Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - An LGBT Defense Misses a Biblical Point

Episode Date: September 7, 2017

There are many reasons why pro-gay theology is mistaken. Alan addresses a particular defense that fails to understand what Scripture is saying. Download the mp3...

STR podcasts are brought to you through the generous support of people just like you. You can support these podcasts by making a gift online at str.org or by phone at 1-800-2-REASON. Living for Jesus isn't easy. His moral standards are high. If we want to be his disciples, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him. This is what he talked about in Luke 9 23. Now for Christ, the cross literally meant giving up everything, even his own life. He denied his own will to do the will of the father. And God, I would argue, expects no less from us. Now, although Christ's moral demands in scripture are difficult to follow, we're still required to obey him. Now, some people want to change that demand.

Instead of either submitting to or rejecting the Bible's requirements, they want to change them. And advocates of pro-gay theology take this approach. Although scripture, I'd argue, clearly prohibits homosexual behavior, for example, Leviticus 18, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, and so on and so forth, they claim that the Bible only opposes abusive, exploitive, or coercive homosexual sex acts, such as gang rape or master-slave sodomy and pederasty, men who have sex with boys. Now, homosexuals today, they say, don't engage in such abusive acts. And so, therefore, their relationships are loving and consensual, which means, therefore, the biblical prohibitions don't apply to them. Now, pro-gay theology advocates here are missing the Bible's point. It doesn't matter why you might engage in a behavior, only that you do. In other words,

what scripture prohibits is the behavior of homosexual sex regardless of why you engage in it. For example, it doesn't matter if you're curious about homosexuality and you just want to experiment. Homosexual sex in that case is prohibited. It doesn't matter if you're a man in a prison population and the only sexual outlet is another man. Scripture forbids homosexual sex in that case as well. It also doesn't matter if you experience same-sex attraction, even if you were born that way. Homosexual sex is off-limits in that case too. What Scripture prohibits is homosexual sex no matter your reason for engaging in it. Now, I mean, just consider another sexual sin like the sin of adultery.

It doesn't matter why you might find yourself in an adulterous relationship. It's a sin no matter how you got in bed with someone who's not your spouse. If you're married to person A, then person B is off limits. Person C, D, and E are also off limits. And they're off limits for any reason. It doesn't even matter if you, you know, quote unquote, discover that they're your soulmate. Sex with any other person than person A is sexual sin, period. And that's because according to the Genesis account of creation, when it comes to sex and marriage, it's about one man with one woman becoming one flesh for one lifetime. And adultery and homosexuality violate that design. Now, modern pro-gay theology advocates argue that the Bible knows nothing of loving, consensual homosexual relationships.

But even if that's true, it doesn't matter. The Bible prohibits homosexual sex regardless of why you might engage in it. It categorically prohibits same-sex relations of any type and for any reason. Now, similar reasoning is often used to justify being transgender. Now, I argue that scripture teaches that humans are supposed to identify with a gender that is consistent with their biology. In other words, if you're biologically male, you should identify as male. If you're biologically female, then identify as female. you should identify as male.

If you're biologically female, then identify as female. And every time the Bible addresses people crossing gender boundaries, it speaks negatively of it. For example, Deuteronomy 22.5 says, A woman shall not wear man's clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. Now, the purpose of this prohibition is to maintain the distinction of the two genders established by God in the Genesis account of creation. You know, Genesis 127, where it says, you know, male and female, he created them. So to sidestep this moral demand, some people claim that Deuteronomy 22.5 is merely talking about cross-dressing and doesn't address a person with a transgender identity.

Again, this misses the point. The Bible isn't saying that cross-dressing is prohibited unless you have a bona fide transgender identity. It's not talking about your beliefs about gender or claimed identity. What it prohibits is a certain behavior, and that is trying to look like the sex that you're not. Even the context doesn't help those who are attempting to reinterpret the biblical text. The verse before Deuteronomy 22.5 is about helping a neighbor's donkey, and the verse after prohibits killing a mother bird. Notice there's no exception made for a transgender identity or any other motive. The verse simply entails an unqualified prohibition against trying to appear like someone of the opposite sex. So it's important to then recognize what people who are attempting

to reinterpret the biblical text are trying to do. They want to sidestep the moral demands of scripture, which, let's face it, is something that every one of us is tempted to do to try to justify our sin. But as Christ said, anyone who wants to be his disciple must deny himself and take up his cross. That means giving up our own will, and that's not easy to do, right? I mean, thankfully, though, God hasn't left us to muster up the strength on our own to do his will. He has actually given us the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness. And so with his strength, we can deny ourselves and do the will of the Father. You've been listening to Stand to Reason.

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