“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:39)
“Love does not delight itself in evil but rejoices in the truth.” (I Cor 13:6)
Praise you, Father that you give your people your love for all. And praise You, Father, that you give your people a delight for righteousness and truth. And praise you, Father, that love and righteousness go together.
We’ve been discussing issues related to gender, marriage, and sexuality, and within contemporary culture that means that we have to say something about homosexuality. You would have to be awfully ignorant of Western culture to fail to see that those who peddle the culture vehemently push you to accept homosexuality as normal, legitimate behavior, and they will do whatever they can to drive the culture in that direction.
In light of this, the church must speak. If it doesn’t speak, then many in the pews will blindly follow their culture, and that would be a disaster. Scripture must judge culture, not the other way around. An unbiblical culture should not be telling Christians what the Bible says and means. That’s a bit silly . . . and sinister.
So we must speak. But I suppose the first thing we need to do when discussing homosexuality is to distinguish between how we treat homosexuals as people and how we view homosexuality as a behavior.
Christians must love homosexual people because Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, and homosexuals are our neighbors. This is a command, not an option. But what does this love look like? Love is not a vague feeling we can shape in any way we wish. The Bible describes love when it tells us how to live. For example, Scripture says, “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth.” (Eph 4:29) Gay slurs are unwholesome talk. They are sin. Scripture says, “Consider others as more important than yourself.” (Ph 2:3) Looking down on homosexuals from a self-righteous position is sin. Scripture says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Mt 7:12) Beating up gay men is sin. Showing them disrespect is sin. Failing to honor them as people is sin. Those who mistreat homosexuals are not acting as Christians but as sinners. This needs to be clear. Christianity never endorses or encourages the mistreatment of homosexuals. Instead it calls people to love them.
This means if you have homosexuals in your work place, respect them as professionals. Invite them for lunch, and you initiate it. Show genuine interest in their lives. If you have homosexual neighbors, have them into your home. Take them some cookies. Help them move a piece of furniture. Take them to a picnic you are going to. Visit them in the hospital. Sacrifice your desires for their good. Do these things gladly, and be open about your faith.
Christians should be the first people to show Christ’s love to homosexuals. This is not negotiable.
But love does not endorse every lifestyle. Love is not agreement. Everyone knows this, for everyone has seen a father love a son who had done something wrong. My wife loves me even when I am rude and selfish toward her, and I will be the first to tell you that my selfishness comes naturally. My wife does not affirm my selfish nature, but she loves me nonetheless. In fact, if she did affirm my selfish nature, she would not be loving me.
To say that love must accept every idea or behavior is cheap. It is not love. In fact, if the truth be told, love shines more brightly in the midst of disagreement. When my wife loves me even after I wrongly put her down, her love stands out even more. Such love shows God’s pattern, for “God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rm 5:8) God loves all people who by nature think and do what He hates. In other words, God love sinners, which means that He loves the world. When God calls certain behavior sin, He is not being hateful. He is being faithful to His character and showing His love even more.
Now when we come to homosexuality, we find that Scripture clearly calls such behavior sin. In fact, Scripture could not be clearer. But it is also clear that God’s people must show love to everyone. So how do you show love to people who sin? Such love, by itself, is hard. I rather think you need God for that. But here in the West, when it comes to homosexuality, the position the Christian is in is even harder, for Western culture has defined love in such a way that one must affirm sin in order to love a person? It’s like saying that I must accept racism to love a KKK member, that I must accept adultery to love an adulterer, or stealing to love a thief. For a Christian, this is impossible.
The Christian must love. Make no mistake about that. But the Christian’s love must and will look different from the “love” Western culture wants to see. What Western culture wants is not love. It wants sexual freedom, and it will shame genuinely loving people and call them hateful if they refuse to accept this sexual freedom.
What this means is that many people immersed in Western culture will never see the genuine love that Christians have for them. For Christians, this situation is sad, but we must live with it. God does. Most people never recognize the love God has for them, but it is real nonetheless. As Christians it is our responsibility to love people. It is not our responsibility to make those people affirm our love. If they are blind to it, there is nothing we can do. Except pray. And continue to show kindness.
