Homosexuality and the Church: Moving Through and Beyond the Debate

The topic of homosexuality is impacting our congregations and our denomination perhaps more than any other social concern. It is the centerpiece of our debates and a motivating force behind major issues that have been handed to us for vote from the 2010 General Assembly. By understanding this subject matter better, we will be more prepared for upcoming discussions and debates, and we can improve our ministries.

I. Background

Our Biggest Failure

I was next in line to testify at the 2010 General Assembly’s Committee on Civil Unions and Christian Marriage. The woman who was speaking in front of the packed committee room was putting the finishing touches on her emotionally-charged appeal to be more loving toward gays and lesbians, to welcome them into our churches, and to support gay marriage.

As I walked toward the podium, I mentally trashed my preplanned talking points. This woman had accentuated the weakness in logic often found in Evangelical arguments against homosexuality. For more than three decades we have stated and restated the Scriptural call to holiness. But we have not as clearly articulated the rest of the Gospel, the love of a Savior who leaves ninety-nine sheep behind to pursue the one. We have failed to adequately explain how we will show God’s love to gays and lesbians without bending our beliefs. Might it even be said that until we learn how to show at least as much grace and understanding as has been shown by liberals to this sector of our society that our words will continue to ring hollow for those who engage us in the debate?

Stepping close to the microphone, I looked at people on both sides of the ideological spectrum and spoke from my heart: “I love you—all of you.” The crowd became silent. “Let me remind you,” I continued, “that love, real love, encourages standards for healthy living. If you are a parent, and you really love your child, you provide guidelines for his or her behavior.” I then attempted to explain in the simplest terms what I believe is a Christlike response to homosexuality for the church. Time didn’t allow me to bring clarity to my message as I hope to do in the following pages. We truly can show compassion without compromise. This article is my attempt to put feet on this concept for our ministries and words to this concept for upcoming debates.

Why This Issue Won’t Go Away

A life-long Presbyterian recently said, “The normal process for decision-making and policy setting in our denomination has been to vote on an issue, consider it settled, and to move on to the next issue. When it comes to homosexuality, however, we vote on an issue, consider it settled, and then are forced to vote on it again and again and again.”

It has been more than three decades since the General Assembly offered what seemed to be, at the time, the final word on this subject through its 1978 Authoritative Interpretation. Then nearly fifteen years ago, the General Assembly attempted to settle the issue once again by adding an amendment to our Book of Order affirming the church’s historical stand on the subject (G-6.0106b). Still, the topic of homosexuality became part of our votes as efforts to soften and then strip G-6.0106b from the Book of Order were defeated soundly in 1997 and 2001 by votes in the presbyteries yielding 65.9% and 72.7% majorities, respectively.

Those who thought the issue would lie down and die were not aware of the growing national momentum that has been driving the gay-rights movement. A relentless push by gay-rights activists for acceptance and recognition since the days of the 1969 Stonewall Riots has successfully influenced nearly every sector of our society and has long been seeking major inroads into the church.1 Relentless and determined, it has managed to fling the door wide open in many mainline denominations.

The gay-rights movement has given rise to the “gay-Christian” movement and “gay-Christian theology.” What has amazed me most about this “new” theology is that no matter how clearly and soundly it has been refuted by orthodox theologians through the years, it continues to be promoted as though not a word of reasoned response has been given. With each new crop of incoming pastors, pro-gay theologians rehash the same old arguments and fewer and fewer people know that answers have already been given and more and more people suppose there really is no solid refutation of these new ways of interpreting the Bible. Defenders of historic approaches to biblical interpretation become weary and turn their efforts to more fruitful venues of study while the “gay-Christian” movement gains a wider hearing and more adherents.

One of the primary motivational forces behind the “gay-Christian” movement is the gay and lesbian’s pursuit of love and acceptance. Some homosexuals grew up in a traditional Christian church, experienced rejection, and established churches of their own. The Metropolitan Community Church, for example, is now a denomination with churches in 40 countries on six continents.2 Many who call themselves gay-Christians, however, wish to remain a part of the established denominations in which they grew up.

Their pain and their wish to be loved has been heard and felt by liberal Christians who champion their cause with arguments based on justice and kindness, all bolstered by heart-rending stories of the rejection of gays and lesbians by the traditional church. Conservative believers have offered counter points more from the head than from the heart, more from doctrine than from experience. Over the years, liberals and conservatives have talked around each other and talked about each other more easily than they have talked to each other about possible resolution.

What Conservative and Liberal Christians Both Need To Understand

The great divide between theologically conservative and liberal Christians can be closed through the person of Jesus Christ. The liberal cause of love and the conservative focus on truth are united in our God, who is by nature love and truth embodied (1 John 4:8, John 14:6). Our Lord extended a hand of love to the outcasts in his society. I believe that if Jesus walked the earth today, he would minister to gays and lesbians. And of course he is alive today, in us, wanting us to have the humility to follow him as he shows us how to put both spectrums of the Christian faith together.

Great awakenings throughout history have been marked by a coming together of biblical preaching and social concern. Great division and decline, however, mark a church that becomes polarized by debating factions. Most of us today are tired of the battle. The question is, how much more disagreement and decline must we experience before we will come together in a manner that God will honor? We must lay hold of God’s untarnished truth and unbridled love with a holy tenacity.

Both sides of the debate over homosexuality have their weak points. We conservatives have supported our biblical proof texts while doing little to lighten the burden for people who experience unwanted sexual attractions. I know. I have been arguing the points for twenty years. Over the same period of time, I have also counseled people who experience same-sex attractions. But until recently, I have done little to help my own church members understand that gays and lesbians need to be loved if they are to be healed. They need to know we care about them before they will let us guide them. Truth devoid of compassion can be sharp and damaging.

Liberals have done a better job than we have at listening to gays and lesbians and seeking to heal their pain. But they have too often jettisoned the plain teachings of Scripture in favor of cultural norms. Love devoid of biblical standards can be soft and deceptive.

Together, liberals and conservatives have tried to force solutions through votes and polity. Such an approach tends to foster splits on both ends of the theological spectrum, leaving many behind in the broad middle where truth easily loses its sharpness and love often becomes lifeless. If moving the masses toward a compromised center is the right solution, would not the moderates in our denomination have led us out of the desert and into Canaan’s rest years ago? The compromise of our convictions is not a way to true peace. Our Lord never approved of a lukewarm church (Revelation 4:15-16). He calls us to step out of our comfort zones and to establish his kingdom. When it comes to homosexuality, for example, his radical love and his unbending truth will call us together into ministries that can change lives.

When Christ Reigns In Our Churches

In the process of researching and writing Turning Controversy into Church Ministry, I surveyed numerous churches in America and in other countries. It was an amazing journey. The two realizations that most impacted me were:

1. How incredibly few churches have established a ministry for people who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions. It would be safe to say that only a fraction of one percent of churches have done so. We can imagine many reasons for this phenomenon, not the least of which are the controversy and confusion that surround this topic.

2. Churches that have actually established such ministry, however, are typically quite healthy and effective in ministries of all kinds. The idea that “we can’t engage in ministry for homosexuals or it will divide and damage our church” is simply not true. It is our fears that tell us so, but not the Scriptures, nor the Spirit of God.

II. Ministry

The Ministry We Overlook

We provide ministry to address nearly every area of human need, from clothing the homeless to Christian aerobics. We find the Gospel relevant for nearly every area of life, from how to raise kids to how to raise money. Many of our churches have support groups for those in recovery from alcoholism. How many Christians are aware of Homosexuals Anonymous, however, even though it is also an international organization? We develop grief and divorce recovery groups, but how many of our churches have recovery groups for deeper issues of sexual brokenness? Some churches have finally recognized the need to develop ministry for the rampant problem of sexual addiction among heterosexuals. Few, however, offer ministry for those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions. When it comes to training our people about sexual brokenness, we back away.

What many Christians don’t realize is that people who experience same-sex attractions are all around us. One survey found that 60% to 70% of Christians have an acquaintance with someone who experiences homosexual attractions.3 Perhaps half of those who wrestle with this issue are married to someone of the opposite sex, but still, they struggle.4 Singles and teens experiencing same-sex attractions are looking for guidance. Many of these people would call their same-sex attractions “unwanted.” They do not wish to be labeled by their sexuality. They search for a safe, supportive environment in which they can open their hearts and share their stories with friends who are willing to walk beside them and support them on the journey of growth and obedience to God’s standards for sexuality.

Recognizing The Need

Perhaps we avoid and overlook ministry to homosexuals because this issue stands on the frontlines of a raging cultural battle over values and worldviews. We have seen the looks of pain, angst, and confusion in our church members’ eyes, and we don’t want to push them to draw battle lines and to take sides. By our silence on this issue, we make the statement that there is no need for such a ministry.

A more reasonable and proper approach for addressing issues of sexuality in our churches is to remind our members that we are each called to live in holiness, and that sexual brokenness of all kinds can no longer be ignored. We must offer ministry to help all kinds of people find guidance and healing. Such ministry begins through listening and learning. We need to listen to people on a deeper level and to learn more broadly and deeply by doing appropriate study and research.

The Barriers We Must Overcome

Our own lack of understanding about homosexuality is one of the largest barriers we must overcome before offering ministry to people who experience unwanted same-sex attractions. For example:

1. We must be careful, when thinking and talking about the moral implications of homosexuality, to separate a person’s attractions from his or her actions. In the Greek, we find pronouncements about those who embrace their sinful thoughts and who engage in homosexual behavior.

2. We wrongly think that all homosexuals are the same. We see the loudest and most brazen gay activists on our television sets and fear they might soon be marching down the aisles of our churches if we address the subject openly. Yet the majority of gays and lesbians are quiet members of our society. Some attend our churches, often keeping their struggles to themselves. And there are thousands of former gays and lesbians around the country who can testify that it was through a compassionate presentation of the truth and through the support of good counselors and mentors that they found freedom from their past lives.

3. We mistakenly assume that even bringing up the word “homosexuality” will bring division within our congregations. After all, is this not an emotional topic that connects to wounds within ourselves and others? If Sally Green’s husband left her for a gay partner, will not Sally naturally have a strong negative reaction when the topic of homosexuality is broached from the pulpit or in the classroom? The answer to such questions depends on how we address the topic. Not to address it at all, however, is an admission of defeat in the war of values that rages around us. Is it not the call of the church to heal wounds and to minister grace? Yes, this is when the church is truly acting like the church.

4. Misunderstandings abound regarding the causes of same-sex attractions. Many of our problems would diminish if we would simply cease to oversimplify this topic and acknowledge it to be as complex as it really is. Homosexuality is caused by a multiplicity of factors. Even the American Psychiatric Association recognizes this truth. A person may have a predisposition toward homosexuality from birth. Predisposition, however, does not dictate a lifestyle. When such predisposition is coupled with influences in life, such as possible abuse, or detachment from parents, or a host of other possibilities, that person may find that his or her sexual attractions develop toward the same sex. In most cases, the environmental factors go back to pre-puberty years and hence the only sexual attractions many gay people have ever known are homosexual, causing such persons to honestly believe they were born that way. A study of human sexual development does not render such a clear and simple verdict, however.

When we allow for the complexity of cause to surface, no longer can the extreme arguments be embraced from either the right or the left around this topic. Arguments that all homosexuals were simply born that way and the notion that same-sex attraction is always a conscious choice a person makes must both be recognized as poor depictions of reality.

Clarity and Complexity About “Change”

Perhaps the most significant spiritual and psychological factor beneath the surface of debates about homosexuality is that of “change.” Is it possible for a homosexual to become a heterosexual, for example? Many of us, noting that even scientists and psychologists don’t agree on this issue, wonder, “If the professionals can’t seem to come to agreement about this issue, how can we hope to do so?” We can at least move in this direction by thinking more clearly, logically, and biblically about “change.” Note that:

1. We need to recognize that there are different levels of “change.” When alcoholics stop drinking, get into support groups, and pull their lives together, we say they have changed. In the same way, if a person who once lived a gay lifestyle turns away from that way of living and chooses to live in holiness for the Lord, is that not change? Even those who have bought into the argument that gays and lesbians cannot shed their same-sex affinities must admit that a switch from active homosexual behavior to one of abstinence is in itself a significant change.

2. We may have convoluted perspectives about how change might occur for a person experiencing sexual brokenness. We conservative Christians seem to suggest that change will happen best if we simply point out what is sinful. But we forget that if we only focus on behavior and not the deeper issues of the heart, we create an environment in which the person attempting to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions feels trapped, overwhelmed, shamed, and rejected. It is the Spirit of God, combined with the love of God, that draws a person to a place where the deep work of change can occur. And such change takes time.

3. Much misunderstanding has arisen based on people’s limited exposure to those who experience same-sex attractions. Some of us may have only been close to gays or lesbians who have sought but not found change. Others personally know former gays who are living in holiness and who do not find their identity in their sexuality. Many of these post-gay persons can, in fact, testify that their homosexual attractions have not only diminished, but have been replaced by heterosexual attractions. Which of these stories have you heard? If your experiences are lopsided, your perspectives about the complicated issue of change may be as well.

4. Perhaps the most significant misunderstanding related to the potential change of sexual orientation is the notion held by some that if we only have enough faith, change on even the deepest level will come quickly, completely, and easily for the repentant person. Yet it has been my experience that deep internal change for people experiencing homosexual attractions may take years. Many who have overcome such attractions first lived in holiness before God for up to a decade before they were suddenly surprised to find their predominate attractions to be heterosexual. Is it any wonder that the Metropolitan Community Church has many gays and lesbians who grew up in traditional congregations but who eventually drifted away? Testimonies fill the halls of these gay-affirming churches about their experiences in more traditional congregations where they were told they simply needed to “repent,” and their homosexual attractions would surely disappear.

5. Some Christians have abandoned their sense of moral discernment around this topic. In a youth group, if some declare themselves to be homosexual, or bisexual, for example, the mentality may be, “just let them live it out—they are different from us.” But why then not encourage all of the youth to live out their sexual fantasies and desires? Christians have no right to ignore the clarion call to holiness for our sexuality that dominates the pages of Scripture.

How then do we discuss and debate this topic in a manner that honors God and can help people who are looking for the truth?

III. The Defense and Debate

1. Our Tone:

Think about Jesus as he is described in the Gospels. How did he treat the outcasts and the rejected people of his society? People who experience sexual brokenness are often rejected by today’s society. When speaking about homosexuality, our tone should be loving, and our words articulate and reasonable. We have Scripture and logic on our side—let us use them well and not engage in the escalation of emotions that can easily dominate debates over such difficult issues.

2. Our Perspective:

God is in the business of establishing his kingdom and no matter how things fall out politically during this season of denominational voting, God’s purposes will be advanced. Remember that when Christ returns he will be “ashamed” of any of us who were ashamed of him and his words, and therefore not willing to stand for the truth (Mark 8:38). There will be eternal rewards for people like Jeremiah who spoke God’s Word and refused to compromise their integrity even when the crowd was against them. It is always right and rewarding to stand for the truth in love.

3. Defending Truth In Love:

The mandate Paul gave Jude to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3) is just as relevant today. When challenging and correcting others, however, let us remember to speak with humility and gentleness (Galatians 3:1, 6:1). We are called to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), for love alone will cover our corporate shortcomings and sins (1 Peter 4:8).

The following points of defense center around Using Logic, Upholding Marriage, and Defending Scripture. Consider in each category how we can speak truthfully while demonstrating the kind of love that will help our words to be heard.

A. Using Logic

1. Argument Made: The church is filled with broken and sinful people. How can we elevate one sin above all others?

Response: We should not highlight any one form of sexual brokenness as being worse than others. The truth is that many heterosexuals are engaged in adultery, promiscuity, or the viewing of pornography. These problems are not only found in society, but in our churches. How could it be otherwise, if we are making Christlike efforts to minister to people at their point of need? But the solution is not to give blessing to every form of sexual sin, but rather to show love toward those trapped in sin and to help them follow the standards given to us by our Lord.

The primary reason that this one issue, homosexuality, has been debated over and over and apparently “singled out” from other sins is that the progressive elements in our denomination keep pushing it forward for debate and vote. And it is the one area of sexual sin that some are seeking to redefine as acceptable in the sight of God.

Love Covers: We agree that we must be careful to help people who experience sexual brokenness of any kind to know that we do not see ourselves as better than they. Rather, we are all together in this struggle to honor God. We each have our areas of weakness. We are all sinners without hope except in God’s sovereign mercy.

2. Argument Made: The real problem for people who are against homosexuality is prejudice. People need to get over their fears and to let go of their bigotry.

Response: It is true that there are people inside and outside of the church who are uncomfortable when around homosexuals. When such insecurity is turned to meanness and bullying, that is wrong. Our first concern as Christians should be to please God, however, and not to bend to the pressures of society to endorse lifestyles that the Bible calls sinful. Those who truly respect God will obey His Word, even when it seems “politically incorrect” to do so (Isaiah 66:2).

Love Covers: Nevertheless, if any of us is uncomfortable when around gays or lesbians to the extent that our inhibitions block an expression of genuine love for them, we need to repent. We are called to love all people and to reach out to everyone with the Gospel of Christ.

3. Argument Made: But I believe gays and lesbians are “made that way” by God. Homosexuality is genetic. Why would God make people one way, and tell them to behave in another way?

Response: Science has at best shown only a possible weak linkage between genetics and homosexuality. Even if such a linkage were one day to be proven, such a linkage would only influence a person’s sexual inclinations. Genetics do not dictate behavior. Studies demonstrate that other potential influences on a person’s sexual behavior may be dysfunction in one’s family of origin, abuse, and other factors that do not involve genetics. We believe therefore that genes do not inhibit either homosexuals or heterosexuals from obeying God and from living according to biblical standards. We are all born with desires and inclinations that, if followed, may violate God’s standards for holiness. We do not have the “right” to do what feels natural when our feelings or attractions lead us into sin.

Love Covers: We acknowledge that the challenges faced by Christians experiencing same-sex attractions can be very difficult. Furthermore, we have a great deal of sympathy for people who are influenced by genetic or prenatal conditions leading to sexual anomalies such as sexually ambiguous organs. These are not the cases about which we are debating, however.

4. Argument Made: How can you deny fulfillment to people who are different than you? It is unfair.

Response: It is no more unfair that the Scriptures require Christians who experience same-sex attractions to refrain from acting on their attractions than it is unfair that the same Bible requires Christian heterosexual singles to refrain from sexual activity. There are far more heterosexual singles in the country than the total number of gays and lesbians, and each group must exercise restraint. Many singles may never find a mate, and some Christians who experience same-sex attractions may never overcome their inner proclivities. Both groups have Christ’s example and the aid of the Spirit of God. With God’s help and the support of the Christian community, we can each be faithful to God’s standards for sexuality.

Love Covers: Untold numbers of people in our society and even in our churches experience sexual brokenness. True Christian communities should provide a safe place for the hurting and rejected to find acceptance and healing. We need each other.

B. Upholding Marriage

1. Argument Made: Marriage is a right that must not be denied to anyone.

Response: When we begin to redefine marriage based on majority opinion and people’s demands for rights, will not groups other than homosexuals be provided a platform for gaining their “rights” as well? Consider the growing demand for polyamorous marriage, for example. The July 2009 issue of Newsweek claims there are half a million households in the United States today comprised of “ethical nonmonogamous” adults, who are each engaged in intimate relationships with more than one person, with the mutual consent of everyone involved.5 In 2006, over fifteen hundred gay, lesbian, transgendered, and bisexual activists, authors, attorneys, actors, film-makers, educators, and community leaders, called for the rights of multiple sex partners.6

Love Covers: Marriage is first and foremost a sacred covenant, established by God and blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ. The church which is the Body of Christ must uphold God’s standards.

2. Argument Made: Whether or not we accept gay marriage as a right, our churches will be required to support gay marriage as more and more states approve it.

Response: There are many things the world allows that Christians are commanded by God to avoid. Many pastors, for example, have chosen not to perform a wedding uniting a Christian with a non-Christian.

Love Covers: Our hope is that through prayerful consideration about such difficult issues, our denomination will become a positive influence, taking a constructive leadership role for our country rather than being led down the road of compromise by each new set of cultural mores.

3. Argument Made: By sanctioning marriage for gay couples, we can help them to engage in faithful, lifelong, monogamous relationships to promote their wellbeing and safety.

Response: If two people have a problem with lying or stealing, does putting them together in a life-long relationship in which they support each other’s habits suddenly make them faithful? We must define faithfulness by the standards of Scripture, not those of our culture.

And regarding wellbeing and safety, anyone who takes time to read unbiased sites and articles on the internet about the medical consequences of homoerotic sex will quickly learn that such sex, even in monogamous relationships, can be very harmful to the body (even if we ignore AIDS as a concern). These concerns are greatest for males, and approximately two-thirds of homosexuals are men. God designed males and females both physically and emotionally as complementary pairs to make a whole.

Love Covers: It is sad that our denomination has been so long embroiled in a debate about issues of sexual brokenness on a surface level that we have not engaged in serious conversation about the long-term and deeper consequences that may be experienced if we decide to follow the pathway of our culture. Love does not sidestep truth. Honest conversation is one of the first steps we must take to position ourselves to help those who experience sexual brokenness of all types, that we might help them to find healing.

C: Defending Scripture:

1. Argument Made: The biblical argument against gays and lesbians is based on only six or seven passages. The whole of Scripture, however, overrides those texts with a call to love those who are different from us.

Response: The whole of the Bible affirms God’s plan that sex is to be preserved for marriage between a man and a woman for life. This affirmation is woven like a golden thread throughout Scripture, from the creation account, which was affirmed by Christ, to the imagery of Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church. The several passages that specifically prohibit homosexual behavior are an interwoven thread in the fabric of God’s clear and unchanging revelation.

Love Covers: Thus the whole of the Bible not only affirms God’s love, but also God’s truth. Where we have failed on either side of the equation, we must repent.

2. Argument Made: Christ said nothing about homosexuality—why should we?

Response: The idea that our Lord’s silence about any particular sexual sin is an endorsement of such sin is illogical. Christ didn’t speak against incest, but we agree that incest is wrong. By his affirmation of marriage (Matthew 19:4), our Lord made public statement against not only incest, but against adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and every form of sexual activity that deviates from God’s clearly stated plan in Scripture.

Love Covers: It is time to agree that we will follow Scripture’s clear teachings about sexuality.

3. Argument Made: The Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality are antiquated, and have lost their relevance for today much as have ancient dietary and ceremonial laws from the Old Testament.

Response: Not every law or practice in the Old Testament was destined by God to be carried forth into the era of modern Christianity. Timeless principles, like those contained in the Ten Commandments, on the other hand, are binding on every generation. They reflect the unchanging nature of God. The laws in Leviticus 18 to 20, where homosexuality is specifically prohibited, contain a mixture of timeless and temporal principles. Some of the sins listed in the Levitical holiness code were labeled “abominations” and the prescription for violations of them was death. Most of the sins listed in this category are still considered egregious today, ranging from incest to adultery and homosexuality. Guidelines in the same Levitical texts for how to dress and how to sow one’s field and other lesser matters, however, were not called “abominations.” Nor was the punishment for violating their guidelines as severe.

Thus the Levitical texts on sexuality reflect the clear moral standards of the New Testament. Jesus and the rest of the NT clearly state that the ceremonial laws are fulfilled in Christ and therefore no longer practiced by the church. The moral law, including sexual behavior, is reiterated in the New Testament by Jesus and Paul.

Love Covers: We confess that some Christians have used the Levitical word “abomination” in an inappropriate manner. It was used in Leviticus to speak against all types of sexual brokenness, not just against one type. Furthermore, the word itself, in the Hebrew, gives a sense of God’s desire for sinners to turn back to righteousness. May this compassionate heart of God always undergird our words as we discuss this difficult topic.

4. Argument Made: The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 was precipitated by a violation of ancient hospitality customs and had nothing to do with homosexuality.

Response: A plain reading of the Genesis 19 account and biblical references to it make clear that regardless of what hospitality customs may have been violated in Sodom, God judged that city also for sexual perversions (Jeremiah 23:14, Isaiah 3:9, Ezekiel 16:48–50, Luke 17:28-29, 2 Peter 2:6-7, 10, and Jude 1:7). Thus Genesis 19 is a declaration of God’s coming judgment, not only for homosexuality, but for all kinds of sin.

Love Covers: Thankfully, the Sodom account is also a story of the grace and salvation of our God for Lot and his family, and for all who turn to the Lord in repentance. We praise God that his mercy, grace, forgiveness, and life-changing power is available for every person—for those engaged in adultery, fornication, or homoerotic sex, as well as for the greedy and for those who cannot control their anger. His grace reaches out to each of us (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

5. Argument Made: The Romans 1 text describes something very different from the monogamous and faithful relationships experienced between consenting gay adults in our society. There are at least three possibilities for what Paul was actually describing:

a. Paul may have been condemning pederasty, the well-known custom in which Roman soldiers took young men as their partners for a time, until the young men were ready to marry women.

b. Romans 1 may be describing male prostitution, which was part of the cultic temple worship of the day and therefore idolatrous.

c. The text may actually be about people who were not really gay by nature, but rather those who were only experimenting with homosexuality. For them, such sexual behavior was “unnatural” and therefore wrong (Romans 1:26-27).

Response: The above-mentioned efforts (and others like them) to reinterpret the Romans 1 text do not fall in line with mainstream scholarship and standard Reformed principles for biblical interpretation. We must allow the Bible to interpret itself, and we should not ignore the plain and obvious meanings of a text. Consider the three arguments given:

a. Pederasty was between males. But in Romans 1, Paul condemns not only male-to-male sex, but also female-to-female sex (Romans 1:27), which is in itself sufficient evidence that Paul was not limiting his prohibition of homosexual activity to pederasty.

b. If Paul was only condemning homosexual practice when it was tied to idolatry and to temple prostitution, how should we view his prohibitions in the same passage of more than twenty other sins of the flesh and heart (vs. 29-32)? Consistency of argument would suggest that each of these listed destructive patterns of behavior (greed, murder, strife, deceit, gossip, etc.) may be acceptable by God as long as they are not linked to idolatry and temple worship—an argument no Christian would dare to make.

c. The notion that in Romans 1 Paul was contrasting “true” homosexuals from those who were not “by nature” truly gay, cannot be supported by the context nor by the Greek words used. Paul’s reference to the created order and his choice of Greek words (arsenes and theleias, which emphasized maleness and femaleness) make clear that the “unnatural” behavior here condemned was sexual activity between any two people of the same gender.

Love Covers: Paul’s warning about idolatry is a warning for each of us. It is easy to worship tangible things rather than to keep our hearts set on undistracted worship of the invisible, Almighty God. Such worship should impact the whole of our lives and each of our churches. One of the idols in our society today is sexual fulfillment, and we must guard our hearts from idolatry as we humbly obey the Lord through Scripture and God’s Spirit.

6. Argument Made: The words used for homosexuals in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and in 1 Timothy 1:10 referred to homosexual prostitution and had no connection with the committed same-sex partnerships or unions found among some gays today.

Response: A careful study of the Greek words used along with the scriptural, cultural, and historical context of both passages demonstrates otherwise. The primary word that is contested, arsenokoites, is said by pro-gay theologians to be a new term coined by Paul that refers exclusively to male prostitutes. It seems obvious, however, that Paul here combined two Greek words (arsen and koites) from the Greek translation of Levitical texts which prohibit homosexual activity (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13), thus creating this compound word, arsenokoites to make his point. This follows Paul’s pattern of drawing support for his arguments from Scripture, a pattern which all Christian theologians should follow.

Love Covers: It is important to note that in these texts, along with every place that Paul speaks about the sin of homosexual activity, he also lists other kinds of sins. Each of the passages we’ve studied, then, is a stark reminder that we all need a Savior and that we must offer God’s message of salvation to all people.

This article first appeared in Theology Matters, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Jan/Feb 2011).