“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Luke 6:46
Same-sex marriage and homosexuality will be in the news a lot in the coming months. Very sadly, I might add. You don’t see a majority of every day heterosexual couples flaunting having sex with each other on a national stage. So why should the perversion of homosexuality have such a prominent discussion in today’s society? Some say it is because it is a case of civil rights. You can’t attempt to legitimize one’s sexual proclivities by crying civil rights violation any more than you can any other moral anathema. It is merely subterfuge to try to steal the social alarm that the racial discrimination so justly possesses in order to promote a destructive and denigrating sexual social agenda.
NPR news this morning briefly discussed the issue and two opposing viewpoints focusing on the Bible were aired. One former Presbyterian minister said categorically that the Bible never ever has condoned same sex unions on any level, which is true. Anyone reading the Biblical text must agree with that statement because it has no contradiction anywhere in Scripture. Quite the opposite. The Old Testament and the New Testament is replete with condemnation of homosexuality in the strongest terms.
Then the voice of the opposition spoke with the counterclaim that Jesus never anywhere had any statement against homosexuality. This also is true. Continuing, this voice raised the claim that all Jesus’ teachings were of love, “love your neighbor,” “love one another.” This also is true. Also another part of this morning’s program cited one of President Obama’s reasoning on his recent decision approving same-sex marriage: “The thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know — treat others the way you would want to be treated.” Which has absolutely nothing to do with the public proclamation of one’s sexual nature!
But what becomes willful delusion is to make such claims about what Jesus taught and stood for as if those few statements were all we had of Scripture. As if you might as well take every other line and page out of the Bible and throw it away. Willfully delusional, they refuse to address all of the extreme approbations made in Scripture against any and all homosexual acts. For them they simply don’t exist. Frankly, I think these passages are ignored because they flatly contradict their argument and they can’t face the glaring light shed on the moral darkness of their position.
It is true Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. But there are many evil practices He didn’t specifically address. Are we to search out those and proclaim them as approved by Him merely because they weren’t mentioned? The closest Jesus came on the subject of sexual misbehavior is the story of the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8. Yes, Jesus was full of compassion and mercy toward the woman, and He did confront her accusers. But look at the story’s conclusion. He told her “Go. From now on sin no more.” He recognized in her heart an admission that what she did was wrong and He sensed she was willing to change. This is the essence of what He wanted for everyone. Change from sinful behavior, on any and every level, and sin no more.
President Obama’s resent tragic admission approving same sex marriage is based on even more flimsy reasoning than the person on NPR this morning mentioned above. He says he came to the conclusion that such behavior was OK because his daughters has friends with same sex parents, and how could he explain to them they were wrong. That’s it! No call to any moral authority. He got it from his daughters! How is it possible that someone could graduate from Harvard Law School and use such ill conceived reasoning to formulate a conclusion of such magnitude? It boggles the mind! It certainly makes one pause and call into question his comprehension of what it means to be a Christian. And he has certainly made loud vocalizations about his “Christianity” to avoid being branded a Muslim.
It is a legitimate question, “It is possible to be homosexual and be a Christian?” That was posed in the Morning Edition article this morning. All throughout church history litmus tests have been applied, some in a very incorrect manner, but the constant battle the church has had in the world caused it to make determinations about how a believer in Christ should manifest their salvation. Paul was the most vocal, having the responsibility of keeping holy many of the new churches in the first century. Here is what he wrote to the Corinthians, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9,10. And he continues by saying that some members had been formally controlled by these behaviors, but now they’ve been washed, sanctified, justified “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” These are behaviors incompatible with being a new creature in Christ. Thus Jesus could make the claim, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Luke 6:46
It is worth reading in full what Jesus said about the willfully delusional. It is recorded in Matthew 721-27:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell–and great was its fall.”
It is very easy for man to willfully delude himself in order to obtain and maintain the things he wants, against every voice and reason against it. But the fall of such people will be devastating as our Lord states above. God pleads with every person to open their eyes to His truth and surrender themselves at the foot of the cross. It is only then the individual will have peace and rest. And that can spill over into all of society. But don’t be deceived. Kingdoms, like individuals, will reap the wrath of the Lord, as history graphically has proven. However devastation can be averted. Just read the book of Jonah, where his preaching caused that entire pagan city of Nineveh to repent, forestalling God’s punishment! America, God’s prophets are calling to you. Will your leaders and citizens listen?
[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]
