It has long been a standing question of whether or not a person can be gay and Christian. It is the position of Liberty Christian Ministries that homosexual practice is not healthy for those tho participate in it, either physically, emotionally, psychologically, mentally, socially, or spiritually. Its affects go beyond the mere individual and permeate through the rest of society and reaches the family, the very unit which God created in Genesis 2-3 for the population of His world and the foundational building block of society. It also affects the individual and disrupts their relationship with God and His family, potentially disqualifying them from relationship with Him both in this life and in the life to come (Revelation 21:8).
If such a person is a Christian, then they have two basic options. They can say ‘Yes, I am a Christian but am wantonly living in rebellion, and one day I might need to stop and reckon with God’. This is the model given in the story of the Prodigal Son. In the parable, the son knows he is lost and that he’s made bad choices and returns to the father asking for mercy.
The second basic choice that a person has in a situation like this is to resign himself to his situation completely and try to ‘bridge the gap’ between his supposed faith in Jesus and his sexual expression. ‘God must have made me this way’, he might reason, ’or otherwise He wouldn’t let me do it. Anyway, if God made me this way then He cannot judge me for being consistent and ‘true to myself’”. This is a complete denial and suppression of what is true (Romans 1:18-32) and something which, as Scripture demonstrates, provokes the wrath of God because it is deliberate rebellion and attempting to suffocate the truth.
As I once was in the gay lifestyle, I would sometimes oscillate myself between the two choices- as many others do- as a way of keeping all options open to try and find an escape clause. I was a Christian who was deliberately living in sexual sin, orginally because I wanted to- to defy God, parents, and others- but overwhelmingly it became so addictive that, by my own strength, I simply couldn’t stop. The danger was that eventually I became incresingly cynical and angry with God, searing my conscience and denouncing the truth of Him in my heart. I began blaming Him and His people, the Church, because that was ‘easier’ somehow than actually taking ownership of my own problems. However, I wondered if I really was a Christian. What the feet did, the heart followed and I had to grapple with terrifying parts of Scripture which told me that my defiant sin was threatening to derail my salvation (e.g. Rev. 21:8; 1 Corinth. 5:5; Matthew 7:21; Matthew 18:15-20). These weren’t merely words on pages, but profound spiritual realities and I realised that I was playing with fire. More than a few times I had terrifying visions of myself sleeping with a man one moment, and then the next standing before Almighty Gof giving an answerand for that last remaining memory of my earthly life. At the suggestion of a Christian brother, I took to reading Hebrews 12 and literally trembled at verse 14:
… Be holy; because without holiness no one will see the Lord.
The last two verses of the chapter were equally chilling:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
My life, which was meant to be an act of worship (Romans 12), was far from acceptable and with reverent awe. God was demanding answers of me: “So, you call yourself a Christian? You think that a label will save you? You are a Christian, so why are you defying your true identity? If you are a free man, what are you choosing to live as a slave?” I thought I had an escape clause: “Well, you made me this way, didn’t you? Isn’t Your glory greater in the darkest place (meaning, if I keep going on, won’t your grace shine brighter)?” It wasn’t long before Roman 6 was before my eyes:
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? … 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin … 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Who was I kidding? Certainly not God who, by His Spirit, was breaking down my defences to bring me back to my senses and, more importantly, to Him. Not my pastor at the time, because he, in love, confronted me with the Scripture and challenged me to start living in consistency with my salvation. When he did, I became bitter with him for around 6 months before I actually realised that I was the one with the problem and who needed to change.
Yet, God’s calling for me to be holy/pure in my walk also came from more encouraging sources, like Psalm 107 and Psalm 40 (which is actually a U2 song!) Psalm 107 was particularly so:
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south …
10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
Even after people listen to God and wander off into the most horrible, self-imposed hell, He can still redeem them and lavish love on them! But for that to happen, they need to wake up and live according to their true selves. To be true to oneself as a Christian is to be in right relationship with the Heavenly Father, not to give into any craven desire that one feels. That is not liberty and freedom, but to be a slave to self; as Jesus said, a man cannot have two masters. He will eventually love one and hate the other, and with God being a Jealous God, He has no room for rivals. It took me a lot of suffering and sorrow to realise this, but God showed Himself to be willing to help me even when I was fighting him so strongly.
The Christian living in sexual sin has the choice to leave it, but it will either be done by surrendering to God, even if it is only bit-by-bit. The other option is to provoke His displeasure and discipline, which is much harder to bear. Sin hardens hearts, but if the heart it submissive, the person can overcome by God’s strength and goodness. God is always there for you to come back to Him, as is the message of this song.
Shalom,
Haydn (Liberty pastoral worker).
Behold! I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown – Revelation 3:11