the good thing about being in a liberal new england town is that things are different. whether it's eating more organic products (beer included) to being conscious of energy consumption and renewable energies, using one's own grocery bags when shopping for organic and locally grown products from the natural foods co-op, footwear (some of my most comfortable shoes were bought here in middlebury), you just know things are different up here. the very nature i've studied two foreign languages in an immersion environment in the green mountains is, by its very nature, alternative to conventional study in other parts of the country. i've also been exposed to alternative media, podcasting among others, which opens wide the news and information i receive in a time quite different from the three broadcasting networks. am i more informed about news and cultural events than my father was at my age, or is it simply a question of accessibility?
another alternative thing popular in vermont and throughout new england is alternate sexual lifestyle, primarily homosexuality. on campus, there are signs everywhere promoting diversity and acceptance and ensuring a safe place for one to express or question his or her own sexuality. one thing i do not appreciate about this policy, as with its policy on gender discrimination, is the assumption that we all have discriminatory tendencies and that we should make every effort to accept everyone who is different from us and repress the acknowledgement that we are different--even in capabilities.
the following are some questions i'm facing as i'm developping a friendship with someone who is in a homosexual relationship:
1) am i to love this person as i would anyone else who is heterosexual and a sinner?
2) in a list of ways to recognize the sinful nature in Galations 5, there is sexual immorality along with jealousy and others, so is someone who sins (homo)sexually different automatically from the heterosexual who has "fits of rage" or anything else on the list?
3) is homosexuality an unforgivable sin which automatically excludes one from salvation?
2 comments:
Paulie-
These are great questions. I have recently been studying a bit about salvation and I have some opinions about your questions.
The first one, your question as to whether or not you are to love this person, is a clear yes. Loving someone means putting them before yourself- this could be praying for them instead of reading a book you wanna read or not making fun of them when others are. It could be not condemning them and making them feel like the Lord loves them despite their "lifestyle."
The way I see homosexuality is like any sexual sin- the same as having sex before marriage. It is a sin to have sex outside of God's design- marriage between a man and a woman. Notice however, that we don't shun people in churches for having premarital sex. I think, in my opinion, that the church is much to choosy when it comes to which sins to condemn in people and where to throw our stones (which Jesus said is nowhere because we're all jerks.)
So I guess my answer to your second question, is yes, it is different than fits of rage in the sense that "it's against our own body" - "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body" 1 Cor 6:18
It is different but at the same time, NO SIN is too big for the cross. When Jesus died he forgave the white lies as well as rape. At the cross, the person who asks is forgiven.
Which brings me to #3. Homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin. Jesus died to have a relationship with someone who struggles with that sin as well as the sins we struggle with. "neither height nor depth, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor ANY powers can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus." Romans 8ish. When we treat homosexuals like what they do is so repulsive, even the Lord doesn't want them, we are belittling the cross and our savior.
-Victoria "miss opinionated" Stembokas
Hi Paul,
I have faced and struggled with similar questions. I actually couldn't agree with Victoria more.
In my friendships with people participating in homosexuality, the catch was the whole "acceptance issue." There can be a fine line between loving and supporting someone and letting them know that they can come to you and supporting their sin. For me, it's really difficult to find the balance.
I love you and will be praying for you to consistently show Christ's love to everyone you meet.
Abrazos!
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