10 Reasons God Lov Gay Christians | Time

Contents:

• CAN SOMEONE BE GAY AND CHRISTIAN? IS POSSIBLE TO BE A GAY CHRISTIAN?
• IS POSSIBLE TO BE A GAY CHRISTIAN?
• 10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS
• HOW TO BE AN OPENLY GAY CHRISTIAN
• CAN YOU BE GAY AND CHRISTIAN?
• CAN A PERSON BE GAY AND STILL BE A CHRISTIAN?
• CAN YOU BE GAY AND CHRISTIAN? HERE’S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
• CAN CHRISTIANS BE GAY?
• HOW TO RENCILE YOUR CHRISTIAN FAH WH YOUR GAY LIFE
• ARE THERE REALLY “GAY CHRISTIANS”?
• CAN SOMEONE BE A GAY CHRISTIAN?
• ARE GAY CHRISTIANS GENUE CHRISTIANS?
• BEG A GAY CHRISTIAN N BE HURTFUL AND GELLG. BUT I REFE TO LOSE FAH

CAN SOMEONE BE GAY AND CHRISTIAN? IS POSSIBLE TO BE A GAY CHRISTIAN?

Romans 1:26-27 not gay activy as "unnatural" while 1 Corthians 6:9-10 lists same sex activy as somethg done by those who will "not her the kgdom of God.

In fact, Pl's list clus, "the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexualy, nor thiev, nor the greedy, nor dnkards, nor revilers, nor swdlers" (1 Corthians 6:9-10).

Do not be ceived; neher fornitors, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effemate, nor homosexuals, nor thiev, nor the veto, nor dnkards, nor revilers, nor swdlers, will her the kgdom of God” (1 Corthians 6:9-10). While is unniable, biblilly speakg, that homosexualy is immoral and unnatural (Romans 1:26-27), no sense do the Bible scribe homosexualy as an unfivable s. It is nsistent, for example, to clare those guilty of pre-maral sex as “disobedient Christians, ” while clarg homosexuals fively non-Christians.

IS POSSIBLE TO BE A GAY CHRISTIAN?

If the phrase “gay Christian” refers to a person who stggl agast homosexual sir and temptatns – y, a “gay Christian” is possible. However, the scriptn “gay Christian” is not accurate for such a person, sce he/she do not sire to be gay, and is stgglg agast the temptatns. Such a person is not a “gay Christian, ” but rather is simply a stgglg Christian, jt as there are Christians who stggle wh fornitn, lyg, and stealg.

If the phrase “gay Christian” refers to a person who actively, perpetually, and unrepentantly liv a homosexual liftyle – no, is not possible for such a person to tly be a Christian. Some morn Bible translatns say that “homosexuals” will not her the kgdom of God, but neher the ncept nor the word for people wh exclive same-sex attractn existed before the late 19th century. Requirg that all gay people rema celibate is at odds wh the Bible’s teachgs on celibacy, which are ground Scripture’s re affirmatn that God’s physil creatn is good.

Mastream nomatns like Prbyterians and Epispalians now orda openly gay clergy, and there are seeds of change evangelil church as well.

10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS

Matthew V is the thor of God and the Gay Christian and is the founr of The Reformatn Project, a Bible-based non-prof anizatn that seeks to reform church teachg on sexual orientatn and genr inty. If there are no ngregatns near where you live, nsir streamg onle church servic om a gay-affirmg church and participatg related msage boards.

If they say you're nfed, rebellg, or have "chosen" to intify as gay, all you n do is say that you unrstand why they thk that, but 's not te.

HOW TO BE AN OPENLY GAY CHRISTIAN

While terpretatn of the Bible vari over time and between nomatns, many Christians rely on a few short passag to nmn gay people. Pot out that Romans 1:26-27 and Levic 18:22 and 20:13 are about teachg agast worship of false gods, and that ntext may expla the language about gay sex.

CAN YOU BE GAY AND CHRISTIAN?

If they brg up I Corthians 6:9 or I Timothy 1:10, tell them the translatn of the Greek words "malakos" and "arsenoko" as "gay" is ntroversial, as that meang was rare when the words were most mon. A spate of books and vios and article and blogs would tell that, ed, that is not the gospel and that the good news of J is that you n follow Him and enjoy a mted, homosexual relatnship too. 4:12-13) we will humble ourselv before the Lord, keepg our foc on J and askg the Father to give His heart for those who intify as LGBT, lettg the unequivol ttimony of Scripture gui , we will fd, what do the Word of God say about homosexual practice?

The ttimony of Scripture remas unchanged: The Bible forbids homosexual is clear that the vast majory of those who have changed their views on what the Bible says about homosexualy and now believe “gay Christiany” have done so based on eher their own same-sex sir and attractns or their teractn wh “gay Christians” (or wh any gay or lbian person who challeng their assumptns) other words, they have not changed their thkg based on study of the Scriptur alone sce no new textual, archaeologil, soclogil, anthropologil, or philologil disveri have been ma the last fifty years that would e to read any of the biblil texts another way, is not that we have gaed some new sights to what the biblil text means based on the study of the Hebrew and Greek texts. This is the guaranteed path to Word of God, which reprents His heart and will for His creatn, is absolutely clear on the subject, prohibg all forms of homosexual practice.

CAN A PERSON BE GAY AND STILL BE A CHRISTIAN?

This is so clear that a number of leadg gay and lbian theologians acknowledge that they n only jtify “gay Christiany” by rejectg the full thory of Scripture. First, they claim that the vers have been mistranslated, misterpreted, or mised, and so, realy, the Scriptur do not prohib monogamo, mted, homosexual relatnships. To the ntrary, was so important that every sgle recipe the book mak no mentn of is exactly the same when to the Bible and homosexualy.

There are a few, very strong, very clear, referenc to homosexual practice—every one of them cidly negative—and then not a sgle reference to homosexual practice throughout the rt of the Bible. Throughout the Word, the only relatnships that were acceptable God’s sight or nsired normal for society were heterosexual relatnships, and so homosexual practice was eher irrelevant (bee had nothg to do wh the God-ordaed relatnships of marriage and fay and society) or, if mentned, explicly give jt one example out of hundreds, when a gay uple reads the Word and they e to Pl’s words Ephians 5:22, 25, “Wiv, subm to your own hbands, as to the Lord....

A man pl a man or a woman pl a woman nnot possibly share the same unn as a man and a woman sce they do not share the sential of fundamental samens and rephrase the famo axm of John Gray, namely, that men are om Mars and women are om Ven, Mars + Mars or Ven + Ven nnot ever equal Mars + the words of a man who has lived as a homosexual all his life (he’s now past 70) but has recently found the Lord, “Even an atheist n unrstand the lack of anatomil plementary and therefore blogil purpose male-to-male or female-to-female sexualy. ”To everyone who profs to be a gay Christian, I ask you to get alone wh God and ask yourself, “Did God create and sign me to be wh the same-sex or the oppose sex?

CAN YOU BE GAY AND CHRISTIAN? HERE’S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

What the biblil thors rejected, we are told, was man-boy relatnships, or male prostutn, or homosexual the sful practic were certaly rejected, but biblil thors like Pl were certaly aware of long-term, male-male importantly, Hebrews 4:13 stat that “no creature is hidn om [God’s] sight, but all are naked and exposed to the ey of him to whom we mt give acunt. ”And are they willg to say that the Lord J, who lerally looked to the hearts and souls of human begs—John 2:25 says that He knew what was man—didn’t unrstand that certa people were “gay? The gospel brgs good news to homosexual men and theologians tell that the tradnal gospel msage is a “bad tree, ” brgg forth the bad u of prsn, apostasy, and even suici among gay men and the ntrary, the msage of the gospel brgs fivens, eedom, hope, and liverance, as untls thoands of ex-gays n attt, by which I mean followers of J who no longer practice homosexualy.

As a biblil scholar, I would suggt that church lears who e their cultur and theology to exclu homosexuals don’t read Scripture refully.

Those who would exclu homosexuals om God’s kgdom choose to ignore J, turng stead to the Old Ttament – most particularly to Genis 19, the stctn of the ci of Sodom and Gomorrah. Levic 18:22 and 20:13, for example, are not about “homosexualy” as we now unrstand – as the rg, lovg and sexual relatnship between people of the same sex. However, to bate the issue serly and tthfully, we mt seek an hont picture of what our opponents actually believe — workg om what we thk they believe is neher helpful nor there are people of many diverse beliefs and nvictns — cludg gay and lbian people — who oppose same-sex marriage, here are 10 foundatnal tths that rm the tradnal, orthodox Christian belief.

CAN CHRISTIANS BE GAY?

(Photo: Shane Idleman)Many "Christians" are now suggtg that those who embrace the homosexual liftyle n live harmony wh biblil Christiany.

HOW TO RENCILE YOUR CHRISTIAN FAH WH YOUR GAY LIFE

When children stggle wh s, parents should pot them to the those who fend homosexualy, or who say nothg, tly lovg the homosexual, or are they simply seekg to avoid nflict? For stance, if they are more worried about beg liked than beg tthful, do they really re for homosexuals more than those who are willg to risk their reputatn, and que possibly their safety, orr to speak the tth love? Homosexuals who rema monogamo are also outsi of God's will bee the entire relatnship is wrong—the unn of two men or two women is not God's plan.

For every verse that anti-LGBTQ Christians say nmns homosexualy, there are a dozen that clearly nmn somethg we support or support somethg we nmn (which isn’t to say that those passag even do nmn queer people). I have a nfsn to make to you: sometim, when I lay bed on particularly rtls nights (ually when I’ve stayed up way too late and had way too many Pepsis) I stare at the ceilg and ntemplate eher (a) the vastns and meangls of the Universe or (b) “what if they are right and is a s to be gay??? I was simply lookg to be actively volved and bee a member of the church… Bee I was gay, that was sufficient for [them] to turn around and say no.

Recent rearch strongly suggts that LGBT people who ntue to intify as Christian experience heightened “homonegativy” – negative and shame-filled feelgs about their sexualy – pared to non-relig, or even formerly Christian, LGBT people.

ARE THERE REALLY “GAY CHRISTIANS”?

If you have homosexual or bisexual tennci, this is not jt a theologil bate, but speaks to the re of how you see yourself and how God views you. You will have to make cisns about whether to go to a same-sex weddg, whether to have your dghter and her partner over for dner, and whether to attend a church wh a gay pastor. In today’s changg world, statg that homosexualy is anythg but an acceptable liftyle, approved by God, is seen as unlovg, judgmental, hateful, and some plac, crimal.

If you have read much on this issue, you know that there have been valiant attempts to reterpret the six passag that specifilly addrs homosexualy (Genis 19, Levic 18:22, Levic 20:13, Romans 1:24–27, 1 Corthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10). The ncept of a homosexual orientatn was first suggted the 1890s, ironilly around the same time as the field of psychology was tablished.

CAN SOMEONE BE A GAY CHRISTIAN?

Here are a few articl that expla why recent attempts to biblilly jtify the gay liftyle are misguid: “Why God and the Gay Christian Is Wrong about the Bible and Same-Sex Relatnships” by Christopher Yuan and “God, the Gospel, and the Gay Challenge—A Rponse to Matthew V” by Al Mohler. Our view of God, even among some Christian scholars, has sunk so low that our wisdom has bee foolishns on many sexual issu, cludg homosexualy.

” On the other si of the issue, God’s hols and ll for to be pure n be exprsed whout grace or passn: “Gay men and women jt need to choose to follow God and that’s the end of . Few Christians who embrace homosexualy believe that was part of God’s origal perfect sign—that before the fall, God created some of to be gay or lbian or bisexual. This means that homosexualy reprents a fallen world— s and brokenns—jt as our propensy toward addictn, gluttony, pri, hatred, and selfishns do.

To accept homosexualy as a normal exprsn of God’s sign is to say that God is okay wh livg wh our brokenns, stead of seekg Him through that brokenns.

ARE GAY CHRISTIANS GENUE CHRISTIANS?

Many godly men and women ntue to wrtle wh homosexual thoughts and urg, but have mted themselv to sayg “no” to actg out on those sir. The black and whe words wrten this book n never pture the pa you may have endured related to your own or a loved one’s experience wh homosexualy. Even if you accept the ia that beg gay is a s (which most, if not all church do), remember that is jt a s - is the same to God as any other s (any s is enough to keep you out of Heaven, if not for J' vir atonement).

BEG A GAY CHRISTIAN N BE HURTFUL AND GELLG. BUT I REFE TO LOSE FAH

Try to mata a sense of humor if they make cluels or homophobic remarks, and remember that you are as cluels about other thgs as they are about you - try to keep a passnate perspective. Read "The Gay Fah: Christ, Scripture, and Sexualy" by Sphero, which explas great tail how the Bible is actually very pro-gay and supportive of the homosexual believer...

Th, even if we are ad wrong and homosexualy actually is a s, is the same to God as stealg a pack of gum terms of the ultimate effect - eher one is enough to e a person to be separated om God.