Common Sense, Scripture, and the Gay Christian Issue: Part 1

Some time ago, I wrote about what the Bible has to say about gay people.  

Short version: Jews should stone them, and while homosexuality is still considered a sin in the New Testament, Christians have no right to condemn anyone in the GLBT community, because, frankly, we have no right to condemn anyone but ourselves.

There is an obvious something that I left out, though:
There’s overlap.
There are gay Christians.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?”, and indeed, based on this and other arguments found throughout the New Testament, we have no business judging outside of the church, but the statement goes on: “Are you not to judge those inside?” Indeed, the whole passage, with a little emphasis:

^5:9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

¹² What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³ God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

Harsh stuff.

The big, awkward question becomes, does being gay make you wicked, according to the Word?

Common Sense, Scripture, and, dear God, what have I gotten myself into?

^{1 Cor 6:9} Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

The editors of the NIV were kind enough to footnote that “The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.”, making this the most unambiguous discussion of homosexuality in the New Testament.
To say that Paul used the words “giver” and “receiver” here is a bit of an understatement (the words are, as I understand them, quite graphic), and there’s no getting around it: Paul lumps them right in with the worst of the worst, going to hell. Thankfully, he’s not done:

¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Contrary to popular conservative opinion, the Word says outright that being gay isn’t a one-way ticket to eternal punishment. Like in everything else, there is room for repentance, and there is room for forgiveness.

But is there really need for forgiveness in the first place?

Homosexuality as a question of Christian Liberty

While the Word discusses in several places the idea that nothing should control us, Paul notes in many of his letters, most notably Romans, that there are some issues (divorce and alcohol are popular modern ones) that people are going to disagree on, based on conscience, personal preference, and doctrine. The example Paul gave when discussing this topic with the Corinthians was meat offered to idols, something expressly forbidden in the Mosaic Law. Paul’s take was basically that the law and its stipulations no longer apply, so long as a given activity is not a violation of conscience. 

It has commonly argued that gay sex falls into this purview.

Because we are under the Covenant of Grace, we have a certain amount of leeway to enjoy whatever we like… on the condition that it brings glory to God. Paul drives this home by stating that rubbing other Christians’ faces in our choices completely defeats the point. Rather, this is about avoiding judgement and showing love.

However, Paul adds that while Grace permits or forgives everything, not everything is a good idea. This point is outright demonstrated in 1 Corinthians, where Paul outright freaks out because they’ve gone too far.
Because “everything is permitted”, one of these folks started having an affair with his father’s wife (the language used suggests she was his stepmother). Not only did the church know about it, they were outright celebrating it because, hey, everything is permitted under grace, right?

A fair amount of 1 Corinthians, including that “do not even eat with them” quote from the top is his response to this, followed by the second block quote, and he proceeds to go further:

^6:12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price.Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Okay, admittedly, homosexuality doesn’t get mentioned here, but given that he’s already grouped it with all of the other stuff shed from our sinful nature, this clearly applies.

While Grace gives us far more leeway than the Law, there are still things that qualify as defiance and disobedience to God. Stealing, overall drunkenness, cheating, and gay sex, it seems, are among them.

Concerning change of status

One other presented argument for the cause of active gays in the church also comes from 1 Corinthians, in chapter 7:

^7:17 Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.

It’s not a bad argument: Paul says that there are some things that are not worth changing because we come to Christ, and this passage specifically discusses circumcision (as part of observing Mosaic Law), status as a slave, and marriage arrangements. Given that most gays cannot simply flip a switch and stop being gay (40 years of trying has had some nasty results), it seems fair to not have to expect them to give up that portion of their very being. If it were my choice, I would abide by this argument.

However.

Recall again, chapter 6:

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that is what some of you were.

As much as everything is forgiven, and though grace has no requirements beyond acceptance, there are still lines that are not to be crossed: the signs and works of fallen human nature. Paul places homosexual actions among them, and makes his expectation of our not partaking in them very clear.

So there we have it.
Being gay in and of itself, having that nature, does not appear to be a problem (you were… men who had sex with men). The issue, it seems, is acting on it.

That said, expecting such a profound change as giving up one’s sexuality and actually enacting it are two wholly, wholly different beasts.

Part 2 in this series will discuss the actual Biblical approach to this… expectation.
Like many things, it’s not what you’d think. And unlike the message here, you might actually like it.