Friday, January 27, 2006

Homosexuality : Sin or Curse

Homosexuality is a challenging issue for Christians. The Bible seems to be clear that homosexual activity is a sin, but when Christians teach this truth, they are often accused of being harsh and “out of touch” with reality. I believe that a clearer understanding of the full biblical teaching about homosexuality will enable us to “speak the truth in love” about this difficult issue.

Sin or Curse
Our starting point must be love and compassion. If we understood how tough the homosexual lifestyle is for those who are stuck with it, we would be more compassionate. God created us male and female so that we can be united in marriage. To be shut out from this blessing is a curse, as much as it is a sin. Having known the joy of loving a woman, I fell really sorry for anyone who is incapable of finding that joy. An old proverb says:

There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand:
the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a maiden (Prov 30:18,19).

Every man who has fallen in love with a woman knows that this is true. How sad to be unable to experience “the way of a man with a maiden”.
The human body is designed for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. It is hard for anyone who has enjoyed this gift from God not to feel sorry for someone can enjoy it. No matter what people say, sodomy is a poor substitute for God’s gift, so those who declare that they enjoy being homosexual might just be making the best of a bad job. They probably feel like they have not other choice. Christians should feel compassion for those who are stuck in this place.

Being different from the rest of the world is tough, and even worse if you are hounded for being different. Homosexual people face the problem that they will always be a minority. Some estimates claim they are ten percent of the population, but they real figure is probably much less, so they are quite a small minority. Christians understand what it is likely to be a minority, but at least we have the potential to become a majority, if we get on with the gospel. Homosexual people will always be a minority, so we should be sympathetic to their plight.

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