The church's response to homosexuality (Part 1)

How should the church of the Lord Jesus respond to homosexuality and its companion issue, same-sex marriage?

How should the church of the Lord Jesus respond to practicing homosexuals?

How should the church of the Lord Jesus respond to Christians struggling with same-sex attraction?

There are good answers to those questions, even trustworthy answers, I believe. Why? Because the gospel is powerful, and because I believe the New Testament shows us the way.

My observation based on a lifetime of being a part of evangelical Christian churches is the American church has made a number of mistakes regarding homosexuality. First, to clarify for any who have questions about that statement, let me be clear: Those churches that continue to teach homosexual behavior is a sin and is incompatible with Christian living are correct. We can never back away from this clear teaching in the New Testament, as well as the Old.

But many of those churches that have remained faithful to the Bible's sex ethic have made other mistakes, it appears to me. Among them are these:

-- We have often treated homosexual behavior as a sin worse than all others.

-- We have often treated practicing homosexuals as untouchables.

-- We have often made practicing homosexuals, and even those with same-sex attractions, feel unwelcome, even sometimes the brunt of cruel jokes.

-- We have often confused same-sex attraction with homosexual identification.

-- We have often spoken and acted in ways that prevent people with same-sex attractions from revealing their struggles and finding help in the power of the gospel and Christian community.

I believe our church and other churches want to be biblical and gospel-focused in confronting these issues. I look forward to trying to address them in future blog posts. May we all respond to these issues humbly and prayerfully, trusting in the power of our sin-conquering, sinner-delivering Lord.