Thursday, June 3: I will follow Him!

This morning, I read a column on the CNN web page written by a homosexual male entitled, “Anti-gays hide their bias behind the Bible.” In the article, the author expounds on his view that Jesus never taught homosexuality was sinful. In the article, he avoids the verses in the Old Testament, covering them with a blanket statement that many of the sins mentioned in Leviticus, our culture would not see as sinful in any way. Does our culture dictate the meaning or existence of sin? I was under the impression that God gets to make that decision! The author also ignores the verses in Romans entirely and he points out that Christians seem to view homosexuals more judgmentally than other sinners. Surprisingly, he groups the act of homosexuality with other sins, though he seems to avoid that admission when he speaks of his own life with his partner. Additionally, he claims to be a Christian and a follower of the teachings of Jesus. When the author discusses the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah, he hides in rationalization, claiming that the word for “Sodomite” actually is kadesh in Hebrew, which means an occultist male prostitute participating in temple worship. To him, the homosexuality of Sodom had nothing to do with the destruction by God of that city. Certainly, it was not the only sin of the city. The greatest sin of the people of Sodom was the lack of acknowledging their sin:


9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them,
And they declare their sin as Sodom;
They do not hide it.
Woe to their soul!
For they have brought evil upon themselves.
 Isaiah 3:9


Don’t get me wrong. I don’t see one sin as worse than another. Though heterosexual sin is certainly more natural than heterosexual sin, and more prevalent, it is just as wrong when a man and woman sleep together without the commitment of marriage. Marriage is a symbol of our relationship with Jesus, and He desires intimacy with each of us!


When a man claims to be following the teachings of Christ and ignores God’s Law as it applies to him, he is walking in the pride described in the verse above from Isaiah. As Christians, we all have the tendency to see someone else’s sin, without looking inside at our own. Yet Jesus told us:


“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-5


Each of us is responsible for our own lives, our own choices and our own sins. When we pick and choose which parts of the Bible we are willing to follow, we create God in our image. That is the definition of idolatry. Instead, when we accept God’s Word as truth and do our best to follow His Word, we are created in God’s image. One of the many benefits of the Holy Spirit living inside of us as believers is that He convicts us of sin. If we walk in sin, or live in that sin on a daily basis, without any acknowledgment that what we are doing is wrong, we are either completely ignoring the prodding of the Holy Spirit or He is not inside of us! Conviction is a great reminder that you are His! If you feel no guilt for your sin, that’s when you should worry the most.


Don’t forget that we can push others away from the Lord when we seem to judge them. That is God’s job. Our job is to love them. Through that love, we might win them to Jesus! I read that Jeffrey Dahmer, the murderer who ate his victims, accepted Jesus as his Savior while on death row. Many Christians see the sins of Dahmer as unforgivable, yet Jesus forgave each of us! Don’t be Jonah, looking at others as if they are your Nineveh! Open your heart and love them! God will do the convicting!


But don’t forget, Jesus gave us the greatest reminder:


“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
 John 14:15