Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Should We Divide over Homosexuality?

Episode Date: March 3, 2020

The culture has been pressuring Christians to pick a side: celebrate homosexuality and same-sex unions or continue to consider them sinful. Alan discusses whether Christians should divide over this question or can we agree to disagree? Download the mp3...

The culture has been pressuring Christians to pick a side. Celebrate homosexuality in same-sex unions or continue to consider them sinful? Is this question something that Christians should divide over? Or can we just agree to disagree? Well, fortunately, I believe that we can turn to Jesus for an answer. And I want to turn specifically to Matthew 7, verses 15 through 20, where Jesus warns us against false prophets. These are people who he describes as wolves in sheep's clothing. So the question then becomes, well, how will we recognize these wolves in sheep's clothing?

Well, Jesus answers. He says, you will know them by their fruits. He continues. He says, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. Now, if you read this point in context, which I would say is Matthew 7, verses 13 all the way through 29, Jesus actually clarifies what he means by good and bad fruit. Okay. So he says that the good fruit is exhibited by, quote, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, end quote. This is

verse 24. Okay. Well, what about bad fruit? What does that look like? Well, Jesus says, it's quote, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice, end quote. That's verse 26. In other words, according to Jesus, good fruit is obeying Jesus and bad fruit is disobeying Jesus. Do you see that this is rather straightforward? And by the way, it's consistent with the teaching of Jesus that we have elsewhere in Scripture, specifically John 14, 15 and other places. So then given the discussion about the Bible and homosexuality,

who are the ones who are disobeying Jesus? Who are the wolves in sheep's clothing that are encouraging bad fruit? And to answer that question, all we got to do is look at Jesus' teaching on sex, on gender, on marriage, and then we'll be able to understand who is leading other people to violate Jesus' teaching. So, in Matthew 19, verses 4 through 6, Jesus is asked a question about the nature of divorce and marriage. And in that passage, Jesus cites, and I would argue, upholds the Genesis account of creation, which in this passage, by the way, Jesus is citing Genesis 1.24 and Genesis 2.27. Okay. So, in answering this question about marriage and divorce, Jesus cites the Genesis account

of creation, where a man and a woman are created, joined together in marriage, and become one flesh. where a man and a woman are created, joined together in marriage, and become one flesh. And by doing so, by citing those two passages in Genesis, Jesus is affirming the duality of the sexes and the complementarity of male-female marriage. And so, Jesus' view then could be summed up in this way. Marriage, which by the way includes sexual activity, marriage is about one man with one woman becoming one flesh for one lifetime. That's Jesus' view when it comes to sex and marriage.

In fact, Jesus' teaching on marriage alone mentioned here in this passage, this alone disqualifies same-sex unions. And so that's why it's not surprising that in Mark 7, verses 20 through 23, Jesus cites sexual immorality as a behavior that defiles a person. And the Greek word that is used there for sexual immorality is porneia. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing it properly, but whatever, that's the Greek word, which I would argue that first century Jews would have considered to include the sexual sins that are listed in the Levitical law, which of course would include the sin of homosexuality because that was mentioned in the Levitical law in Leviticus 18.22 and Leviticus 20.13. So then, despite some people's claims that Jesus never said anything

about homosexuality, it appears that he clearly did, because he mentions that this type of sexual immorality is what defiles a person. Now, this is to say nothing of the prohibitions of homosexual sex that are found elsewhere in the New Testament, like Romans 1, verses 26 through 27, verse Corinthians 6, 9 through 11, and 1 Timothy 1, 10. Given these passages, the Genesis creation account of humanity and Jesus' sexual ethics, it's no surprise that the church has taught for 2,000 years, and by the way, Judaism has taught it for even thousands of years before that, that homosexual sex is sin and that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Therefore, teaching that homosexual sex or same-sex marriage is morally permissible is a significant and serious departure from biblical orthodoxy

and, I would argue, a serious departure from Jesus' message. Okay? Scripture says that those who pursue ongoing, unrepentant homosexual sex will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is 1 Corinthians 6, 9. Okay? Now, it's not just homosexual sex. Anyone engaged in any ongoing unrepentant sin, Paul says in that passage, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. So, this is serious. The consequences of violating Jesus' teaching here are eternal.

so let's then turn to the question now that we understand what jesus is teaching is what the biblical teaching is in the matters of sex gender and marriage how are we to consider churches or pastors or leaders or other kinds of teachers who who teach contrary to jesus's teaching on sex and homosexuality well should we should we divide over a church, a pastor, or a leader who teaches that homosexual behavior is permissible and celebrates same-sex unions? Well, again, due to the egregious theological error and the grim penalty associated with it, I would argue a believer is justified in parting ways from such a pastor or church. Why? Because again, they're giving practicing homosexuals confidence that they can enter the kingdom of God despite Scripture's caution that they can't.

Again, this is 1 Corinthians 6.9. And so, Jesus warned us precisely of such people, wolves in sheep's clothing. They look like us, but their teaching stands in contrast to biblical orthodoxy. In fact, Jesus' stern rebuke is haunting. He says, I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. This is Matthew 7, 23. And so, disciples of Jesus, that's you and me, we should follow Jesus' cue. We can't tolerate sitting under the teaching or the authority of a church, a pastor or leader who practices or who promotes lawlessness. Now, would this apply or how would it apply to friends and family who might hold to this unorthodox,

contra-biblical teaching? Does this mean that we should divide ourselves from people, from friends or family who adopt errant thinking on this question? Well, you know, in this case, it's likely that these people have been misled by a church leader, right? You know, wolves have led them astray, if you will. But though their theological error might be the same, I believe the impact is different. Christ confronted many people who were mistaken about spiritual matters, but he still pursued them. He built relationships for the purpose, I would argue, of building a bridge to communicate compassion and to share the truth. And again, I would argue it's wise to follow Jesus' approach here, right?

We can continue in our relationships with people who are theologically mistaken, but I would clarify or emphasize that we got to be vigilant to not succumb to the same error that they have fallen into. In fact, Scripture presents this tension by giving us freedom to associate with non-Christians. This is 1 Corinthians 5, verses 9-11. But while being careful to not be yoked together with unbelievers. This is 2 Corinthians 6-14. And so keeping our relationships provides an opportunity for us to be able to communicate the truth

or share the gospel and have a lasting impact or influence in their lives. Now, though some people might see this as a contradictory approach, you know, the one about leaving an errant church, but not an errant person, I do think it's consistent with Christ's view, right? Because Jesus wants to protect his church and keep her free from blemish, Ephesians 5, 27, but also desires to ransom individuals who are lost. This is Mark 10, 45. And so I believe we should have the same desire. And I generally do have the same desire. I'm fiercely protective of the church, but focused on reaching the lost. And that's why I'll divide over false teaching,

but I'll still reach out to those who hold false views. Now, I'll add that it's worth noting that many advocates of pro-gay theology attempt to employ Jesus's teaching on good and bad fruit to support their position, to support the pro-gay theology position. And what they end up doing is they twist Jesus' words to suggest that bad fruit is the psychological harm or the suffering that LGBT people experience because of the church's traditional sexual ethic. But it's important to understand here that the fruit that Jesus is referring to is not about the consequence of the teaching, but rather of the conduct promoted by the teacher. So therefore, the irony of their citing this passage is that Jesus' teaching doesn't vindicate advocates of pro-gay theology.

It actually condemns them.