This week, I am taking a particular topic and making it custom fit for my different blogs. The overall topic is 'homosexuality' and its ramifications in the church and society, and why it is this way.
I just got done reading Mel White's book, 'Stranger At The Gate', which is a biography, sort of, of Mel White, a professing Christian, and his pull into freedom of being able to live as a Gay, Christian man. I know, I know, that is an oxymoron. Let me explain why I am posting this first.
We need to always be praying for our country, because there are going to be many attacks to try to destroy our freedoms as a nation. Our forefathers fought hard so we could have freedom and not be in bondage to any government. We see today, threats all around us. America needs a healthy church that is praying vigilantly. The Bible tells us to always be praying. The Bible also describes God, and His relationship to mankind. God created man and woman, and they were designed to live together in a complimentary relationship and procreate. This pattern will continue until the end of the age. God commanded people to 'fill the earth and subdue it'. The family unit is the fabric of society.
The Bible also describes things that are 'unnatural'. One of those things is homosexuality. Man was not intended to lie with another man in the same way he would with a woman. One of the arguments you will get from the Gay community though, is that, if a man lying with another man is forbidden and worthy of punishment, then going to Red Lobster is also worthy of punishment.
I would like to prepare you with all the objections Gay people will give you when you share with them what the Bible says. Mel White has done in-depth studies on six passages that Christians use against homosexuality. I will probably do that on another blog at another time.
Let's say, that you are Gay and want to defend homosexuality using the Bible. Mel White has done that. In fact, those who are Gay use his book 'Stranger At The Gate' like their Bible, or their book of defense. You see, Mel White is a Gay Christian who stayed in the closet for many, many years, and claims to have had a strong, unbreakable pull toward homosexuality. I am grateful for the book, because it helps us see things through the eyes of a Gay person who sees himself as a victim of prejudice. He lumps homosexuality with racial bigotry and slavery. He sees groups of people who are oppressed by other, more powerful groups of people, and is speaking out because of what he perceives as injustice.
Let's go deeper on what Mel White is thinking. I will say that Mr. White is a compassionate man who cringes at any injustice he sees. He is for the underdog. I appreciate his passion for justice. But at the same time, those who have done him, and his people (the Gay community) harm, are those who are speaking out against homosexuality. Because I know that what he writes is bias, and because I haven't heard the other side (Moral Majority) as they spoke out against the sins of homosexuality, I want to be careful to present what I see, as objective as possible.
Mel White was raised in a Fundamentalist home, where no smoking, drinking, playing cards, or dancing were ever allowed. His grandmother was an evangelist who would preach to Mel's friends and have them 'ask Jesus into their hearts'. She also came up with the idea that sex was only used to procreate. I wonder what Mel's grandfather thought about that?
Mel spent a lot of time in church and in Christian circles. But in his book, he never explains what he understands about the Gospel, or his sin, or relationship to God. He was afraid that if he did sin, God would send a lightning bolt to kill him. He was terribly afraid of God, but didn't seem to understand about forgiveness of sins, or the power of God to deliver. His theology caused him to believe that God would 'heal' him of being Gay if he had enough faith. He went to healing services and spent a lot of time praying for God to take the desire away. But the desire for having a sexual relationship with another man just became stronger. He felt like God was punishing him because his prayers were not answered.
At some point down the road, although he knew he had this strong attraction and desire for a man, Mel married his high school sweetheart. She was very supportive of him and loved him sacrificially. They married and had a couple of children. But even through the marriage and family, Mel really wanted to be in the arms of another man. He had hoped that by being married, it would cure him of being Gay.
At this point, no one but Mel knew that he was struggling with homosexuality. Also, he was a ghostwriter for Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Fallwell. As he worked with these men, although he had great respect for them, they began to speak out against homosexuality.
Jerry Falwell started campaigning and raising funds for his organization which would help bring America back to God. But according to Mr. White, Jerry was a Gay basher. So was Pat Robertson and D. James Kennedy. The supposed Gay basher that he struggled with most though, was Beverly LaHaye. What she did appeared to be threatening to the Gay community. (I am not sure what her accomplishments were, but I think I remember that she wrote a book called, 'When Women Pray'.) As these people were going forth with their plans to recover America, Mel White interpreted what they were doing as serious threats to the freedom of Gay people.
I should insert here that Mr. White went to many counselors, doctors, psychologists, etc, because he really was trying to be free from homosexuality. But the turning point came when he went to a woman counselor or psychologist from Fuller Theological Seminary. She basically told Mel that he was a Gay man, and he should accept that fact and go on with his life as a Gay man. At this point, Mel White pushed forward to fulfill this strong passion that he could never get rid of. Go for it Mel! The voices of many who sided with homosexuals encouraged this type of thinking. So Mel and his wife planned on a separation, and eventual divorce, now that Mel was free to pursue a Gay relationship with another man.
Mel claims that homosexuality is in the genes. He believes science proves homosexuality to be valid. He also uses History to prove homosexuality is valid. He points to men throughout History who were Gay (or he thought were Gay) to affirm his claim.
Today, Mel is an activist. He is tired of the 'Religious Right' (Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, D. James Kennedy, James Dobson, Billy Graham) pushing their agenda. He is pouring money into fighting these people and their causes.
There are two points to consider here. One of them is, that, whether Jerry Falwell was really the bad guy Mr. White makes him out to be or not, the church was not there to provide ministry and help to those who were struggling with homosexuality. Many people are struggling with this, but the church doesn't seem prepared to help people see the sin of homosexuality, and the hope that is only in the Cross when we repent. Mr. White didn't have anyone to walk him through while he was struggling. He's not struggling anymore, because he has been told lies by people that are labeled as 'Christians' who were there to counsel him. One lie says that all people have a sexual orientation, and a Gay person is Gay because he has a sexual orientation to be Gay. He also believes that this sexual orientation is permanent. He is unable to do anything about it and needs to resolve that issue by living out his life as a Gay person.
The other point is, we have to be aware, especially because of this book, that the average Gay person greatly misunderstands several things. First of all, God is opposed to immorality, and homosexuality practiced is a form of immorality. God will judge homosexuals. God will judge all sins though, even the ones you and I struggle with. Homosexuality is not a unique sin that has to be dealt with in a different way than other sins. All sin is resolved at the Cross. And the power of the blood of Christ can set people free from homosexuality and any other sin.
We have to understand that the devil has been lying to all of us, and unless we can weed out the words of his voice, we are going to be fighting against other people, and we might not even know what we are fighting about. The Gay people have been lied to. But the church has been lied to as well. Both Gay and Christians have been lied to and are going to fight a war that is over an imaginary god that says that homosexuals are created by God that way, and they will never be able to become heterosexual and they need to build a community of like-minded folk who will fight for the cause of homosexuality. The church is not ready to help these people come out of their bondage, because we have not humbled ourselves and dealt with our own sin issues. We can't pull the wool over the eyes of the world and make them think we are ok but they aren't. They see right through us and that gives them more credibility to keep going in their wayward direction.
The Gay community is not small. There are millions of Gay people waiting to be set free so they can do what they want to do without someone telling them that they are doing wrong. They are becoming politically active and are becoming apologetic in their activities. The church needs to 1). pray for them, 2). become informed on homosexuality (don't just make assumptions on what it is and what it involves) 3). Study what the Bible says on homosexuality. Study what the Bible says on the fallen nature of man, and the attributes of God. 4). Look for homosexuals in your church. Reach out to them. Offer friendship to them. Being a friend to a Gay person does not say that you approve of their being Gay. You are the only hope they have that can bring them to Christ, which is what they need to have. You may be the only 'Bible' they ever read. If you hate Gay people, what does that say about God? You represent God before people. Are you a good representative or a bad one?
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