God loves gay people. God loves people. God loves us so much, He sent His son to die on the cross for us so that we could be restored to relationship with Him. The Bible teaches us God dislikes some behaviors and hates others, but that He loves people. He loves you!
I’ve recently written a book titled, Gay Awareness, because I want people to be aware of God’s heart toward them, homosexuality and those who experience same-sex attraction. In this book I share the heart of the Father and the mind of Christ on sexuality through His words (the Bible), not through my own or any other man’s opinions. I want you to be aware of what the Bible says and what it teaches followers of Christ.
Over the years, the church made three primary mistakes in dealing with sexuality and those who struggle with same-sex attraction. The first mistake was to make homosexuality the greatest sin.
Homosexual practice is not the greatest sin. Pride is! It’s because of pride that Satan and his angels fell from heaven. Pride keeps us from repentance. It also keeps us from a relationship with God. And pride can keep us from entering heaven. This mistake has led to the demonization of people instead of the demonization of devils. When people feel demonized, it keeps them from coming to church. It causes them to not want to be around Christians.
The enemy uses this to push them toward unhealthy people and unhealthy places. It needs to be noted that the slogan for the community is “pride.” Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction.” The pride of man hardens our hearts and keeps us from soft hearts surrendered to the will of God. Pride keeps our hearts and spirits at war with the perfect will of God.
The second mistake the church has made is that it has not addressed homosexuality. When this particular issue is unaddressed by the church, it leaves room for many unbiblical opinions and immature conversations to fill in the blanks. Due to a lack of biblical knowledge and the silence of the church, people are confused, left to wonder, and end up making unhealthy decisions that can be very destructive to everyone. Leaving this issue unaddressed helps no one, and can end up hurting everyone. Every church must address homosexuality. And every church must use the Bible as its ultimate guide for wisdom, love, and truth.
The third and most harmful mistake many churches have made is to affirm the sinner in his or her practice of homosexuality. It’s impossible to affirm what God never affirms. It’s impossible to call good what God never calls good, and it’s impossible to call blessed what God never called blessed. Because of the lack of biblical awareness, many churches have given in to the pressure forged in hell and embraced by man, affirmed homosexual practice and asserted all that comes with it is blessed by God.
In my book I show readers that God loves the sinner, but sin separates us from the God of love. As followers of Christ, we must respond with unconditional love to individuals dealing with same-sex attraction, and we must remain unwavering in our loyalty to God’s Word.
So what do dedicated Christ-followers do? You love God and love people, so it is most likely you have people in your life for whom you care deeply, who struggle with same-sex attraction or claim to be practicing homosexuals. It’s a challenge when the God we serve contradicts the actions of the people we love. You want to know how to help those you care about, how to comfort a family member or friend and how to honor God at the same time.
Let’s not make these mistakes any longer. Let’s love people and not elevate this particular sin above all others. Let’s not wait for the conversation to come to us but meet people in the conversation with kindness and respect. And let’s not endorse any form of sexual sin (heterosexual or homosexual). We can’t be afraid to have the challenging conversations. We need to love people enough to let them know the heart of the Father and the mind of Christ on sexuality with love, grace and truth.
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Author- Landon Schott and his wife Heather founded The Rev Ministries in 2008, a media ministry that airs TV programs, Second Take and The Evo Show internationally. In 2012 Landon and Heather launched REVtv.com a 24/7 online youth & young adult network dedicated to turning the heart of a generation to Jesus through Christ-centered media. Landon received his Bachelor Of Arts from Trinity Theological Seminary and authored Jezebel; The Witch Is Back, a spiritual warfare book. He just released his book Gay Awareness. [NEW from CHARISMA]
