What Should a Christian Do With LGBTQ
The month of June has been deemed “Pride” month since 2000 when then President Bill Clinton officially declared it “Gay and Lesbian Pride month.” I’ll put my cards on the table, I am a follower of Jesus Christ who believes that the Bible is God’s Word directing every step of my daily life. It is my desire to order my life around the truths of God’s Word and my relationship with Jesus Christ. This article is intended to help those who share my commitment to Jesus Christ and give insight to those who do not share my worldview.
The Bible and my Savior, Jesus Christ, have declared that all mankind are created in God’s image, and we are called to love the world just as Jesus demonstrated His love by dying on the cross for our sins. This means that I am called to love every man, woman and child and treat each one with respect because they are image bearers of God (Genesis 1:27). God has also told us that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and the wage for this sin is death (Genesis 6:23). The Bible has also clearly articulated that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer lifestyles are in direct rebellion to God’s created order and deserving of God’s wrath (Romans 1:18-32). The book of Isaiah gives this warning, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil,” Isaiah 5:20.
Further, the LGBTQ flag is commonly called the “rainbow” flag. The rainbow was given by God to mankind as a promise that He would never destroy the world with a global flood again (Genesis 9:12-16). The flood of Genesis 6-9 was a judgment by God upon rebellious mankind and the LGBTQ community has chosen this God-given symbol as their flag. Further, the Bible declares that pride is an affront to God and in Proverbs 11:2 it says, “When pride come, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom,” and Proverbs 16:5 says, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” The “rainbow” flag and “pride” month are not so subtle affronts to the God I have committed my life to.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am called to love others and hate sin. This produces much tension in the culture that we live in today because God has declared the LGBTQ lifestyles as sin and yet we are called to love everyone. I would like to give three ways in which a follower of Christ can choose love in the midst of an openly sinful lifestyles.
LOVE ACCEPTS OTHERS UNCONDITIONALLY
The primary word for love in the New Testament is agape and it carries with it the concept of giving without expectation of return. This type of love is given without conditions. This is the type of love that Jesus demonstrated when He came to earth as a man and offered His perfect life for sinners like me. Jesus was accused by his critics as a friend of sinners and Jesus’ response to this attack was, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance,” Luke 5: 31-32.
It is clear from the words and actions of Jesus that sinners are not to be avoided and shunned by Christ followers, but they are to be loved and invited into relationship. As Christians we should show genuine love and kindness to those that are trapped in their sins. This may include having them over for dinner, inviting them to attend church with you, or just in general being kind to them. Christ’s example was to befriend those that were rightly called sinners, so that He could invite them to repent of their sins and be saved.
A book I read recently demonstrates this type of redemptive relationship and it is titled, “Gay girl, good God: The story of who I was, and who God has always been,” by Jackie Hill Perry. I would encourage every Christ-follower to read this book.
LOVE SEEKS THE OTHER PERSON'S HIGHEST GOOD
Love also seeks the highest good of the one loved. Man’s greatest need is forgiveness of sins found only through faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 puts it simply, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” This verse reminds us that the only way a person escapes perishing in hell is through belief in Jesus Christ’s death in our place.
A sinner’s highest good is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. I found this salvation from my own sins when I placed my faith in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, and this salvation is offered to any and all sinners. I want the entire world to know Jesus’ forgiveness and the eternal life He freely offers to all who believe. It is my life’s passion and purpose to introduce everyone to Jesus.
It is my desire that liars, murderers, gossips, adulterers, greedy, prideful, thieves, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and every unbelieving sinner turn from their sin and find forgiveness at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus has forgiven me of all my sins and he will do the same for you and those whom you love. True love desires salvation for every man, woman and child.
One final note on this matter. The LGBTQ agenda has focused their attention in at least two areas. First, they demand not just that people allow them to practice their sinful lifestyles, but they also demand that we embrace, endorse and celebrate their lifestyle and identity. It is not loving for me to make a sinner falsely believe that they are okay in their sin because God is a just God that will judge sin. Second, the LGBTQ agenda seeks to indoctrinate our young people with a belief that LGBTQ lifestyles are normal and acceptable. This agenda is clearly seen in our own community that is having a “Pride in the Park” event that is advertised as being a family friendly festival celebrating Pride month. I do not want my children to see open sexual sin as being normal and would strongly encourage every follower of Christ to not attend these events and discourage others from attending. These events groom our young people to embrace a lifestyle that is an affront to the created order of our God.
LOVE DOES NOT EMBRACE OR ENCOURAGE SIN
The book of 1 Corinthians says this about love, “love is patient and kind…it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth…”. Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way…”. Love for God and love for others demand that we hate and flee from sin.
It is not loving to make a person feel okay about their sin, or worse yet, to affirm and encourage their sin. As a parent it is my responsibility to point my children towards what is right and good and to correct them when they pursue sin and evil. It would not be loving for me to tell my child who likes to hit other children that this is okay. It would not be loving of me to tell my child to make fun of others. It would not be loving of me to tell my child that it is okay to throw a selfish temper tantrum in the middle of Walmart. It would not be loving of me to tell my child that it is okay to disrespect his teacher and others at school. Love speaks the truth in love correcting sinful behaviors and actions.
As a Christian who is called to love others we must not endorse sin in our own lives or the lives of others. We cannot promote and embrace the sinful LGBTQ lifestyles if we want to love them like Christ has loved us. I’m reminded of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4. Jesus comes upon a woman of Samaria and offers to her eternal life. In this encounter he first begins a relational conversation, but he does get to the reality of her sexual sins as she had been married 5 times and was now living with a man that was not her husband. Jesus loved this woman enough to engage in a relationship with her, and he did point out her sinful condition. This is Christ-like love!
As a follower of Christ, we must love others unconditionally like Jesus and seek their highest good. Their highest good is faith in Jesus Christ as payment for their sins. As a Christian we cannot embrace or endorse sin in our lives or the lives of others.
What shall we then do with LGBTQ? We must love them without condition and pray that they will see their sin and repent; turning by faith to Jesus Christ.
In His Service,
Pastor David King
The Bible and my Savior, Jesus Christ, have declared that all mankind are created in God’s image, and we are called to love the world just as Jesus demonstrated His love by dying on the cross for our sins. This means that I am called to love every man, woman and child and treat each one with respect because they are image bearers of God (Genesis 1:27). God has also told us that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and the wage for this sin is death (Genesis 6:23). The Bible has also clearly articulated that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer lifestyles are in direct rebellion to God’s created order and deserving of God’s wrath (Romans 1:18-32). The book of Isaiah gives this warning, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil,” Isaiah 5:20.
Further, the LGBTQ flag is commonly called the “rainbow” flag. The rainbow was given by God to mankind as a promise that He would never destroy the world with a global flood again (Genesis 9:12-16). The flood of Genesis 6-9 was a judgment by God upon rebellious mankind and the LGBTQ community has chosen this God-given symbol as their flag. Further, the Bible declares that pride is an affront to God and in Proverbs 11:2 it says, “When pride come, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom,” and Proverbs 16:5 says, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” The “rainbow” flag and “pride” month are not so subtle affronts to the God I have committed my life to.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am called to love others and hate sin. This produces much tension in the culture that we live in today because God has declared the LGBTQ lifestyles as sin and yet we are called to love everyone. I would like to give three ways in which a follower of Christ can choose love in the midst of an openly sinful lifestyles.
LOVE ACCEPTS OTHERS UNCONDITIONALLY
The primary word for love in the New Testament is agape and it carries with it the concept of giving without expectation of return. This type of love is given without conditions. This is the type of love that Jesus demonstrated when He came to earth as a man and offered His perfect life for sinners like me. Jesus was accused by his critics as a friend of sinners and Jesus’ response to this attack was, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance,” Luke 5: 31-32.
It is clear from the words and actions of Jesus that sinners are not to be avoided and shunned by Christ followers, but they are to be loved and invited into relationship. As Christians we should show genuine love and kindness to those that are trapped in their sins. This may include having them over for dinner, inviting them to attend church with you, or just in general being kind to them. Christ’s example was to befriend those that were rightly called sinners, so that He could invite them to repent of their sins and be saved.
A book I read recently demonstrates this type of redemptive relationship and it is titled, “Gay girl, good God: The story of who I was, and who God has always been,” by Jackie Hill Perry. I would encourage every Christ-follower to read this book.
LOVE SEEKS THE OTHER PERSON'S HIGHEST GOOD
Love also seeks the highest good of the one loved. Man’s greatest need is forgiveness of sins found only through faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 puts it simply, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” This verse reminds us that the only way a person escapes perishing in hell is through belief in Jesus Christ’s death in our place.
A sinner’s highest good is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. I found this salvation from my own sins when I placed my faith in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, and this salvation is offered to any and all sinners. I want the entire world to know Jesus’ forgiveness and the eternal life He freely offers to all who believe. It is my life’s passion and purpose to introduce everyone to Jesus.
It is my desire that liars, murderers, gossips, adulterers, greedy, prideful, thieves, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and every unbelieving sinner turn from their sin and find forgiveness at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus has forgiven me of all my sins and he will do the same for you and those whom you love. True love desires salvation for every man, woman and child.
One final note on this matter. The LGBTQ agenda has focused their attention in at least two areas. First, they demand not just that people allow them to practice their sinful lifestyles, but they also demand that we embrace, endorse and celebrate their lifestyle and identity. It is not loving for me to make a sinner falsely believe that they are okay in their sin because God is a just God that will judge sin. Second, the LGBTQ agenda seeks to indoctrinate our young people with a belief that LGBTQ lifestyles are normal and acceptable. This agenda is clearly seen in our own community that is having a “Pride in the Park” event that is advertised as being a family friendly festival celebrating Pride month. I do not want my children to see open sexual sin as being normal and would strongly encourage every follower of Christ to not attend these events and discourage others from attending. These events groom our young people to embrace a lifestyle that is an affront to the created order of our God.
LOVE DOES NOT EMBRACE OR ENCOURAGE SIN
The book of 1 Corinthians says this about love, “love is patient and kind…it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth…”. Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way…”. Love for God and love for others demand that we hate and flee from sin.
It is not loving to make a person feel okay about their sin, or worse yet, to affirm and encourage their sin. As a parent it is my responsibility to point my children towards what is right and good and to correct them when they pursue sin and evil. It would not be loving for me to tell my child who likes to hit other children that this is okay. It would not be loving of me to tell my child to make fun of others. It would not be loving of me to tell my child that it is okay to throw a selfish temper tantrum in the middle of Walmart. It would not be loving of me to tell my child that it is okay to disrespect his teacher and others at school. Love speaks the truth in love correcting sinful behaviors and actions.
As a Christian who is called to love others we must not endorse sin in our own lives or the lives of others. We cannot promote and embrace the sinful LGBTQ lifestyles if we want to love them like Christ has loved us. I’m reminded of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4. Jesus comes upon a woman of Samaria and offers to her eternal life. In this encounter he first begins a relational conversation, but he does get to the reality of her sexual sins as she had been married 5 times and was now living with a man that was not her husband. Jesus loved this woman enough to engage in a relationship with her, and he did point out her sinful condition. This is Christ-like love!
As a follower of Christ, we must love others unconditionally like Jesus and seek their highest good. Their highest good is faith in Jesus Christ as payment for their sins. As a Christian we cannot embrace or endorse sin in our lives or the lives of others.
What shall we then do with LGBTQ? We must love them without condition and pray that they will see their sin and repent; turning by faith to Jesus Christ.
In His Service,
Pastor David King
Recent
Archive
Categories
no categories
No Comments