Thoughts on Homosexuality and Current Issues - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Thoughts on Homosexuality and Current Issues

July 5, 2015

Slide2

Issues at Hand

Supreme Court ruled that marriage among two individuals of the same gender to be legal through U.S. (“gay marriage”)

Similar in social impact to such rulings the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

What beliefs and views should we as Christians hold, and how should we interact (pro, con, neutral) with society in all its decisions and ways?

Slide3

The whole subject of homosexuality is so wrapped up in emotion and subjectivity that it is enveloped in darkness and ignorance, which allows universal deceit to rule.

Christians are to be objective—Jesus is THE truth and it is thus through his lens that we determine truth.

Christians are to be known by our love and what we believe, not by hate, arrogance, and disdain. Now, let’s make clear here though that “love” does not in anyway mean we are to enable evil in the name of grace. “Correct and rebuke” are important teaching concepts.

Slide4

A Forewarning

This sermon will probably not be very satisfying to most in this room.

The scriptures are few.

The questions are many.

The social issues are complicated.

The context plays out in a world of lies.

The whole subject of human sexuality is confusing.

This is not a “Reader’s Digest” sermon, but it falls very short of any kind of comprehensive treatment.

Slide5

Other Prefaces

Many are woefully ignorant of the subject of homosexuality in any real, objective way. And that is true on “both sides of the aisle.”

Many have little direct and fairly extensive knowledge from homosexuals.

This subject is filled with bias, fear, hate, arrogance, and bigotry, on both sides of the aisle.

Slide6

Some Semantics

“Gay” – probably originated in 12

th

Century England and meant, “joyful”; “carefree”; “bright and happy”

In 17

th

Century became associated with immorality and loose living

In 19

th

Century a gay woman was a prostitute and a gay man was a man who had sex with a lot of women, i.e., prostitutes

In 1920s and 1930s was being used for homosexuals; in 1950s the gay community embraced it as it was less “clinical” and

didn

’

t sound like a disorder

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So for my purposes, I generally prefer the use of “homosexual” or one with “same-sex attraction.”

Hence, not “gay marriage,” but “homosexual marriage.”

Lesbianism – same sex attraction in a female

Perversion – anything outside of what is deemed “natural”

Slide8

Just for fun…

George

Orwell

was an early

20

th

Century English

novelist, satirist, and “social prophet”. He wrote influential books, “Animal Farm,” and “1984”.

He made some particularly poignant observations that I for some reason would like to use in introducing my thoughts today.

Orwellian

is an adjective describing the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past… (

Wikipedia.org

)

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In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act

In describing the de-moralization of humanity in Romans 1, Paul says, v. 25

:

“They

exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.

Amen”

Jesus said he was the “truth” and any departure from him, secular or religious, is a lie, and ultimately becomes part of “universal deceit.”

Orwell:

Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

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Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.

Revisionism in history is long lived, usually by oppressive regimes and movements. All generations have had those who justified their present beliefs and behaviors by “revising” the past. ISIS is a most recent example, Communism is a classic modern example, and the modern “Politically Correct Movement” is another example

Likewise, oppression has kept information about the past from common people.

The church has off and on has been quite guilty of this as well.

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In our age there is no such thing as “keeping out of politics.” All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

The world at large is a world of darkness, ruled by the Father of all lies. No objective, reasonable person will want to simply believe much of anything. When you read, watch, or otherwise consume information from a “favorite” source, you are as the person who only visits Mexican food restaurants and comes to believe it is the only “right” or perhaps “good” food.

The American church’s

tremendous

influence on US

Govt

led the church to ultimately align itself with the State and to incorporate patriotism into Christian ethics.

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Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

Paul

challenged Timothy (2 Tim 4:1-5): “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:

2 

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

3 

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

4 

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

5 

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry

.”

Slide13

Just a few other nuggets…

We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the duty of intelligent men.

There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them

.

Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.

Enlightened people seldom or never possess a sense of responsibility.

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.

Slide14

Let’s Look at the Scriptures on “Homosexuality” and “Perversion”

Gen 19 –

“Sodom and Gomorrah) “The

two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

2 

“My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.

” “

No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.

”

3

 

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

4 

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.

5 

They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

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Some questions and issues…

What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?

(

By the way, the word “sodomy” [anal sex between males] comes from the word Sodom, not the other way around.)

Was it homosexuality?

Was it homosexual gang rape?

Was it immorality in general?

This scripture never clearly defines the issue, although other scriptures seem to give some substances…

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A few other scriptures…

Ezekiel prophesying against Jerusalem and referring to Sodom:

Ezek

16 –

49 

“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

50 

They were haughty and did

detestable

things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen

.”

Note the additional sins referenced: arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, did not help the poor and needy, haughty, and did detestable things

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From Jude

Jude

7 – “

7 

In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns

gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.

They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”

Jude mentions “sexual immorality and perversion.”

Again, what was he referencing specifically when he said “perversion”?

The original words used are all highly debated.

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From the Law of Moses

Lev 18:22 –

22 

“Do

not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is

detestable

.”

(The whole of Lev 18 is a listing of the forbidden sexual activities under the Law of Moses.)

Detestable

is the same word in

Ezek

and Lev.

Lev 20 –

13 

“If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

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Issues

“

Destestable

used in

Ezek

and Lev…

The Law of Moses was pretty emphatic and cut and dried.

Well, Paul also says that long hair on men is “shameful”! How do we feel about that?

Aischyne

(Gr.) – Luke 14:9; Phil 3:19;

Heb

12:2; Jude 13; Rev 3:18

Paul said women should remain silent in church and wear veils (1

Cor

11 and 14; 1 Tim 2).

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Some examples of issues with Christians using Law of Moses

Ex 21:15 - Anyone

who

attacks

their father or mother

to

be put to death

.

Ex 35:2-3 -

2 

For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of

sabbath

rest to the

Lord

. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.

3 

Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

”

Deut

23:2 -

2 

No one born of a forbidden

marriage

nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the

Lord

, not even in the tenth generation.

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Deut 21 – “

18

 

If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,

19 

his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.

20 

They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

21 

Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death

.”

Please now, no outcry to return to this particular law! Sorry teens, I’m trying to protect you here.

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Just a few examples of how we open ourselves up to some powerful arguments against a traditional view when we appeal to the Old Testament for proof texts against homosexuality and homosexual marriage.

Gal 5:3 – on accepting circumcision as a Christian law, Paul said: “

3 

Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law

.”

Slide23

Paul statements in Romans

Rom 1 – “

26 

Because of this, God gave them over to

shameful lusts

. Even

their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones

.

27 

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another

. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error

.”

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Issues

Again, what is the specific sin here?

This is highly debated, but note it is couched in the denial of God and idolatry.

They exchanged the truth of for a lie by worshiping idols and themselves

They exchanged the glory of God for idols like earthly creatures (perhaps justifying what they did by what gave them pleasure, you think?)

They did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God (his intrinsic nature in which “male and female” were created

Females exchanged natural use for unnatural

Males did the same

God gave them over to “shameful lusts” and “depraved minds” to do what ought not be done

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Accompanying Sins

29 

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,

30 

slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;

31 

they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

32 

Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

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When we consider the list of these sins, how do we treat those that come among us with these sins.

Jesus mentions divorce multiple times. He says those who divorce with cause of adultery and remarry commit adultery themselves. For centuries the church refused to accept those so married. Can it not be argued that these marriages are equally as unacceptable to the church as homosexual marriages?

God says, “I hate divorce” (Mal 2:16), yet in the name of grace it has become quite common in the church.

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1

Cor

6 – “

9 

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men

[

a]

10 

nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God

.

[a]

The

words

men who have sex with men

translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.

Slide28

One man, one woman, for life

Gen 2 – “

24 

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh

.”

Matt 19 (Jesus): “

4 

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

[

a

]

5 

and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’

[

b

]

?

6 

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.

”

Biblically marriage between a man and a woman is sanctioned. However, this does not specifically forbid homosexual marriage any more than it does not forbid polygamy.

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Psychological and Biological Issues

No genetic basis found so far for homosexuality.

No biological base proven so far, although the debate rages and seems generally biased. Because of the LGTB and the Politically Correct Movement, serious and objective researchers are now afraid to even touch the subject.

There has never been a world-wide consensus on homosexuality.

Likely it is not one cause, but only demonstrates that our sexual attraction is quite sensitive to genetic,

en utero

, congenital, and developmental elements.

I believe same-sex attraction is not chosen per se; homosexuality is.

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That no one chooses same-sex attraction may be the case, but as humans we make many choices against our natures.

Many have been prone to violence since youth.

Many are prone to lying and deception.

Many are prone to rebellion and disobedience.

Many are prone to promiscuity.

If homosexuality is a human propensity brought on by various biological and social factors, then it is a sin like everything else and is to be resisted.

Slide31

If homosexuality itself in marriage is to be considered a “natural use” then homosexuality is still subject to all the scriptures on morality, including fornication, adultery, divorce and remarriage, etc.

Slide32

A note…

Dr. Robert

Spitzer*,

who was one of the key figures behind the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) decision to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual in 1973, now believes that "some people can and do change. Like most psychiatrists, I thought that homosexual behavior could only be resisted, and that no one could really change their sexual orientation. I now believe this to be false

.”

Played a major role in the development of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

* “He

has been called one of the most influential psychiatrists of the 20th

century” (

Wikipedia.org

).

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A Christian esource on handling same sex attraction

http://

samesexattraction.org

Slide34

Hermeneutics = rules of interpretation

Individual layer – those that wrote it; those written about; those written to

Cultural layer – the society written to with its own categories, norms, and experiences

Religious layer – the religion at the time, but it early Israel, the early church, or the religions around them

God layer – the revelation of the truth of God, as carefully extracted from specific revelations and applications of revelations

Slide35

Examples

Old Testament Laws –

S

abbath, circumcision, tithing, women

Polygamy – multiple marriages; concubines; arranged offspring for widows, etc.

Rules of grooming, dress, and adornment – hair, veils, cost of clothing, jewelry

Rules regarding women – roles in the home; roles in society; roles within the church

Divorce and remarriage – how to handle divorce; how to handle the remarried and remarriages

Slide36

Sexual issues – the laws prohibition against marital sexual practices that are now accepted

Social issues – slavery and human trafficking; prostitution; government and politics; abortion; issues of Christians expected to do in business or service things that offend them; obviously the issue at hand—marriage one the same gender; next in line polygamy; marriages to animals; pedophilia (which is already reportedly practiced in the Muslim world, but which we are reportedly not supposed to mention lest we offend the currently embraced religion of the politically correct movement)

Slide37

The church has issues with its own use of scripture and with its own pastoral practices and decision making

It might be argued that we too, “have a fine way of setting aside the truth of God in favor of our traditions.”

Or that we “twist the scriptures to our own destruction.”

Now is an important time for internal discussions about ourselves—getting beams out of our own eyes—so that we can present the case of Christ in cogent, Biblical, sincere ways.

Slide38

Phil 2:14-16

14 

Do everything without grumbling or arguing

,

15 

so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.

”

Then

you will shine among them like stars in the sky

16 

as you

hold firmly to the word of life

. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

Slide39

Five Thoughts

We must always begin looking at ourselves—for the “beams in our own eyes”—individually and collectively.

Slide40

2. Our

battle is not against flesh and blood. We must never “square off” with the world in its issues as though the issue or the individuals are the enemy.

Slide41

3. We

will never in this age overcome the Prince of Darkness and the Father of All Lies.

Slide42

4. The

issue of same-sex attraction and homosexuality is very difficult and complex biblically and practically, so either take the time objectively learn about it, or walk very softly around the subject.

Slide43

5. I believe homosexuality is not according to our “natures” or that it is against nature. I believe same-sex attraction is the result of complex convergences of biological propensities, physiological properties, and social influences. I believe it to be a subtle but painful and devastating aberration from design in a social curse to be born by all of us. I believe we must approaching it gracefully, humbly, lovingly, patiently, honestly, and with great forbearance. We need to continue to listen to whatever fair, honest observations and research that is there. I believe creation is a revelation alongside of scripture and we need to reconcile them as we learn and grow.

Slide44

Finally

Nothing changed when the five individuals dictated that gay marriage is now legal in our country.

The government doesn’t need to be in the marriage business anyway. Who is the state to be licensing what God ordained.

It’s going to get much worse. The battle is by Satan. The same Supreme Court gave women the right to kill fetuses in 1973.

As Christians we don’t necessarily have the right to do what we have the rights to do.

Jesus is Lord and God’s got this! Stay the course.