Grace and Sin: A Clarification

Let's be clear. Despite what many people I have heard from may think, my intention with this blog is not to "promote sin". I see homosexuality as another form of adultery or fornication, and all of that is sin.

But what good does it do to preach at and condemn "unsaved" gay people and tell them they are unalterably doomed, and wail and mourn that the U.S. has thrown itself into an apocalyptic abyss because of the Supreme Court's decision on same sex marriage?

No one, including gays, has any power to deal with their sin condition on their own, even if they want to. Our only way out of all that is through believing in Christ. So isn't it more in line with God's will to respond with love and grace instead of hate and fear, and then trust the Holy Spirit for any future changes in people's lives?

Same-sex marriage is a civil, not a religious issue. Now that a civil ceremony pledging two gay people together in what they recognize as a marriage is legal, I ask, seriously, so what? How does this really affect the rest of us?  It is still the right of any pastor or minister who believes this is wrong to refuse to perform such a ceremony. So where, really, is all the indignation coming from?

Many American Christians feel they've suffered a great defeat here. But the state is not a theocracy. The laws of the United States protect individual rights, whether Christians agree with those rights or not. And so the society - "the world" - has moved in a new direction to reflect its and the people's changing beliefs.  

John told us in 1 John 2: 15-17 (KJV):
                  
^"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

Christians loved the former world, the one without gay marriage, and now they're upset because it's changed and they want to change it back. But are we not pining for the world the way it was and focusing too much attention on that by trying to reverse this decision? What are we doing meddling in and trying to control these affairs?

There were many worse practices permitted under Roman law governing slavery, idolatry and the like, but there is NO record of Jesus leading protests against them or even denouncing them. All He did was preach the gospel, as did the apostles after Him. THAT was their top priority. So then should it be ours.

God is Not Mad at You (And He's Not Schizoid)

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage, a number of Christian leaders launched wave after wave of hateful comments at US gays, along with dire warnings of “Judgment Coming to America”. God would not stand for this, we were told. America has now became a land of abomination. The nation would surely be destroyed.

To all this I say “bunk”. The New Testament is full of references calling us ALL sinners, like Romans 3:10; “There is none righteous, no not one,” and Romans 3:23; “All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” So how do self-righteous Christians justify elevating gay marriage to the level of “Supersin” – seemingly worse than all others, above even child abuse, murder, or naked greed (just to pick three from among hundreds).

And if God was really going to judge America, honestly, don’t you think He’s a little late? Did “the One who Knows All” miss the slave trade or the systematic subjugation and in some cases slaughter of native people, the greed and depravity of the 20’s which led to massive suffering in the Great Depression of the 30s, the liberalization of sexual morals and hedonism that began in the 60s and has continued unabated ever since, or the mass murder of school children, moviegoers or all other innocents cut down by insane people with assault rifles?

The people promoting this whole judgment scenario paint God as some kind of Mighty Avenger in the sky, ready to hurl lightning bolts or send earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes or economic ruin to America because of one group of sinners (among ALL of us, according to His book) want to be able to go before a judge or willing minister to pledge their love and lives to each other to receive a piece of paper declaring they’re married?

They rail about how the Biblical standard of marriage – one man and one woman for life - now lies in tatters. But is that really the standard? They love to quote weighty passages from the Old Testament, but some scriptures from that same part of the Bible don’t seem quite so definitive about what kind of marriage is “acceptable” to God. 

David, a major Old Testament hero, was married to many women, and as recorded in the second book of Samuel, in one case seduced another man’s wife, made her pregnant and sent her husband off to die in battle. Yet Acts 13:22 says, “God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' 

Also Exodus 21:10 says ‘If (a man) marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.’ David’s son King Solomon (the son of his marriage with “the other man’s wife”) had 700 wives and 300 concubines – women who were literally stolen from their homes.

Where’s the “one man, one woman” standard in all of that?

But the message of the New Testament, which is supposed to apply to us today, does not present God like this – a God of judgment and law, yet whose laws seem at times subject to misinterpretation. The New Testament God is the Father of grace.

Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9)  And regarding judgment, He put it this way -- “For if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not condemn him, because I did not come to condemn the world but to save it.” (John 12:47) He told us we will be judged based on whether we accept or reject Him. And I think it’s only rigidly religious people who would define that as saying a certain prayer or testifying publicly about their new birth.

The book of James says – “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17) And Hebrews tells us –“He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6)

God doesn’t punish, He rewards.  He doesn’t hate, He loves. He is a giver, not a taker. 

And He’s not one thing one day and something else the next. I don’t believe He only heals or blesses people if it’s “His will”, or if He just happens to feel like it, or only if you have performed just the right number of good deeds that week. He is on our side.

Addressing the many confusing beliefs about God, Jesus said – "There isn't a person among you who would give his son a stone if he asked for bread, is there? Or if he asks for a fish, he wouldn’t give him a snake, would he? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him! (Matt. 7: 9-11, International Standard Version)

God wants to give us good things. He is always good.

He’s not religious, keeping a list and checking it twice like Santa Claus. He wants to have relationships with us and guide us on the inside, at the heart level.

God and Jesus want their followers above all to reflect divine love to everyone, no matter what situation they’re in and certainly whether they may be gay or straight, and then let Him do the rest. This is the essence of what the apostle Paul called the “gospel of grace”, and he said any other gospel was cursed.

In Jeremiah 30, verse 31 and 32, the prophet foresaw the new covenant and quoted God saying this:

 "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Does that really sound like a God who can’t wait to zap us if we don’t toe the line? Let’s make sure we really understand who He is before we go around condemning people and damning them to hell.

Grace and Gay Marriage

Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham, who now runs his father's organization, made some frank statements about gay marriage just a few days before the US Supreme Court made its decision approving same-sex marriage. This is what he said:

“President Barack Obama was right about one thing in the speech he gave at a Gay Pride event he hosted in the White House yesterday. He said, ‘There has been an incredible shift in attitudes across the country.’ That’s true – but it is definitely not a shift for the good of America. The shift in attitudes he refers to is the moral decline we are seeing manifest daily around us. Accepting wrong as right – accepting sin as something to be proud of. Yes, that’s definitely a shift. Should we be surprised that he thanked the LGBT community for all that they had helped him accomplish during his time as president? He said, ‘A lot of what we’ve accomplished over these last six and a half years has been because of you.’ He also noted there were two states where gay marriage was legal when he took office, but now there are 37. The President is leading this nation on a sinful course, and God will judge him and us as a nation if we don’t repent.”

Of course since the ruling, far more hateful and venomous things have been said about gays by other Christians and their leaders -- words I need not repeat here.

I think as believers, we really should consider whether pouring out more and more condemnation against gay people; a) accomplishes anything but making some of us feel "more righteous" or; b) is really effective at all in reaching them or causing them to "turn straight" and get married "traditionally", if that's a primary goal of evangelism. If you think they might be "scared" into stopping their behavior, well, good luck with that. 

 Why is it such a revelation that sinners, in other words all of us before we come to Christ, not only commit sin, but are going to live "according to the flesh" until and unless their lives are transformed by Christ? As for Obama, Graham calls him evil, but what about his predecessor; misrepresenting facts, lying his way into a war costing thousands of lives and trillions of dollars and almost bankrupting the country? Was there no "evil" in any of that?

Do you think Jesus would be "speaking out" on issues like this? He never spoke out about the adultery (gay or straight) in the Roman Empire or the Jewish ruling class, did He? Don't you think that among the thousands who were healed and blessed by Him, there weren't probably a large number of gay people? We know there certainly were a lot of prostitutes and sleazy tax collectors. 

But He didn't condemn them. Those he did condemn were religious leaders and money-changers, for their hypocrisy, self-righteousness and greed. Remember that we were all born to a life "in the flesh" and as Romans 3:10 says,"There is none righteous, no, not one". We are supposed to be Grace people, not judges. Keep in mind it's not condemnation that changes people, but, according to Romans 2:4, the goodness of God and the power of His love.

So what about the "sinfulness" of gays if or after they have become Christians? The same principles apply. They are no different than drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, womanizing husbands, criminals in prison or any other human being, a.k.a. sinner, who as a believer is in the hands of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, will now be led by God.

And to those who believe they're standing up for Biblical Marriage in their opposition to the Supreme Court's approval of same-sex marriage: What form of Biblical Marriage are you defending? Is it what was referred to in Exodus 21:10 --"If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish"? Or is it the form of marriage practiced by David, who had many wives and seduced the wife of another man, made her pregnant and then had him sent to battle to be killed? Is it Solomon's definition, under which he had 700 WIVES? Be careful what you might be standing on. It may not be as solid as you think.

It's also interesting Franklin Graham has no trouble being more magnanimous when it comes to racial issues and the current controversy over the Confederate flag.

“My great-great-grandfathers fought for the South under the Confederate flag during the Civil War – both were wounded at Gettysburg and lost limbs,” he said. “Growing up, many people in the South flew the Confederate flag, but I believe that it’s time for this flag to be set aside as a part of our history. We are all Americans, and we need unity today more than ever.”

The evangelist concluded: “Through faith in Christ we can have love and reconciliation with one another – regardless of race. Jesus Christ can change the human heart and take away the prejudice, racism, and hatred that lies within.”

Words of grace. They are not meant to be used selectively. If they apply to race, should they not also apply to this issue?