How to seek God's will about Homosexuality
Seeking God's will about homosexuality
To find God’s will about homosexuality, as about any other subject, we have to look prayerfully and with open minds and hearts. We have to look in a variety of places and consider a variety of views. We can't just assume that we already know God's will or that no one with a view different from ours could be a real Christian.
We need to remember, too, that God has often spoken through people whose views were in the minority. Many were considered social outcasts, rebels, or even heretics by most members of the leading religious and political institutions of their time. It's possible, therefore, that God is speaking through such people today. In fact, it seems quite likely.
We may have been wrong about homosexuality.
When I look at the Bible, Christian tradition, the views of contemporary Christians, and recent research findings, I'm afraid we've been wrong in shunning homosexual people, refusing to let them be clergy, or even demanding celibacy from them as many churches and individual Christians do.
The few Bible verses that mention homosexual acts give the impression that homosexuality is sinful. But the gospels don't show Jesus saying anything about it. To me this means he must not have considered it important compared to oppression, spiritual blindness, injustice, greed, and the many other offenses he spoke about constantly. I therefore doubt that followers of Jesus need to oppose homosexuality.
Some Bible words don't mean what we assume they mean
Scholars find that our concept of sexual orientation was unknown until the late 1800's, so what scripture writers wrote isn't likely to mean what that concept means to us now. Many Bible scholars believe that the scriptures about sexual contact between people of the same sex refer only to prostitution, sexual contact forced on a powerless person by a powerful one, and other behaviors that are harmful but aren't limited to homosexual people.
The Bible's overall message is what counts
Throughout the Bible, we’re repeatedly told to treat others with love and justice and to help people we see being mistreated. We're told that God's grace is for everyone. We're told that Jesus has atoned for all sins. I believe these messages override the few verses that seem to condemn homosexual acts.
Homosexuals have no monopoly on sexual sins
Preying on children for sexual contact is wrong whether the person who does it is heterosexual or homosexual. Rape is wrong no matter who does it or who is raped. Every other kind of sexual contact forced on an unwilling or unaware person is wrong. We need to oppose these spiritually, emotionally, and physically harmful behaviors, but this doesn't mean opposing all homosexuals or ignoring the behavior in heterosexuals.
According to the research I've seen, violent, promiscuous, and predatory sex acts are no more typical of homosexuals than of heterosexuals. We hurt innocent people when we accuse a whole group of behavior that many of its members don't engage in.
Join the conversation. In what ways have you grown in your understanding about homosexuality and the church's response to it? Let's discuss - leave a comment below.