wooking pa nub in all the wrong places, wooking pa nub in too many faces." This desire was placed in us so our searches remain fruitless until we find the One. We are made to find God. He is not a Puppet Master like our enemy, but a constant pursuant who wants us to fall in love with Him and surrender on our own. After all, if He made us love Him it would not be love at all. He gave us clues and continues to drop hints leading back to our design - such as the emptiness we feel or the longing for something we do not have yet.
The first step is to take the hand of Jesus extending out to you. If there is anything at all in the way, any behavior, habit, tradition, or person, you must let it go. God wants our all. Our entire heart. We cannot surrender if we are still holding something back. That's why it is so hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, because if asked to, he cannot give all he has away. Now, it's not about God wanting us to give all our possessions away or not have the riches of this world, it's about the heart. If you were asked to give it away, could you? What's holding you back? If God asked, could you give up drinking forever? Could you give up eating certain foods, or going to certain places? Could you give up an adulterous affair? Could you give up gossiping or reading gossip? If the answer is no to any of these, or to whatever just popped in your mind, then you have a stronghold that is keeping you from fully experiencing the Love of God. Could you part with your spouse, family or firstborn like Abraham if asked to? Now remember, in no way did God want Abraham to actually go through with sacrificing his son, He wanted to expose Abraham's heart - that nothing, not even his promised and only son by his life-long wife stands in the way of his obedience to His Father. This is what made Abraham righteous - he believed God. He trusted in His goodness and mercy.
If we are willing to withhold something from God and not able to lay it on the altar, we're not ready. Wrestling each other and fighting about differing viewpoints is such an insignificant battle when you realize the war we wage is for our souls. We are actually at war with the unseen. The enemy uses us to use our feelings to judge - denouncing the true Judge. Whether homosexuality, food, people, addictions, groups, etc. it does not matter to him. What matters is that whatever the thing is which he has bound us with, it leads us to be consumed by it, lead by it, and to place it first. And I am to place God first, let Him lead and be consumed by Him. The LORD knows only He can handle the glory and nothing else exalted to this level has the capacity to behold this glory. It ultimately self-destructs, taking many down with it. If our hearts are fully taken by another cause, they are far from being still to listen to God's voice which begs us to return to Him. If we cannot imagine life without _________ (you fill in the blank), we must turn around and change our mind. It's hard to do being human, I know. But Abraham showed us it is possible. Jesus laid His perfect life down so we don't have to fuss over our behavior. The Holy Spirit will guide us. But we must believe, listen, and obey.
Today, the same question stands: Will we believe God and His plan for salvation through His Son, obey and surrender our all to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? What makes us righteous is that we obey our Father and receive the gift Jesus died to give. Then we are washed as snow, and perfected - blameless before Him, righteous regardless of our deeds. We are to trust in His mercy and goodness still, and He will hold nothing back from us. Are you willing today?
Jesus wants us to be free of anything that can hold us captive, because he came so we can have an abundant life in the Promised Land, not wandering around in circles in captivity. He does not want to withhold ANY good thing from us, but wants to give us the desires of our hearts. God wants us to prosper and live a life of liberty, bringing a tiny piece of Heaven down to earth. Abraham got to see a ripe-old age and many descendants. He lived a fulfilled and prosperous life and handed down faith. All that counts is faith, expressing itself through love. Faith in our Creator will do that. It will eventually express through Love. So love one another. Just sayin'...
