In the discussion of homosexuality, I always hear about how we should focus more on evangelizing those who identify as such and stop condemning the lifestyle and the person, etc. I feel like many Christians have stopped saying that homosexuality is wrong because they are more concerned with loving LGBTQ people but love, by itself, is not the gospel. Many people do not even know where to start in such a discussion, so this article seeks to get one started in a cordial discussion with one who identifies as LGBTQ. Since people have such hardened hearts concerning such things, some direction in an often difficult conversation is beneficial.
I am also concerned with the idea that homosexuality and transgenderism is an acceptable, logical, and beneficial way to live. The reason I am more concerned with this at this time is because it seems that the reason homosexuality and transgenderism has exploded is because many Christians have stopped talking about it being sinful and have simply moved to only “loving people.” But withholding the truth is not loving.
It is good to show people what sin is (for sinners to show other sinners), and I think the best way to do that in this case is to begin gently with a sociological discussion. Sociologically speaking, LGBTQ is an unacceptable, illogical, and unbeneficial way to live, not only for the individual living this way, but also for everyone involved in the life of such an individual, which is not only family members and friends, but in all of society such a person finds him or herself. Before we get to that, I want you to know that I don’t believe that LGBTQ is necessarily more sinful than other things, but because the world tries to not only condone it, but also beautify it, the conversation needs to continue.
Everyone Needs Jesus
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 reads. It also goes into a very harsh reality of the human condition earlier on:
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[1]
The need for Jesus is alive now as much as ever. The world is drowning in an ocean of sin and there are some who, instead of throwing the lifesaver of Christ, throw a pair of cement boots to those in need of lifesaving. The idea is that a discussion on love is not the gospel, nor are acts of love in and of themselves the gospel. The gospel (good news) is much more than only being love, just like God is more than love, He is also a Judge.
The Gospel is the Truth
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”[2]Jesus is the truth. He also told us that the truth shall set us free.[3] It is not wrong to speak against homosexuality and transgenderism. It is not morally wrong to speak the truth. Sometimes, the truth hurts. Anyone who has been told the gospel knows this. It doesn’t feel nice to know that we have sinned against God.[4] What blows my mind is how hard it is to find Christian articles on why LGBTQ is wrong, arguments against them, or even how to show people that LGBTQ is not only sinful, but harmful to society. If something is true, then we should be able to speak about it.
Think about this, when a person who is obese and has health problems and looks up on the internet the causes of his problems and discovers that it is obesity, this truth hurts. But it is nonetheless true (not only true but helpful and beneficial). Why are there no issues with slamming obesity truth claims? Perhaps we are unfortunately getting to that post-modern issue in the world today. Why is it only that when the dangers of homosexual acts are mentioned that people get so upset about it? Because not only is there a hard push in the world today not to judge, but even more, because people want to feel condoned and blessed for their sinful actions.
Unbeneficial. LGBTQ behavior is harmful to the individual, but also to society. It not only makes the more likely possibility of estrangement of family members, STI’s, and other issues being passed from one person to the next, as well as other individual consequences,[5] but it also creates people who pressure society into providing for them and picking up their slack. The former issue seems to be a no brainer, since even the CDC recognizes the fact of such.[6]
But people do not seem to think about how the LGBTQ community has an effect on society. The following is taken from the Williams Institute to explain the demographics of a graph on the website:
FOOD INSECURITY[7]
Food insecurity was defined as ever “not having enough money to buy food that you or your family needed” in the past twelve months. Question and sampling weight from the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index survey only.
HOUSEHOLD INCOME[8]
In 2017, the poverty threshold for a family of four was slightly over $25,086. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Preliminary Estimate of Weighted Average Poverty Thresholds for 2017.
 |
| https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/?topic=LGBT#density |
What many do not conclude from the numbers in the graph is that it means that those who identify as LGBT need more from the rest of society, and because of such are a burden to it. Instead, many see this as LGBT victimhood.
LGBTQ inevitably produces more disorder within a society with more broken families and less children in society, which means there is more chaos and, and there are fewer, orderly family units (since the structure of a high functioning society is built on marriages between men and women) to care for others in such society. The truth hurts, but it needs to be said. This is why the LGBTQ way of life is unacceptable, because of the damages it does not only to the individual, but also to society.
Logically speaking, living this lifestyle or condoning it does not follow. The idea that anyone can love whomever they choose is societally irrational, for instance, because two lesbians cannot reproduce. Similarly, in speaking of transgender people, if they complete transitioning, they cannot reproduce. A male who “becomes” a female through bodily alterations can no longer produce sperm, because of surgical removal of male reproductive organs. Similarly, with a female and her reproductive organs. The thing about this is that we cannot make or create what is true, but we can only discover it. What happens to the human species, to the nation, and to the society in which this becomes the norm? The human species would become lesser in number, thereby making the nations who adhere to such things smaller and ultimately weaker in military power, and the societies would break down due to things already discussed. The LGBTQ lifestyle is illogical on several levels, especially from an anthropological perspective.
Unacceptable. It is unacceptable if for no other reason than the fact that children are modelers.[9]Modeling in psychology refers to the imitation of a child’s behavior from watching his parents, or from the parental side of it, a parent models the behavior for the child to replicate. This is simply one of the ways that children learn. One major problem with this in considering LGBTQ lifestyles is that a female cannot model male behavior for a male child, or a male for a female child. In these families where there are two parental figures of the same sex, for instance, say females who have a male child in their household, they cannot model male, let alone father behavior, because they are biologically inadequate for such. Even if the adult female lesbians who were raising the male child were trying to teach him things that were more historically male oriented, there would necessarily be a twisted modeling of how a female is supposed to act, because of her manipulated, misunderstood, unnatural, behavior seeking to make up for the absence of a male presence in the household. A same sex household always denies a child either a father or a mother, and there is no possible way that the parents of the child in a same sex household can compensate for the absence of the opposite sex.
These things all add up to a distorted society, where the smallest part of society, the healthy family unit of husband, wife, and children should be the marker of a healthy ordered society. The major point of this is to show how we can discuss such matters based not on morality, which, homosexuality is definitely wrong, but since people have such hardened hearts concerning such things, we can show that LGBT is harmful to society, based on its sheer existence within a society.
A Further Look
What comes next could be a discussion on how the effects of sin cause the crumbling of society and how God wants the best for our lives which is obedience to Him. “Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.” The United States of America is unfortunately not that Nation, perhaps because Christians are more silent than we should be.
Romans 1:26-27 says, “For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Notice that the Judgment of God comes about because of disobedience. “…The due penalty for their error.”
Leading to the Cross
Once sin is realized, then we lead them to the cross. This is the case for any sin. “For all have sinned [homosexuals, those who live together before marriage, those who look on the opposite sext with lust in their hearts, etc.], and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, we all fall short. Every human is a sinner. No sinner is better than another in at least one sense.
God is so serious about sin that this is the reason why we die. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In other words, this is the biblical explanation of why we die. The death rate is one out of one people. The reason is because the sin rate is one out of one people… But this is not where it ends. There is hope, and not like a hope to win the lottery, but an expectant hope. That hope is found in Jesus. “The gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” In other words, we are saved from our sin through Jesus, and on top of that, He grants us eternal life!
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves us truly, and in His love, sent Jesus to take our place of punishment. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this; that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves you so much that He wants to know you personally. Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with everyone. He is the gift to the world. Romans 10:9 leads us to the final initial step… “Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and then you will be saved.” From here, we grow in Christ. Become like Him, learn about Him, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you, no matter what sins haunt your past. Jesus forgives you if you but ask. 1. John 1:9 says, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Why would you or anyone hold standards higher than God? If God forgives you, you can forgive you as well. Rest easy knowing this truth, no matter what your past is like.
© Nace Howell, 2022
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