Transcript Slide 1

Where we’re going tonight:
1. Intro: What We’re Doing Here Tonight
2. The Christian Worldview and The Bible’s Relevance
to our Modern World.
3. Homosexuality in the Bible: What has God Really
Said?
4. The Personal Witness of a Christian to Sinners
5. FAQ: Some Attempted Answers
6. Q&A
Initial Considerations:
Things that are true of all of us, whether homosexual or not.
We are all…
…made in the image of God.
…fallen through sin.
…eligible for forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice.
…able to find new membership in Christ’s body
Why are we doing this?
• Believers in Christ need to know how to speak to
unbelievers about all relevant subjects.
• Unbelieving Homosexuals need to hear the gospel
clearly.
• Believers who struggle with these things need clear
truth.
• This is a crucial issue in terms of ideas in our current
cultural climate.
We’re not doing this to:
• …condemn gay people or make them feel hated.
• …make anyone feel excluded or beyond God’s love.
• …win arguments.
• …shut our eyes to reality.
God’s Grace and
the Homosexual
Next Door
By: Alan Chambers
And the Exodus Int.
Leadership Team
Leaving
Homosexuality:
A Practical Guide
By: Alan Chambers
Part 1: Worldview
The Christian
Worldview is
Comprehensive.
The Christian Worldview is comprehensive
It includes Creation, Fall, Fix, Restoration
• What everything is (The world was made. Humans are made in
the image of God. Love and sex are part of His creation and His
good plan.)
• Why things are messed up (Humanity fell through sin. Thus we
are now broken. Creation has a curse of entropy on it.)
• How things can be fixed (The Creator entered His creation as a
real man in history. Jesus took on all the penalty of our sin and
paid our debt. He rose again to show we can be forgiven and
completely redeemed. We can be fixed.)
• Where it’s all going (He’s coming back to fix it all.)
The Christian Worldview is comprehensive
This complete understanding gives us:
• The ability to define things.
• The ability to evaluate things.
• We can know the value and significance of things.
• We can answer questions:“Is this…Good?
Beautiful? Moral? Right? Beneficial?”
The Christian Worldview is comprehensive
Two observations about this:
1. Parts of it are not understandable outside of the
whole.
2. Our views are not made up, self-generated or even
self-chosen.
The Christian Worldview is comprehensive
Parts of it are not understandable outside of the whole.
Many views Christians hold might not make sense when
seen from viewpoint that doesn’t believe in the entire
picture.
We need to know and tell the whole story.
The Christian Worldview is comprehensive
Our views are not made up, self-generated or even selfchosen.
• Our definitions come from the revelation of the mind of
the one who created them.
• We understand the true meaning of: the universe,
humans, love, sexuality.
• We can give direction for what each thing (and word)
means and how each thing is to be used because we
simply repeat the directions of the maker, who has the
authority to give direction.
The Christian Worldview is comprehensive
Our views are not made up, self-generated or even selfchosen.
A Crucial Question for our Day:
Is any definition is possible without authoritative
information?
(Where will it come from? Who has it?)
Other competing meta-narratives fall short.
• In our Creator’s revelation we find full definition and
explanation of the world as we know it.
• To get definition, especially in morality, you need
authority.
• Only in the Bible do we find the revelation of the this
authority—Infinite & Absolute Personality.
Other competing meta-narratives fall short.
Only in the Bible do we find the revelation of the this
authority—Infinite & Absolute Personality.
The two other options:
1. Non-Christian Spirituality: Finite Personal Gods, ruled
by a Great Impersonal. (Over-Soul, Fate, Force,
Energy)
2. Modern Naturalism: Matter/Energy is the Ultimate.
Other competing meta-narratives fall short.
Only in the Bible do we find the revelation of the this
authority—Infinite & Absolute Personality.
• God is infinite: Therefore He has power. So we have an
explanation for our existence.
• God is personal: Therefore He has authority. So we have
an explanation for our personality.
So the issue is, not what we as Christians want to say or
think is nice, but what has the creator said?
• People often act like we are simply unreasonable, but
that ignores the main issue:
• Where do they get their moral judgments from?
• On what basis do they define right, wrong, love,
…human?
• How do they know we're sinning for calling
something sin?
The dilemma: People in our culture don’t believe in sin.
They don't believe in an understandable revelation from
a Creator.
So…they don't believe we should be able to make
pronouncements about what He has said.
But this ignores that if there's no revelation, there's no
basis for their telling us what we should and shouldn't
say.
(In fact, there's no basis for rational conversation at all.)
So the issue is, not what we as Christians want to say or
think is nice, but what has the creator said?
We, on the other hand, don't believe we have the right to
generate morals from ourselves. We believe they come
from someone who is beyond human. So we don't have
the right to bend: we must simply seek to understand
rightly and report faithfully what He has said. There are
no other options between this kind of living and totally
amoral relativity.
Part 2: Homosexuality
and the Bible
What Has
God Really Said?
The Bible and
Homosexual
Practice
By: Robert A.J. Gagnon
Abingdon Press / 2002 /
Paperback
The Main Texts for thinking about the issue:
(The Whole Bible.)
• Genesis 1-3: Creation, Adam, and Eve
• Genesis 19: The City of Sodom
• Leviticus 18-22: The Holiness Code in the Law
• 1 Samuel 18: David and Jonathan
• The Gospels: Jesus’ teachings
• Paul’s writings: Romans 1 & more…
Genesis 1-3: The Beginning
This passage provides us with the framework for all
knowledge.
• God makes (so we exist), God speaks (so we know)
• It also gives us God’s design for what Humans are…
and what our Bodies are, and what sex is.
Beginnings of answers for:
1. What gender?
2. What is sex?
Genesis 1-3: The Beginning
1:26-28 “male and female He created them”
Maleness & Femaleness are part of the image of God.
The story here is complementarity.
The physical design of the human body speaks
something to its purpose in its role in multiplying.
“God’s intent for human sexuality is imbedded in the
material creation of gendered beings.” (RJG)
Genesis 1-3: The Beginning
2:18-25 and Human Sexuality
1. Sexuality is part of the fulfillment of our purpose.
2. Must not be too unlike (not the beasts of the earth
(v.19-20)
3. Must not be too like – Eve is human, but not male.
In both worship and human love, humanity is directed
towards the other.
Genesis 1-3: The Beginning
In Genesis 3, humanity sins, leading to brokenness.
This is why everything is messed up.
Genesis 19: Lot in Sodom
Not the best text for understanding the Bible's view of
Homosexuality, but not irrelevant.
See Ez 16:49-50 and 18:10-13, note use of word
“abomination” same word in Lev 18:22.
Ezekiel interpreted Sodomites actions in light of Lev 18.
Leviticus 18: The Holiness Code
The Holiness Code: Leviticus 17-26.
Part of the OT law given to Moses, to direct the life of
Israel until Christ came.
18:22 and 20:13 have the explicit reference to SSP.
18:22 occurs within a block of laws that forbid incest
(18:6-18), adultery (18:20), Child sacrifice (18:21) and
bestiality (18:22). All these are considered valid today.
Leviticus 18: The Holiness Code
The whole point of the Holiness code is the distinctive
holiness of God's people, not accommodation to the
surrounding cultures. (see 18:1-5)
The God giving these laws is the Creator who made them
“male and female.” All of these laws are to protect the
original design of human gendered-complementarity in
sexuality. “Abomination” here has to do with a radical
denial of the creator's will as revealed in our bodies.
Leviticus 18: The Holiness Code
If we don’t keep some of the laws in the OT today, why do
we stress others (like those prohibiting homosexuality?)
1. We follow the New Testament’s teaching in this area.
2. Jesus interprets and applies the law for us.
3. The parts of the OT law for the temple and
ceremonial observance we’re fulfilled in Christ.
4. The moral holiness the Law commands is what Christ
came to enable us to live out.
1 Samuel 18: David and Jonathan
• They related as brothers, not a romantic couple.
• David was clearly a heterosexual.
• Not censored, but played up: Which means there was
no worry that anything in the stories would have made
readers think they were about homosexuality.
• Why then? to show the nation that Saul's heir gave his
blessing and support to David's taking the throne.
(1 Sam 23:17)
The Life and
Teachings of Jesus
Today, Jesus' main trait is
seen as being “accepting.”
This is an incomplete and
inaccurate picture of Jesus.
Things He didn’t “accept”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Murder/Anger (Mt 6:22)
Adultery & Lust (Mt 5:28)
Laxity towards sin (Mt 5:29)
Easy divorce (Mt 5:32)
Revenge (Mt 5:39)
Hatred (Mt 5:44)
Religious Hypocrisy (Mt 6:1)
Amassing wealth (Mt 6:19)
Anxiety (Mt 6:25)
“Go and sin no more” (Jn 5:14)
The Life and Teachings of Jesus
True: Jesus never commented directly on homosexuality.
But…
• He was aware of the stance of the Jewish culture of His
day. He never repudiated it.
• It is unlikely He would have held a different stance.
• His conflicts were on matters having to do with people’s
need for repentance and who Messiah was.
The Life and Teachings of Jesus
True: Jesus never commented directly on homosexuality.
But…
• See Mark 7:21-23.
He mentions fornication “porneia” - to his audience this
would have included all the sexual sins listed in Lev 1820. He understood homosexual practice to be contained
in that word.
The Life and Teachings of Jesus
True: Jesus never commented directly on homosexuality.
But…
• See Mt 19:3-9 : He is stricter on divorce than the
culture, and He says we know what marriage should be
based on the how God created humans.
Conclusion: Jesus’ sexual ethic was more rigorous, not
less, than the surrounding culture.
The Writings of Paul
Rom 1:24-27 is most substantial explicit text on
homosexuality.
Context: Rom 1:18-32 is about people knowing what is
right based on what is created, but rejecting the
knowledge they have, rejecting the creator and His
design, and choosing to love, worship and serve created
things instead.
The Writings of Paul
In Rom 1:18-32 Paul is drawing a connection between
idolatry and homosexuality.
Idolatry is suppressing the truth God revealed in the
creation—about who He is.
Homosexuality is suppressing the truth God revealed in
our bodies—about who we are.
The Writings of Paul
Rom 1:24-27
• Paul says Same Sex Passion is “contrary to nature” --i.e.
it parallels the suppression of truth necessary for
idolatry.
• “Nature” means for Paul, not, “the way things are
usually done,” or “how we tend to feel inside,” but the
“material shape of the created order.”
• In other words: Homosexual practice denies the truth
about humanity as revealed in our bodies themselves.
The Writings of Paul
1 Cor 6:9-11 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.
Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals [malakoi], nor sodomites [arsenokoitai], nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you, but you were washed, you
were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
The Writings of Paul
1 Cor 6:9-11
Malakoi = the passive partner in homosexual intercourse,
the most extreme of which are intentionally feminizing
themselves to erase masculinity.
Arsenokoitai = “lit. man-bedders.” i.e. those who take
men to bed as if their partner was a woman. The two
words arsenos and koiten appear in the LXX of Lev 18:22
and 20:13.
The Writings of Paul
Gagnon on 1 Cor 6:9-11:
The focus on the act makes the term more inclusive, not
less, because it does not matter if the act is done as a
result of “orientation” or in a “long-term consenting
monogamous relationship.” It is the act itself that is
sinful, without regard to the motives for doing it.
Mentioning both partners shows the relationship is
consensual.
Part 3: Witness
The Personal Witness
of a Christian
to Sinners.
Jesus & Sinners: Our example
•
•
•
•
•
•
Available
Proactive
Approachable
Warm
Winning
Uncompromising
Jesus & Sinners: Our example
1. Jesus and the “prostitutes & tax collectors.”
See Mark 2:15-17
2. Jesus and the sexually immoral.
John 4:10-19
John 8:10-11
Other considerations:
• Our own past and our own nature
• How God views sinners.
He is not put off by their symptoms. He has
addressed their need.
• We are now in the “day of salvation.”
• The Holy Spirit: Our empowering.
Part 4: FAQ
Some
Attempted
Answers
1. Why would God forbid people to act the
way He created them?
2. If God is a God of love, How can He deny
Homosexuals happiness?
3. Does God send people to Hell because
they’re gay?
4. Why single out this one sin?
5. If you're a sinner too, who are you to judge?
6. Do Christians hate Gays?
Homosexuality and slavery are different issues:
1. Gender complementarity is pre-fall and rooted in
creation. Slavery is post-fall and rooted in Sin.
2. Homosexuality is a sin the Bible condemns strongly
consistently. Slavery is an institution the bible permits
and regulates but sows the seeds to dismantle in the
NT.
3. American slavery was a sin Christians and the culture
disapprove of. Homosexuality is a sin the culture
approves of.
4. It is not simply “our views have changed…”