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From the way that this issue is painted, Homosexuality is the worst sin to befall mankind. I made the argument in a discussion of the McDonald’s boycott that there are many sins that God hates, and that we should make sure that we major on what God considers sin.
So, what about this sin?
Let’s Look at Romans
Perry believes that God exaggerates the importance of this sin based on Romans 1:27. What’s interesting about this passage is that it is a progression.
If you back up to Romans 1:18 you see the root of the problem:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them. [Emphasis mine]
All ungodliness gets God’s judgement because people are without excuse. Let’s remember that the very first sin—the sin that started our separation from God was not homosexuality, but disobedience spawned from pride. In fact, if there were a sin that I would think merited the award of the “highest sin” it would be that of pride1. Pride was part of Lucifer’s fall. It was part of Eve eating the fruit (“You would be as God!”). Pride is something that we all struggle with every day.
From there, as we travel down the passage we actually see that the sin that’s really called out here is a rejection of God.
- When they knew God, they did not glorify him (vs. 21)
- They were not thankful (vs. 21)
- They became vain, and foolish (vs. 21)
- They trusted in their own wisdom (vs. 22)
- They made idols, and worshipped works made by their hands in the image of the creation (vs. 23)
It isn’t until we get to verse 24 that we see God doing anything—and it’s in response to these sins. Again, because of these sins, God gave them over to the uncleanness of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies.
Homosexuality is a Result of Sin
Homosexuality seems to be at the end of a culture in decline, not at the start. It’s a symptom, not the cause.
A preacher once gave the illustration that sin could be likened to a spider web. One may say, “I have to keep cleaning the spider web” but the smart person would say, “I have to kill the spider.”
In this case, homosexuality is the web, and the sin of rejection of God is the spider.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Take the classic illustration of Sodom and Gomorrah. We all know that sodomy gets its name from this ancient city, and that they were judged for their sins—one of which was homosexuality.
The interesting thing is what’s said of Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49-50:
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good].
What are the sins for which God punished Sodom? Although you could read “committed abomination”2 as “homosexuality” in this passage, it’s near the end of the list—pride being at the forefront.
Conclusion
So my argument is this—we can spend our time trying to combat one of the latter stages of our culture’s decline, or we can actually pay attention to what caused this problem in the first place.
Perry’s on the right track here with training his children. But our time and energies would be better used reaching souls with the life-changing Gospel of Christ (killing the spider) than attempting boycotts to change policies that only reflect the culture at large (the spider web).
- Incidentally, this sin is listed among the three things that are “of the world” in 1 John 2:16. [↩]
- Strongs defines abomination as a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable—in a ritual or ethical sense [↩]
Wow, great post!
When I was taking Romnas, I noticed there was a certain progression about this passage. If you look at the “list” at the end of Romans 1, a case can be made about the progression of sins that shows the problems originate in heart with beliefs about God. The physical actions that result from these beliefs occur way down the line. The problem exists within the mind and heart.
Rachels last blog post..Where Is Your God?
Excellent. Love the kill the spider rather than just keeping the web clean analogy.
It really does all start with Pride and rejecting God…funny isn’t it, how we sometimes want to just fight the sin without getting to the heart of the issue.
Sarah@Life in the Parsonages last blog post..My Happy Time…
Well said! I also like the analogy of killing the spider rather than just dusting away the webs. We’re called to share Jesus with the lost, not try to fix them.
@Rachel: There is a definite progression– a reactive progression. Man makes a choice, and God responds. Man’s heart gets more wicked, and God lets them continue in their folly– much like He did with Pharaoh.
We can try to mend the outside, and we can try to enforce conformity, but one of the lessons to be learned from the Old Testament Law is that even though the Israelites had them, they still had an empty heart. Just look at the Pharisees.
@Sarah@Life in the Parsonage: Thanks for stopping by! Pride is definitely the core sin here, and everything in our culture screams to “have it your way” and “just do it.” And we wonder why our country has fallen where it has.
@Andrea: You’re right– we can’t “fix” anyone. Only the power of God can change a heart and lead to lasting change.
That really was a great analogy on the spider.
Since my boys are too young to give them an appropriate answer as to why we will not frequent McDonald’s any longer. The only thing they understand is that their favorite restaurant is doing something against God.
Great post, MIn.
Leticias last blog post..HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE THIS?
And this is why I love America. You are entitled to your beliefs. You are entitled to your interpretation of your Bible. You are entitled to boycott and complain about businesses that promote equality (BTW- McDonald’s stock has risen since the “boycott” began).
But on the flip side– I am entitled to reject your ideology, beliefs, and interpretations. I am entitled to refuse to live by your biblical rules and regulations. I am entitled to belief that the Bible is a wonderful collection of stories, and nothing more.
I see a much more definitive separation between CIVIL and RELIGIOUS. You blur that line so much that it’s hardly visible anymore.
So to wrap this up- your beliefs=great for you, your family, friends, and church. Just please don’t attempt to foist them on me, or create laws that would force me to follow your religious ideology.
Musicguys last blog post..Cindy McCain: Out of touch with America
@Leticia: Thanks.
@Musicguy: Did you actually read the post, or did you just decide to respond with a template answer?
If you’d read it, and understood my side of the argument, you would have seen that my argument is that I think that this boycott is unprofitable, and needs a positive counterbalance where change is made on a personal basis. Nowhere in my argument will you find me calling for a civil law to outlaw gay marriage.
Like I said, sounds like your talking points don’t exactly fit my argument. Let alone the fact that a discussion of what I believe the Bible says about the sin and its relative position with other sins, is not inherently cultural.
A true understanding of what I said would reveal that, though I believe that homosexuality is a sin, I believe that it’s the result of greater sins up the chain, and that we should be worried about changing the heart, not trying to control the outer actions.
Your killing the spider instead of dusting away the web is a great analogy and, as an author, I love an ingenious and memorable way of describing a truth. My parallel analogy – one I’ve used in my book, A Painful Post Mortem – is that you can’t stamp out the darkness (i.e. go on marches, bring in laws)you can only bring in the light (Jesus, the gospel, salvation).
Mel Menzies
@Mel Menzies: Good point, Mel.