I was talking with someone the other day and the topic of same sex marriage came up as our state senate was getting ready to vote on same sex marriage. I mentioned that I was opposed to this and they asked me why? I explained my position and they responed by saying to me that "you Christians are all homophobic and sexist." While there are some who this may be true off, how would you respond to the charge that the Bible teaches this? Due Monday Feb 13th by midnight.
Another blog entry. Oh, boy, here we go on this one—another hot-button topic. Actually, looking at it, there are two different topics here that really need discussing, so I’ll split them up and go one-at-a-time:
First of all, I’d like to look at how Christians are “homophobic” and what the Bible says about that. Honestly, I know a handful of people who profess to being gay or lesbian and can speak to them on a very personal level due to the amount of time that I’ve known them for—and it’s yielded some very interesting observations, for sure. A lot of homosexuals are afraid of the church and thus Christians in general because of how they are treated—with anger, hatred, disgust, rejection, denial, all of that and so much worse. In a lot of ways, they aren’t even seen as really human by some people who claim to be living in Christ, and this has been the basis for how Christians have gained the reputation for being “homophobic.”
But that isn’t the case at all. Homophobic implies that you are afraid of or revile homosexuals. Now, admittedly, in Leviticus the Bible does say that homosexuality is a sin and must be punished—but then again, so is adultery, so is lying, so is murder, so is hatred, and so is lust, to name a few. What we, as Christians, are called to do is love those who suffer from any sinful habit (since we all are the same—Romans 8:28) and bring them to Christ through our care and expressions of Christ’s love. Does that mean we agree with and endorse an action that is Biblically wrong? No more than we can honestly say that we agree with murder or adultery. But to hate and attack someone because of that is both non-biblical and non-Christian, which goes against the very things that we, as Christians, should stand for. So no, we are not homophobic—just not supporters of homosexuality. It doesn’t make a person more or less human and in need of salvation (just like we all are), it’s just a different style of sin than many people are used to seeing. One friend of mine put it the best way possible, I think: “The church is just starting to look at homosexuality in a more real sense and it is, as a corporate body, freaking out about this new level of sin. It’s like an infant who has run up against a new challenge that it doesn’t yet know how to master. Given time and level heads and scriptural backing, it will rise to the challenge and we will see a mature, organized, Christian response to the issue of homosexuality.” This isn't to say that homosexuality is a new issue, but the levels to which popular culture has taken it are far beyond anything people would even have imagined fifty years ago. Yet, even now, that rings true by the shift in attitude I, and others, have witnessed sweeping through the church: Treat those who suffer from sin with Christ’s love, not man’s hatred, because we are all human in need of Someone greater for our redemption.
Now, on the issue of sexism, I would say that I am far less able to talk strongly on the subject because, in most people’s minds, my gender inhibits me from making any definitive statements on the matter. But, I’ll try my best.
It’s true that the Bible does, at first glance, seem to teach gender-specific roles that may seem “sexist.” But, honestly, on deeper inspection it becomes clear that both men and women take on different roles based on our genetic predispositions and proclivities. For men, that may involve ruling/decision-making, as well as breadwinning, educating and disciplining the next generation, those types of things. For women, that may involve childbearing, nurturing, that element of care that comes so naturally to the feminine gender. So, I really don’t have that much to say on the matter of sexism in the Bible except for this—although it may seem that the Bible is biased towards men, it truthfully is one of the strongest examples of a religion that upholds women by making them equal to men in their different areas of expertise. Islam, basic atheism, Mormonism, they all can’t say anything like that. But in Biblical Christianity, it is seen that men and women share different responsibilities, and that only together can they become the most effective, because each gender has pieces that the other lacks but needs to be fulfilled.
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