Homosexuality

Introduction

Our culture has quickly moved from debate to acceptance when it comes to homosexuality. From the American Psychological Association’s refusal to list homosexuality as a sexual deviance in 1973 to the signing of a presidential order in 1993 that homosexuality would be a non-issue in the military, the homosexual or gay rights movement in America has moved from the back rooms to the boardrooms of political and social influence. But even as homosexuality has become more accepted in our culture, Christians have found themselves struggling with some questions. Is homosexuality a learned behavior or are people born homosexual? What do I do when a family member is homosexual? What is the Christian’s response to homosexuality? These questions need to be given a biblical answer.

God’s View of Homosexuality

From our text, two things should become clear. First, God created humans for the purpose of relationship. God created us to be relational beings. In Genesis 1 and 2, the picture is of a man and a woman being brought together by the hand of God to begin living together as husband and wife. The fact that God chose to begin with a man and a woman should say something to us about the intent of God in regards to homosexuality. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. It isn’t two men or two women, but a man and woman.

The second thing we should notice about our text is that the purpose of bringing this man and woman together was multidimensional. There is the element of companionship, also the element of physical pleasure, but there is the very important element of having children. Two men or two women cannot fulfill this element. God began with a man and a woman because children are needed in order to increase the population. God’s intent from the beginning then for marriage is to be with a man and a woman.

In a related text in Romans 1:18-32, God is not pleased when the truth about his will and purpose is suppressed by wickedness. Paul says from the beginning, those who want to know the will of God can know it because God has plainly revealed it to them. The creation of male and female and the forming of marriage from that creation speaks of God’s intent. But those who give themselves over to their own desires move away from God’s plan. God allows them to have the reins of their lives. Forgetting God and his plans, some pervert the truth and engage in sexual impurity to their own detriment. Paul lists not only the worship of idols as part of that perversion but engaging in homosexual relations as a further sign of denying God’s will and truth.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul makes a list of sins which by practicing such sins will result in judgment from God. In this list are two words translated in the NIV as male prostitutes and homosexual offenders. While there is some debate about these words, the placement in the list with sexual offenses and the listing of these words together makes the NIV translation valid and proper. Paul’s point in this text is that homosexuality is against the will of God and must not be practiced. Homosexuality was never a part of God’s original intent and plan.

Origin of Homosexuality

So where does homosexuality come from? What is its origin? From Romans 1:26-27, homosexuality is a symptom of sin. We are not born homosexual. Sin diminishes the light of truth. Homosexuality can have several origins. Children who are sexually abused may give themselves over to homosexuality. Sometimes when children are not able to emotionally bond with the same-sex parent they will demonstrate homosexual tendencies. Sometimes children become overly attached to the opposite sex in an unhealthy way which will lead to homosexual practice. There are other possibilities as well, but the research indicates that homosexuality is learned.

Some argue that homosexuality is genetic. That people are born with a gene which produces homosexual tendencies and therefore the idea of homosexuality must be accepted. In the August 1991 issue of Science, Simon LeVay of the Salk Institute in San Diego published a study on differences in brain structure between homosexual and heterosexual men. The study, however, had at least two glaring weaknesses: It was based on a small group of 35 men, with 19 homosexual men who had died of AIDS (a factor that could have biased the results), and the control group of 16 men were “assumed to have been heterosexual.” In fact, said a professor of medical science at Brown University, in Time magazine, “My freshman biology students know how to sink this study.”

In another study, psychologist Michael Bailey of Northwestern University and psychiatrist Richard Pillard of the Boston University School of Medicine showed that homosexuality occurred much more frequently among identical twins than fraternal twins. But their 1991 study had a major flaw: All of their twins grew up together. The researchers did not compare their findings with a control group of twins raised apart, which would have isolated other factors, such as parental relationships and other family dynamics. Further, only about half the identical twins studied were both homosexual; if it was purely genetic, the correlation should have been 100 percent.

Finally, five researchers led by Dean Hamer at the National Cancer Institute released a study that attempted to link homosexuality in men with a specific genetic region of their X chromosome. “This is by far the strongest evidence to date that there is a genetic component to sexual orientation,” Hamer reported. Not so, said other highly qualified professionals. “The idea of a specific gene for a specific behavior is generally considered highly unlikely by geneticists,” says Joseph Nicolosi, director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, California. “Homosexuality is much more complex than mere behavior.”

But there is another component. If homosexuality were biological, why would God call it a sin? Why would God make commands against something which one was at the mercy of genetic predisposition? Does God not know the human body or is he being arbitrary or is man trying to justify a choice?

The Christian’s Response

So what is the Christian’s response to homosexuality? There are some sins which seem particularly heinous to us. But this may say more about our definition of sin than it does about God’s view. The first response we must have about homosexuality and those who practice it is to realize this truth—all have sinned and fallen short of God’s plan. None of us have escaped the stain of sin. All of us have sinned. What is needed is compassion and grace, not rejection.

Second, at the core of homosexuality is rejection. The largest percentage of those who engage in sexual misconduct whether homosexual or heterosexual comes from rejection. In the homosexual community, there is a lot of rejection. Children may have experienced rejection early on in life which leads them to pursue a lifestyle of acceptance from those whom God would not want them to pursue. As Christians we are to overflow with acceptance not of sin but of the person. This acceptance will come not from our own will but from the power of God to see people as he sees them. I John 4:9-10 expresses the very thought that it was God who reached out to us through Jesus. We were not seeking him; he sought us. In the same way the Christian response is to reach out just as God has reached out to us.

Third, realize people can change. As Christians we realize that with God’s help we can change from a life of sin to a life of grace. As Christians we recognize that leaving sin is possible. So it is true for those who practice homosexuality. Change can come. In 1 Corinthians 6, after the list of sins which conflict with God’s will and which will be judged, Paul says in verse 11, “and that is what some of you were. But you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” People can change. People can leave a life of sin and give themselves over to God. With the same grace we have been given so we should give to others. Whatever you have been, God can change and start over. Through washing—baptism—one begins the change. The sanctification comes from God’s declaration that you are holy and the justification will be fulfilled at the last day.

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