“How could it be wrong since I was born this way?" My mind went back to his early years. I recalled how different he was-playing with dolls, dressing up, loving music and not enjoying sports and the masculine things. Was he indeed born like that? If he was, what difference did it make in what I believed the Scriptures to teach. A short article hardly gives the opportunity one would like to address the issue comprehensively. But, it must be addressed.
From Scripture (Old Testament)
Genesis - We must begin at the beginning. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female he created them. Be fruitful and increase in number..." (Gen 1:27–28) Any deviation from this pattern is a violation and distortion of God's original plan. When sex occurs between men and women without benefit of the marriage covenant (fornication and adultery) or between two men or two women, these acts are outside of God's will.
Sodom (Genesis 19)– One of the earliest arguments for the permissibility of homosexuality heard by this writer was the reinterpretation of the events concerning Sodom. The reinterpretation portrayed God as being grieved because of Sodom's "inhospitality." I have come to understand that this is a widely held view in liberal circles. The casual reading of verse 19 provides the basis of this view when the men of Sodom made a request to Lot about the male visitors. They ask, "Bring them out unto us, that we may know them." (KJV) The Hebrew word translated "know" is yadha. Although this word occurs over 900 times in the OT, it only refers to sex in ten of those places. Yet, the context of the passage clearly supports such a rendering. Why else would Lot respond, "Don't do this wicked thing." (v. 7) Another argument used was that even if it does refer to homosexual acts, the context here is rape. But God's case against Sodom was not based on this one incident but rather a pattern of behavior described in Genesis 13:13 and 18:20.
What about the Law? As Christians we are no longer bound by it. The moral law established by God still stands. God's law says that homosexual acts are "detestible."
From Scripture (New Testament)
What about the silence of Jesus on this subject? It is quite unlikely that Jesus had a need to speak to this subject since it was a capital offense in the first century. There are no recorded words of Jesus about incest, rape, bestiality or pedophilia either. Jesus always affirmed the Old Testament Law (Matt 5:17–19), which condemned homosexual acts and he spoke only of sexuality in a heterosexual context and said that celibacy was the only legitimate alternative to marriage. (Matt 19:12)
Paul, among all the writers, addresses this subject most directly. Romans 1 is usually considered the most thorough and clear condemnation of homosexuality in the Bible and is the only place that specifically refers to lesbianism. He described such acts not only as sinful, but as "unnatural." This is not to say that some persons are not attracted to the same sex. But this is simply a reference to the natural as created by God referred to Genesis earlier. "Unnatural" here means contrary to God's original plan. You need to look no further than the complementary function of the male and female organs to understand this.
This passage also deals directly with the consequences of this sin. While the church has typically reacted to this sin as being worse than others, that is not the case. All sin grieves God and separates us from Him. What does distinguish this sin is its consequences which are clearly outlined by Paul:
The worship of God is exchanged for idol worship (v. 23)
Natural sexual relations are abandoned for unnatural ones (v. 26–27)
Studies have shown that, on a practical level, homosexuality reaps a horrible harvest in increased suicide rates, higher rates of alcoholism and sexually transmitted diseases.
Paul also mentions homosexuals among the persons who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9) The word used here, arsenokoitai, literally means "a male who has sex with a male," not just male prostitution or some other lustful and uncommitted relationship.
Where is the hope in Scripture? After making the statement that "homosexual offenders will not inherit the Kingdom of God, he then says, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (v. 11) Paul openly exclaims, "I knew some of you before and I know you now, and you are changed!" He declares further: You were washed; you were sanctified; and you were justified. Here is Biblical evidence of the transforming power of the gospel.
The View of the Church
"The Wesleyan Church abhors the trend to ignore God's moral laws of chastity and purity, and vigorously opposes public acceptance of sexual promiscuity and all factors and practices which promote it. The Wesleyan Church maintains a biblical view of human sexuality which makes the sexual experience, within the framework of marriage, a gift of God to be enjoyed as communion of a man and woman, as well as for procreation. Sexual relationships outside of marriage and sexual relationships between persons of the same sex are immoral and sinful. The depth of the sinfulness of homosexual practice is recognized, and yet we believe the grace of God sufficient to overcome both the practice of such activity and the perversion leading to a practice." ( Wesleyan Discipline, 410:5 P.48)
The statement speaks to both the wrongness of the practice of homosexuality and the redemptive work of God. As we have already discovered, that is consistent with the Biblical pattern. Let this writer put down the stake: "This is where I stand and this is where we must stand as a denomination." There can be no deviation from this clearly Biblical position.
Our present permissive treatment of adultery and sexual sin could never have been imagined just a few years ago.
Practical Application
Where we struggle most is in the practical application of this truth. Most of us find it easy to say "Thus saith the Lord" so long as it does not affect us or someone we love. One of the more troubling questions is the origin of the temptation itself. For those with a heterosexual tilt, such behavior is just inconceivable from our frame of reference.
There are many ideas' about origin. Some hold to the view that it is genetic, while others assert that the behavior is fairly predictable based on home environment and/or parental interaction. Some testify to childhood or adolescent experiences that have impacted their lives toward this lifestyle. It is beyond the scope of this author's knowledge to address these issues comprehensively. However, from a theological and practical perspective I believe these concepts to be biblical and may be helpful to us as we consider this subject in its complexity. These views may not be shared by all, but we can live in unity as we agree on the most fundamental positions already mentioned.
I do feel the need to address one area of this debate which is not commonly addressed in the church. I have come to the conclusion that some persons are born with a physical attraction to those of the same sex. That does not seem such a difficult leap to make when I consider that I was born with an attraction to more than one woman and that did not change when I got married! Our fallenness is pervasive. There are aberrations in physical and mental norms in birth so why would there not be the same in our sexual leanings? It is readily apparent that on the masculine-feminine scale of development, some men are tilted toward the feminine side and some women are tilted toward the masculine side.
However, this does not affect the fundamental question of its inherent immorality. The moral parameters established by God make many areas temptations for us for we were born in sin. The areas of struggle and temptation vary with the individual.
There is no doubt that environment, experiences and role models can also affect one's mindset in this area. But this is not the fundamental issue. Though some have views that seek to justify their behavior on the basis of "being born that way," genetics, environment and experiences do not justify sinful behavior.
Behind much of the rhetoric is the assumption made in the sexually permissive culture today that sex is one of the basic needs of humanity. The fact remains, as I learned in psychology 101, that sexual fulfillment is not one of the basic needs that we have. People do live fulfilled, normal lives without sexual engagement.
Our response
Give hope for change
Distinguish the person from the behavior
Confront in love
Remember that homosexuality can be a symptom of a deeper need
Take inventory of our attitudes and model God's forgiveness and acceptance
Hopefully, one of the positive things to come from the openness with which we now treat this problem will be an attitude that allows young people who are struggling in this area to be able to openly express their struggles. As long as these struggles remain hidden and unexpressed, Satan will continue to trap many due to the fact that sin which never sees the light of day is the most difficult to overcome. Perhaps if the young person described previously were growing up in the church today, he would be able to share his need with someone and then receive the guidance and spiritual growth to enable him to overcome.
If your lifestyle is described above, it is not too late. You can also receive spiritual growth, overcome a lifestyle of sin, and live eternally with God. You can know for sure what your eternal destination is? If not, and you would like to know for sure Click Here.
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