A Question on Homosexuality

I received the following question recently and thought you’d be interested in this conversation.

Question
This is not urgent, but sometime, could you give me some insight on homosexuality? I have always believed that it is a sin and that the person has a choice, but lately several of my Christian colleagues are going over to the secular philosophy that it is genetic and therefore not a choice. What is your opinion?

My Response
I believe the Bible is clear when it comes to homosexual behavior. It is sin. The more difficult question has to do with homosexual orientation. I believe people can have a predisposition toward members of the same sex, but I would see this in the same category as the predispositions we all have toward certain sinful behaviors. I am drawn to certain sinful practices more so than others. Whether that has to do with how I was raised or how my nature has been tainted because of sin, it is still sin if I choose to give in to these inclinations. However, having the inclinations toward same sex relationships is not sin. It is temptation. The voice inside of us that encourages homosexual behavior is not the voice of God because God never contradicts what He’s said in His Word.

The Church has done a pathetic job of really loving the homosexual community. We’ve been good at judging and excluding and even condemning. I hope that changes. I hope that the Church has a “room for all” perspective. I don’t mean we affirm or accept sinful practices as if we just turn and look the other way. But too often we start by trying to change people’s behavior instead of loving them to Jesus. What the homosexual community needs more than anything else is to see Jesus tangibly lived out by His Church THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS not statements of condemnation or anger.

Jesus is the agent of change. There is no transformation for any of us away from our sinful inclinations without the power of the HS at work within us. We’ve often lived under the false assumption that the church exists for those who have overcome the sin in their lives and now they are ready and welcome in the church. That is not the picture of church I see in the NT. The Church definitely needs to be a place of support and encouragement for fellow followers, but the Church also needs to be a place where people can explore Jesus, see how He’s working in others, and experience Him through His followers. If people can only come once they’ve rid their life of sin (impossible for all of us anyway), our churches will never have the kingdom impact God desires.