Homosexuality/Same-sex Sexuality

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are loved by God, every one of them, regardless of how they conform or not to the norms of the society of which they are a part. Homosexuality is one of the social factors that has been of great contention in this regard and has sometimes become a legal issue with regard to equality of human rights.

Social norms, while respected for the sake of those who hold to them, are not the primary criteria of behaviour for the God-fearing: the Christian. The expression of the life values of the Creator of all things, found in the Bible, carries a wealth of wisdom regarding sexuality. In the Bible sex is more than a physical act. Sex is an act of bonding in which two lives become one (Gen.2:24; 1 Cor.6:16). This is of profound significance in a personal sense of human identity.

During puberty, in which awareness of individual identity (‘who I am’) is still forming, uncertainty and confusion concerning sexuality can have a life-lasting effect. Teens are especially vulnerable.

The human body is not a lending institution. Sex given cannot be retrieved. It is an irreversible act!

human body is the individual equipment of each for a path of life – lived once, with never-ending significance; and sex affects its sense of identity. He who designed human nature understands more than us the deep damage that can be inflicted upon identity, character, and conduct, by confusion at this intimate level.

When God gave instruction to Israel in this regard, its purpose was not condemnatory but the expression of His love. Therefore for our happiness and benefit, God instructed the nation which He was forming to be priests of the whole human family (Exodus 19:5-6, if they would obey Him) to ensure that sexes were distinguished and not blurred by the wearing of each other clothes (Deut.22:5).

The strong language used against the blurring of sexual identity is given special emphasis when God gives the reasons for the obliteration of the civilization in Palestine before Israel (Lev.18:22, 28). This takes it beyond religious ideas or norms. It becomes an issue of human existence. Homosexuality is regarded as the moral equivalent of sexual intercourse with an animal.

Persons under delusion of a homosexual identity are deeply cared for by God and are the target of His affection in Jesus Christ. Christ died, not simply for what we call ‘sin’, but for everything substandard to God’s plan for our lives. God hates sin because it hurts us! Christ is God's door of healing for the wholeness which we were meant to have.

But because our bodies are affected by time, it takes time for the healing of human identity. Turning to our Creator according to His compassion is the crucial beginning of the process of healing.

The Christian Church, as the designed human expression of God’s character in Christ, is meant to be the nursery, the home, the family, within which this healing takes place. No programme, no therapy, no organizational activity can substitute for this. Relationships are the substance of belonging, and it is within these relationships of compassion that God has appointed a place of healing into human fullness and servanthood in ministry to others.

lie propagated by some subsections of Christianity calling themselves churches, such as Westboro Baptist Church and others, is that the Bible's statement –

"For God so loved the world [ κόσμος 'kosmos'],
that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life"

refers only to believers and not to the rest of humanity, has allowed them to lift themselves up as God's voice to damn others, hence their presentation of a pseudo-gospel to the world: 'God hates fags'. Their argument is that the word 'kosmos' refers in this context only to believers, that is to Christians; meaning Jesus died only for the sins of Christians.

Their theological position does not deserve an answer. For instance, Jesus did not come condemning immorality. He corrected the Pharisees on their false teaching regarding divorce, but His approach to the Samaritan woman at the well was far different to that of Westboro Baptist and other pseudo-gospel churches concerning sexual sin, and it is from Christ and from Him alone that Christianity draws its identity – or it is false.

In the wisdom of God's compassion, Christ died for those needing it. If that applies to you then He has made ready to receive you, heal you, and make you new – now . . . !