| Topics: | Congregational care, Counseling, Crisis, Discipleship, Healing, Homosexuality, Pastoral care, Shepherding |
| Filters: | Counseling, Discipleship, Pastor, Pastoral care, Shepherd |
| Purpose: | Discipleship |
| References: | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 , 1 Timothy 1:15-16, James 5:19-20 |
| Date Added: | November 21, 2007 |
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Building Church Leaders
Combining Conviction and Compassion
Homosexuality is not God's design, but a reflection of the broken sinfulness of humanity.
Mark Labberton
This sermon covers the common questions and issues that arise when the church brings up the topic of homosexuality. Notice how the minister develops the sermon and gracefully reaches his conclusions. Consider using this sermon in one of your services, or as a starting point for a small-group Bible study or discussion group.
I. Introduction
- What does the Bible teach about homosexuality? There are people—both men and women, both heterosexuals and those who are conflicted about their own homosexual orientation— who have come to see me and expressed their own dilemmas about precisely this question. In every case, each person inquired about their faith and their understanding of the Bible in relation to homosexuality. In this sense, this question is not just for "them" but a question for all believers.
- Jesus Christ is Lord over all of life. There is no terrain in life protected from Christ's interest. Christ's conviction and compassion are inseparable, and we never see them driven to extremes. If Christ was solely motivated by his convictions, his ministry, like the Scribes and Pharisees, would have resembled extreme judgmentalism. On the other hand, if Christ was only driven by his compassion, his ministry might have been viewed as mere sentimentality.
- The Bible is the Word of God. The Bible is to be our only guide in faith and practice. There is an important place for discussion about the psychological, genetic, and social issues related to homosexuality, but we need to grapple more specifically with what the Bible teaches us. Instead of grasping for cultural consensus, we need to grasp what the Bible actually says.
- We must recognize the depth of the struggle and approach it with sensitivity. I have confronted Christians who in the confession of their faith are absolutely orthodox but find themselves struggling with homosexual orientation. As I look at the integrity and faithfulness of many people in our congregation and elsewhere who are gay and Christian, I recognize the depth of this struggle and the sensitivity we need to have as we approach it.
II. Our Understanding of Human Sexuality Begins with Creation, Not with the Law
- Genesis shows us as relational beings seeking intimate relationships. The Bible says the first human being who enjoyed and experienced a relationship with creation and God searched and could not find in creation anyone who complemented him. Out of the man's longing, God created woman.
- In relationships we experience the way the triune God exists. In the early chapters of Genesis, we find both male and female, similar yet distinct, existing in a complementary relationship according to God's purpose and design. In relationships, we experience the reality of the way that God, triune in nature, exists. Therefore, our sexuality extends to every aspect of who we are as human beings and to every relationship.
- The Bible affirms that sex is part of God's good design. Through sexual lovemaking, we are able to create another human life made in God's image. It's out of the complementary nature of man and woman that God fashions this design. The whole of who we are, including our bodies and our sexuality, belongs to God. We don't have the prerogative to withhold part of ourselves from God. Jesus Christ is the Lord over all of life, and as the Creator he has made and given us the good gift of human sexuality.
- In our sinfulness we want to selfishly misuse God's good gifts. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and our sexuality, as every other aspect of our lives, reflects that. We easily take God's good gifts and use them in a selfish way.
III. Our Entire Selves Are Affected by Sin, and All of Us Need Redemption
- Illustration: In England years ago, an article was written in The Times entitled "What's Wrong with the World?" G. K. Chesterton wrote a letter to the editor following that piece and said, "I noted with interest the article that you published yesterday entitled 'What's Wrong with the World?' I felt compelled to write and tell you: I am. Sincerely, G. K. Chesterton."
- The Bible speaks of same sex activity, not homosexual orientation. It's noteworthy to acknowledge that the word "homosexuality" doesn't actually appear in the Bible. That word only came into existence in the late 1800s. What we instead find in the Bible are texts in which what is described is not what we, in our generation, would call homosexual orientation. Instead, what is described are examples of homosexual activity.
- No single sin defined Sodom, but homosexuality was one of many sinful activities. In Genesis 13 and 18, we find that Sodom is described as a place that is very sinful. After Lot chooses the better part of the land, he ends up in Sodom and makes himself at home. We're told two angels come to Lot, and he welcomes them into his house. Later that night, all of the men of Sodom gather around Lot's place, asking Lot to allow the two angels to come out to them, the text says, "so that they may know them," which in this instance refers to sexual intercourse. It's significant that Lot answers, "No, you can have my two daughters who have never been with a man." The offer of women, in this particular case his daughters, is sexually connotative.
- Arguments from Romans 1 explaining away homosexuality's sinfulness are invalid. Some suggest Paul is arguing against promiscuity or against temple prostitution, which undoubtedly were part of the context. But Paul's argument is rooted in a doctrine of creation. It's rooted in the reality of the way we have been made, not just in a cultural expression of certain things that may have been going on in the first century. In verse 27, the last word is interesting: "Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for," That final word is often translated "perversion." But the word is simply "error." It's not nearly as heavily judgmental as the word "perversion." It's important to recognize that as Paul makes his case against homosexuality, he also argues that there are a variety of ways in which the reality of God's good creation has been twisted by our poor choices and has come under God's judgment.
- Homosexuality is not the worst of all sins. The Bible does not set out a hierarchy of sin. Certainly different sins have different, more widely felt consequences, but even when we think about it that way, homosexuality is not the worst of sins. We all fall short of the glory of God, and we all need grace. Each of us knows what it means to be a sinful sexual human being. Jesus allows no room for any of us to arrogantly say, "Well, that's not me. Good riddance to them. God's judgment on them."
- In love, God pursues all of us who are in sin. Paul says, "It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died." God loves every human being. Scripture gives no full explanation for why homosexual activity and orientation exists or why it isn't something God could use. God is under no obligation to provide us with all the explanation we may want. At the end of the day, after having studied and affirmed what Scripture has said, it doesn't mean I don't have many other questions. Yet Scripture gives us the opportunity to stand in the confidence that God has spoken to us about this important subject. And Scripture gives us no grounds for irrational fear and condemnation.
IV. Conclusion
- Homosexuality is a reflection of the broken sinfulness of our humanity. It's in this context that as a community we seek to hold onto a biblical hope: a hope that is both for today and for tomorrow; a hope that is now and not yet; a hope that has some understanding and insight, but also is incomplete, inadequate, and waiting to be fulfilled.
My prayer for us as a church is that we would somehow have the courage, faithfulness, and love to both hold onto the reality of biblical conviction and to match it with the depth of biblical compassion. With these two in tension, we could then extend to one another, in the midst of our brokenness, the grace and love of God that alone is adequate to make us the people God has intended us to be.
Mark Labberton is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, California.
Copyright © 2007 Mark Labberton. Used by permission.
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