Thanks so much for asking this question – although it would be helpful to know a bit more of the motivation behind asking it, as well as the circumstances you are thinking of (for example, are you speaking of homosexual behavior or orientation? And are you thinking of people in general who are gay, or followers of Christ who struggle with homosexual desire?).
But since it is not possible to get such clarifications at this point, let me at least offering the following for your consideration. And if it provokes further questions, please know that they are welcome.
1. As far as we can tell from both the Scriptural text and the social context of the time, the Bible on refers to homosexual behavior rather than homosexual orientation.
2. That being said, the Bible does rather clearly address homosexual behavior as wrong, or, to use the more traditional language, as a sin (see, for example, Romans 1:24-27).
3. However, we don’t see the Bible singling out homosexual behavior as a worse sin than any other. For example, it shows up in a list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, without any indication of a ranking of the behaviors mentioned there. Plus, the passage clarifies that in Christ, we can be cleansed and set free from such sinful behaviors, so that we can live a life that truly honors God (see the rest of the argument in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, where Paul addresses sexual sin in general – and he is talking to those who have made a commitment to Christ but are struggling to let go of the sinful patterns of their past).
4. Finally, the previous point is where we, as Christians, have largely failed in our response to homosexual behavior. We have been mostly condemning toward it, and have failed to simply love people, regardless of their lifestyle choices – which is precisely the example Jesus set for us (not sure how we missed that one! He even gained the reputation of being a friend of “sinners”; Matthew 11:29; see also the famous story where Jesus responds to a woman caught in adultery, John 8).
5. Of course, loving people doesn’t mean there is no place for confrontation (see 1 Corinthians 5), but that is a matter of “family business” within the church – and it should be done in love, with a desire to restore the person back to spiritual health (see Galatians 6:1-2).
I know this doesn’t address all of the issues raised by this complex topic, but I hope it is helpful at this point. I did teach on this topic about a year ago, and we are hoping to post both an audio and text file for people to check out in near future.
Again, let me know if you have more specific questions about all of this.
Warmly,
Dave Detwiler, pastor of worship & teaching
