Questions and answers on the unity we seek By Ben Lacy Rose Thursday, December 9,1999
The unity we seek centers in God's Word revealed in the Bible. Question: Where in the Bible does it say that homosexual acts are sins? Answer: Romans 1:24-27, "So God has given those people over to the filthy things their hearts desire; they do shameful things with each other … women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts … and men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other; men doing shameful things with each other, and as a result bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrong doing." I Cor. 6:9-10, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor homosexuals .. will inherit the Kingdom of God." I Timothy 1:9-10, "God's laws were given to identify as sinners all who are unholy and profane, for murderers, for fornicators, for sodomites (homosexuals), for kidnappers, and all others who do things contrary to sound teaching." Jude 7, "Remember Sodom and Gomorrah … whose people … were full of lust of every kind, including the lust of men for other men; they suffered the punishment of eternal fire as a warning to all persons." Four times in the Gospels (Matt. 10:15, 11:24; Mark 6:11; and Luke 10:12) it is recorded that Jesus spoke of the destruction of Sodom for its sin, and Jesus' hearers knew, as Jude shows in the passage above, that the sin of Sodom was sodomy (acts of homosexuality). Deut. 23:17, "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel." Lev. 20:13, "If a man lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death." Question: Granted that Paul, in these passages, condemns acts of homosexuality, but in I Cor. 14:34 and in I Tim. 2:12 he also condemns women speaking in churches. If you allow one, why not the other? Answer: In the passages you mention Paul is voicing a personal preference and giving advice. He says, "I do not permit a woman to speak … Let a woman learn in silence … Women should keep silence …" He is not announcing a God-given law that is perpetually and universally binding. And his advice does not appear to have been strictly observed in all the New Testament churches. Priscilla, a woman, and her husband instructed Apollos, a man, and yet Paul continued to hold Priscilla in high regard. Further, Paul's advice about women speaking in church is in an entirely different category from the acts of fornication, murder, idolatry and sodomy which Paul lists in the passages from Romans, Corinthians and Timothy. The two areas of activity are so completely different that one cannot argue from one to the other. One is local and temporal, the other is universal and eternal. The sins which Paul lists in the passages from his epistles are all also condemned elsewhere in the Scriptures. Question: The Church changed its position on the ordination of women. Why can it not change its position on the ordination of homosexuals? Answer:The Presbyterian Church changed its position on the ordination of women because it became convinced that the Scriptures did not forbid the ordination of women. If those who support the ordination of unrepentant practicing homosexuals can show that acts of homosexuality are not sins which are condemned in the Scriptures, then the policy should be changed and the ordination of homosexuals not forbidden. The issue is whether acts of homosexuality are sins which are condemned in the Bible. Question: Didn't the Church change its position on divorce? Answer: The Church has always had ambivalent feelings about divorce. Moses allowed it because of the hardness of the human heart. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, where he sets up a radical ideal for the Christian life, disapproves of divorce, but also in the same passages says, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." The Church still has ambivalent feelings about divorce. It disapproves of it because it is less than God's ideal and because it causes so much sorrow and heartache. But the Church, like Moses, allows it because of "the hardness of men's hearts." In the long history of Israel and the Church, divorce has been an on-again off-again thing, but sodomy has always been forbidden. Question: If homosexuals are born with a tendency to have sex relations with persons of the same sex, should we condemn them for doing what is natural for them? Answer: We are all born with a tendency to sin, but sin is still sin. The natural desires of our hearts often lead us to do things that are contrary to God's will revealed in the Scriptures. Fallen men and women are not by nature monogamous animals any more than dogs. But the tendency to seek many sex partners does not justify adultery. Some persons claim that they are born with a tendency to have sex with children. "Pedophiles" they are called. But that certainly does not make having sex with children acceptable. Our physical nature is often at odds with our spiritual nature, but with God's help we can prevail against wrong desires. Let us be clear on this point, the Church does not forbid the ordination of all persons who have homosexual tendencies any more than it forbids the ordination of persons with tendencies to fornication and adultery. What the Church does forbid is the ordination of unrepentant practicing homosexuals. The Church does not deny ordination to believers in Christ who acknowledge their sin, ask God for forgiveness and continue to strive to overcome their sinful tendencies. Thus we say that the issue in this discussion is whether acts of homosexuality are sins that are condemned in the Scriptures and require confession and repentance. Question: Shouldn't the Church by ruled by love and not by law? Answer: The Church must always be ruled by both at the same time. Love and law must have equal place in the life of the Church, and the two are not in conflict. Love that is not guided by law is destructive. A mother who does not discipline her son does not love him, no matter how much she may say she does. But law without love can also be destructive. A father who punishes his son without loving him may likewise destroy the son. The Church does not have the luxury of choosing between love and law; she must be ruled by both at the same time. Question: But in refusing to ordain unrepentant practicing homosexuals are we not being judgmental? Answer: It depends on what you mean by "judgmental." Surely you do not mean that we should never make any judgment about whether a person's conduct is in accord with God's will as that will is made known in the Scriptures. One of the unique things about the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is that he laid down some requirements for human conduct. In the Old Testament this was one of the things that distinguished the God of Israel from the gods of the people round about them. Yahweh required moral lives; while the gods of the Canaanites required only rituals and ceremonies. An enormous amount of space in the Bible is taken up in clarifying what behavior is unacceptable to God. In the New Testament, Jesus and Paul and the other apostles regularly passed judgment on human conduct. And so must we. If it is being "judgmental" to point out what the Bible calls sin, then so be it. Question: Isn't it possible that the Holy Spirit has given more light on the subject of homosexuality and that the Bible which we now have is wrong? Answer: As we see it, the only way a person can say that acts of homosexuality are not sins is to say that "more light" has come from God on this subject and that the Bible which we now have is out-moded and unreliable. To say that is to give up the Bible as our final source of authority. It also opens the door for persons to change other Biblical restrictions they do not like. Indeed, some persons are already talking of relaxing the ban on sex between unmarried persons, i.e. fornication. We, however, are committed to the Bible as we now have it as our only trustworthy guide on all matters of faith and life. Question: Didn't Jesus say, "Whoever comes to me I will not cast out?" Shouldn't the Church, therefore, practice radical inclusivity? Answer: Your term "radical inclusivity" sounds like old universalism, in which all one had to do to go to heaven was to die. Jesus does indeed welcome all who come to him, but he makes strong demands upon those who would be his disciples. He welcomed the rich young ruler, but then said to him, "Go, sell what you have and give to the poor … and come, follow me" (Mk. 10:21). He said "If any one would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). He said, "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn. 15:14). He said, "Whosoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matt. 12:50). The unity we seek is in the shared struggle to do the will of God as it is revealed in the Scriptures. Resources for Unity and Diversity Conferences |
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