Biblical World View

A friend asked me recently about God’s stance on homosexuality.  I wish I had answered him better.  One thing I often stress to people is that sin is sin.  Homosexuality is a sin but is no greater or lesser sin than those committed sexually by heterosexuals.  There are no pet sins from a Biblical perspective.  Actually, from a Biblical perspective, there are only three types of sin.  They are those (1) stemming from pride of life, (2) lust of the eye, and (3) lust of the flesh.  We can summarize these as Pride, Greed, and Lust.

I believe a Biblical world perspective demands that we view sexual sin through these lenses.  The type of sexual sin has little to do with it.  “Lust of the flesh” takes a view of accepting whatever feels good.  In this, people accept a wide range of activities even though Biblical teaching and civil laws may prohibit them.

When talking about civil laws against homosexual activity, or the absence of civil laws condoning homosexual relationships, some of us heap paedophilia and bestiality into the mix.  Those who have a more liberal view often find that distasteful and object.  The point they miss is that while there are laws against paedophilia and bestiality—many find the acts detestable—it wasn’t that long ago that the same could be said across the board about homosexuality.  I believe it is only the numbers of people who now find homosexuality acceptable that has shifted this.  In time, I expect the same shifts to occur for children and animals.  The emotion behind the argument—the law shouldn’t be able to tell me who I can and can’t love—leaves the doors wide open for any love to be justified.  The logic behind it—we have our inborn and a natural predilection toward sex—begs for all to be accepted for their immutable nature and sexuality.

Well, based on my friend’s question, I went back and read the chapter in Leviticus which most famously decries male homosexuality.  These were laws given to men by God through Moses, not by Moses or the priests.  It details several other sexual prohibitions as well which we generally do not question:  Incest and bestiality.  It also addresses sexual rivalries and sexual hygiene.  And it touches on homosexuality.

One thing I find interesting about this is that God told Moses to enforce these for the Jews—God’s followers.  He did not tell Moses to go to the neighboring heathens to straighten them out.  He said to not be like them if people want to be God’s people.

Maybe that lesson is here for today too.  If we want to be God’s people, let’s not do and be like the heathens around us.  We are to set ourselves aside and apart from the world.  If we can reach someone and bring him or her into the fold, great!  But we are not under a mandate to go change the ways of the world.  We are told in the New Testament to hold accountable those among us who still live as if in the world though.  A true Believer who has a heart towards God and an interest in living as God would have him or her live—has nothing to do with homosexuality.  If he or she is ensnared, we should gently and in Christian love try to help them.

One more thought:  The world has hostility towards God and his statutes.  But imagine for a moment a world living sexually as if God’s laws were unbreakable.  Within a generation, there would be:

• No epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, including
• No AIDS
• No rape
• No incest
• No affairs
• No adultery
• No abortion
• No pornography

The world system would never stand for that!  It wants its fun without any consequences!  Well, so do the child molesters and animal lovers.  After all, who’s to tell them who or what they have a right to “love”?

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