The United Methodist Church and Homosexuality

A United Methodist Church in Omaha has recently revised its policy regarding gays and lesbians to bring it more in line with the liberal movement in parts of the denomination (reported on cnn.com, available in their video section). The UMC’s homepage has two editorials on the subject, one in favor of a more liberal viewpoint towards homosexuality, one more conservative. This is a divisive issue, and one that certainly needs to be discussed, although I think the Christian standpoint is fairly obvious. However, what troubled me most about this is that neither of the two articles on the UMC’s webpage referred to Scripture. This is significant because, as Christians, we CANNOT base our theology on what we feel is right; we need to base our theology on what God says is right. I have decided that I’ve neglected this issue long enough, and thus will venture to argue that Christians ought to condemn homosexuality (while, of course, loving the sinner and encouraging him/her to repent).

Christians, by definition, are those who believe in Jesus Christ. Our only authoritative source of knowledge about Him and His teachings is indeed the gospels within the Bible. Our current canon, unlike other recent so-called gospels, was accepted by those taught by His apostles, who were in turn taught by Him, as being at least in accordance with His teachings. It’s significant that churches founded by, say, Paul, accepted the gospel of, say, John, and that the Bible itself is internally consistent. Therefore, Christians must believe at least the four gospels are infallible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) to have any sort of rational belief in Christ, or that His death and resurrection are sufficient to forgive our sins. If they are fallible, then we Christians can never be sure that our sins are truly forgiven. Now, humans can lie, so therefore we cannot simply state that the gospels are infallible because they were written by people who claimed to follow Jesus- how can we be certain that they weren’t lying or misrepresenting Jesus? We need something stronger- something like divine inspiration. But how can we know the gospels are divinely inspired? Well, how do we know that any written work at all is divinely inspired? This is a remarkably difficult question, and I refer you to your own research, The Canon of Scripture by F. F. Bruce, or Kenny Pearce’s ongoing series on this issue (part 2 is at: (http://blog.kennypearce.net/archives/philosophy/philosophy_of_religion/divine_revelation/why_believe_the_biblepart_2_th.html). In general, the answer comes from the combined testimony of the Church, based on apostolic authorship, and the witness of the Holy Spirit to confirm this. The Church, however, testifies to the entire Bible as the Word of God, so therefore Christians need to either admit that they don’t even have rational belief that Christ existed, died and rose again, or can forgive their sins, or accept the entire Bible as the Word of God. Since in this post, I am investigating how Christians should respond to homosexuality, I will assume that we can agree on the Bible as the Word of God.

So, we have established that, since Christians must believe the Bible is the Word of God, and thus is true, their theology must agree with the Bible. This, however, does not necessarily establish my claim that “we cannot base our theology on what we feel is right; we need to base our theology on what God says is right”. Since we know that Scripture is true, what does Scripture have to say about our feelings? We are told that God has revealed Himself to all people. Romans 1:18-20 tells us “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…”, so there may be some reason to think that we should be able to judge according to how we feel. However, Romans then goes on to tell us that “…although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (21-22). So clearly, at least in our inherently depraved state, we cannot allow our beliefs to be formed by our feelings if we expect to reach the truth. However, what of Christians? Certainly Christians, who are told that “…the anointing [the Holy Spirit] which you have received from Him [Jesus] abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie…” (1 John 2:27) can “feel” what is right and wrong. Well, I certainly won’t argue that Christians cannot feel instinctively what is right and wrong; however, we can be mistaken in our feelings and need to be guided by Scripture- interpreted, of course, with the aide of the Holy Spirit. Many of the letters of the New Testament were written in response to people trying- and clearly somewhat succeeding- in misleading Christians. 1 John itself is an example of this- before verse 27, he tells us “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.” (2:26). In Colossians, Paul explains, “Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words…Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceive, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (1:4,8), and again in Ephesians he tells us “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (5:6). Second Thessalonians includes the line “Let no one deceive you by any means” (2:3). 1 John, Colossians, Ephesians, and Second Thessalonians were all written to Christians- so clearly it is possible for Christians to be deceived. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself tells us that in the last days “false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Mark 13:22). Therefore, as Christians living in the last days, we need to be ESPECIALLY careful to compare our feelings to the Bible to make sure we are not being deceived into following a path contrary to Scripture. Based on what the Bible tells us about the possibility of our being deceived, we certainly need to BASE our theology on the Bible, and not on just our feelings.

So, then, what does the Bible have to say about homosexuality? The Law clearly condemns it- Leviticus 18:22 tells us that “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination” and in verse 20:13 God says, “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death…”. However, we also know that the law was fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 5:17), and as a result in the new covenant, some portions of the Law, such as ceremonial cleanliness and the animal sacrifices, are no longer necessary. One perhaps could argue that homosexuality is included in this, but Paul, writing to Christians under the New Covenant, writes that “…God gave them [the unrighteous] up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie…For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committed what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:24-25, 26-28). Those aren’t exactly accepting words, and neither is 1 Timothy 1:9-10, “...the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” (Paul is telling us that the law is to point out our sin, and yes, homosexuality is included in sodomy.) The Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, even under the New Covenant.

However, some people will argue that Paul’s instructions were specific to that time period, but this argument has several difficulties. The first is that no one believes that the condemnation of murder or kidnapping is specific to that time period, and secondly homosexuality was an accepted practice in the Greco-Roman society- he certainly could not have been telling them not to cause dissention with society, as some have suggested. Additionally, the Romans passage tells us that God condemns homosexuality. Thus, these people are telling us that God condemns something as sin at one point in time, but not at another, thus implying that God is unjust, since there are no theologically relevant differences in culture between our situation and those of the Christians in Rome. However, Scripture tells us that “He [God] is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4). Thus, as Christians, we must conclude that homosexuality is not a permissible practice, and that it is sinful in the sight of God and must be condemned.

After all this, though, I would be amiss to not point out that all sin is equal in God’s eyes- whether lying, murder, or homosexuality. Romans 6:23 tells us that “...the wages of sin is death”, for all sin, regardless of how insignificant or evil we might consider any individual sin to be. However, just as murders, liars, and people who don’t honor their father and mother can repent, homosexuals also can, although true repentance MUST be accompanied by a change in lifestyle, for 1 John 3:6 tells us that “No one who abides in Him [is saved through Jesus Christ] keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.” Thus, we should welcome homosexuals as we welcome all people- welcoming them to Christ through love while steadfastly condemning their sin.

More importantly, though, as Christians we need to take a stronger stance for the foundation of our faith. It is completely unacceptable that an argument can occur on the website of a major denomination without appealing to Scripture as all. We need to lay down our pride, and return once again to the Word of God, relying foremost on it. If we expect to serve God, and bring others to salvation in Christ, we need to seriously follow our own religion, and not our own thoughts or feelings. As a group, we need to stop undermining our own religion, promoting viewpoints that are inconsistent (as I hope I’ve convinced you the stance of the supporters of homosexuality in the Church is). We do need to addresses these issues, to discuss doctrine and Christian life- however, we need to do so in a Christian manner, which means relying foremost on Scripture.

Translational note: All Scripture quoted is NKJV, except 1 John 3:6, which is ESV, which is clarifies the verse better than NKJV.

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