THE HOMOPHOBIC GOSPEL
Rom.3: - 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Since the fall of Adam sin has
always existed and been practiced upon the earth. There are ebbs and flows as
it pertains to certain kinds of sin, but sin itself continues its long and
effervescent legacy. From the killings of the Inquisition, to the death and
destruction left by Alexander the Great, to the humanistic Greek philosophers,
to the Holocaust of Hitler’s Germany, and now with millions upon millions of
abortions every year around the world, sin leaves its mark without
embarrassment. The world is literally teeming with sin in all its forms and
ways.
Since Jesus spoke in the first
chapter of Acts about a worldwide gospel mission, and since the Day of
Pentecost fulfilled His prophetic words of a coming power from on high, the
church has been commissioned to spread the good news and to live lives which
substantiate our gospel witness. We are called to be active and to “GO!” rather
than be reactive according to the present dictates of the fallen culture. There
is a vital and unmistakable difference between those two scenarios. In fact,
one negates the gospel and expends much energy attempting to clean the outside
of the cultural cup while the other spreads the gospel of redemption which is
the only remedy for that same culture.
We live in an informationally
drenched culture which disseminates all kinds of reports and information on a
moment by moment basis and through a variety of media sources. Most of it, even
though it is true, is clouded and shaded by the source through words and
pictures and many levels of hyperbole. What we receive through the secular
media has been processed through the perspectives of the men and women who
manage that particular news source. So the focus and the tenor by which it is
presented is slanted toward the opinion of the source. And it is no secret that
our minds are easily affected by those kinds of commercialized news reports.
And when they add the insights of “experts” millions are deeply affected in the way the
news source has designed it.
And, sadly, the church has fallen
prey to the wiles of the ever expanding informational age and the technology
which places a variety of media receptacles in every room in our homes, in our
automobiles, and in the palm of our hands. In effect we are walking antennas whose
ears and eyes and minds are wide open waiting for the next piece of opinionated
news or even blatant gossip. And when our ears and eyes and minds receive such
things, it eventually makes its way into our hearts. Yes, we have been subtly
manipulated by the fallen culture. And when the weight of that manipulation and
deception is multiplied by the great numbers of professing believers being
deceived, the church collectively falls into that same deception.
And instead of faithful shepherds
warning the flock about this present evil age, these ministers are complicit
and deceived as well. And instead of passionately speaking words of deliverance
derived from God’s Word, these ministers use their oratorical prowess to fortify and
even build upon the deception that has captured their flocks. Yes, they are
blind guides who are not content with their own personal blindness. They must
speak lies to their listeners and harden their hearts even further. It is an
astonishing thing to behold for us who have been rescued from such deception by
God’s grace, so we can only imagine how God Himself views this unfolding
horror.
And with all the media outlets I have
referenced, it offers many opportunities to publicize the heresies and the
spiritual blindness entrenched within the evangelical community. Which brings
me to the point of my post. Let me provide a link from which I will speak about
what I now refer to as the homophobic gospel. As you read it please remember
that the man doing the interviewing is a vicious individual who has called
President Obama a real life demon. And the man being interviewed is the
President of the largest protestant denomination in the world, the Southern
Baptist Convention.
HERE is that interview.
Ok, when I read that interview I
was immediately reminded of the saying “Stupid is as stupid does”. Can it get
any more bizarre and ridiculous? Let me rant for a minute before I come down
from the ledge and deal with a serious principle. It is astounding to me that
this man represents a leader in the evangelical community. And if you google
the interviewer named Rick Wiles you will see some unbelievable quotes that are
even crazy in a secular setting to say nothing of a setting which supposedly
follows Jesus. And Pastor Fred Luter suggested that the world needs more men
like Wiles. And when Wiles suggests that the nuclear threat coming from North
Korea could be God punishing America for its stand on gay marriage, Pastor
Luter admitted he was not real proficient in prophecy but that could well be a
possibility. (Ok, at this point my breathing has become more pronounced.)
But there is an underlying
principle that openly ignores our gospel commission and makes the church a
reactionary moral institution rather than a place of redemption and humility.
How and where did the church buy into their own moral superiority and ignore
the many sins from which we were forgiven including the ones we commit today?
And how can we present our orthodox doctrine which states that unconverted
sinners cannot even know Biblical truth and are dead in their sins, and then we
turn around and become obsessed with their sins? Homosexual behavior is a sin,
but given how scarce the New Testament deals with that specific sin, how is it
we have made it the pinnacle of all sins?
And men who look at women every day
with lust in their hearts can climb a self righteous pedestal and speak volatile
words about men who have same sex attractions including the unsaved? And now
God is so mad about it He might use nuclear weapons from a godless culture?
What kind of madness is this? This is not some unsaved Baptist conversing with
an unsaved Catholic over a beer in a bar. This is the so called leader of a
Christian denomination speaking insanity! It wasn’t too long ago that preachers
like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said that AIDs was God’s punishment for homosexuals.
I guess God is still experimenting with a disease for adulterers and pedophiles.
Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes,
economic collapse, unexpected deaths, and the events of 9/11 have all been
assigned divine design centering upon same sex attractions.
But being obsessed with homosexual
behavior does provide camouflage for the rampant sins within the church. I mean
divorce has become an Olympic sport among believers. Greed and avarice are
considered Biblical. Prayerlessness is pervasive. And how the kingdom of
darkness operates is an obsession which replaces a passionate sharing of the
gospel. And now the gay thing has become a replacement for the gospel.
Mary Griffith was a devout
Christian in a conservative Presbyterian church in the 1970s and into the early
1980s. One of her sons. Bobby, had a secret. He felt same sex attractions since
he was a child, and since he heard how people like him were going to hell, and
since he heard many derisive remarks about gay people from his family and
friends, he struggled to keep his feelings to himself. He had even heard his
grandmother suggest they line up all the gays and shoot them. He even dated girls.
But after confiding to his sister about his issue, his secret soon became know
to his family. His mother especially tried counseling and prayer and strong
admonitions to have him “cured”, but to no avail.
All the while Bobby was tortured
inside because of his feelings. He desperately desired to be free and the
condemnation he suffered from others was unbearable. He became seriously
depressed and lived daily with a self loathing that most people never dream
could even be possible. One day Bobby could no longer endure himself. He walked
to a highway overpass and jumped in front of an eighteen wheel tractor trailer
and was killed immediately. There are many believers who strongly and
ignorantly suggest that all same sex attractions are a matter of choice. In
Bobby Griffith’s case that was some choice. Suicide is prevalent among gay
people with a self loathing being a common component.
But this kind of personal tragedy
elicits very little sympathy or compassion from the evangelical community. It
seems very clear that our heterosexual credentials mean more to us than the
souls of men. Moralism, which is a form of self righteousness, has overtaken
the church. Content and satisfied with our doctrine and our ecclesiastical
activities and our high tech Sunday services, the church literally has become
insulated from the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the message of the cross.
And in an amazing display of self serving motives, the gay community has been
singled out as sinners above all the rest. And to be perfectly honest it isn’t
the souls of gay people which motivates the church; it’s the political perspective
and the affect they might have on the already fallen culture.
And now not only does the gay
community have to dodge the sling and arrows of the evangelical church, but now
they better duck from the incoming North Korea nukes! I believe it’s time once
again to search for Jesus. Of course He now seems to be calling the righteous
and treating the unrighteous as political fodder. Correction: That is the Jesus
of the church and not the Jesus as revealed by Scripture and the Holy Spirit.
Avoid this homophobic gospel and
embrace the true gospel which call all sinners equally to repent and believe.
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