Christians and Homophobia

Normally this blog is not a venue for discussing current events, but one news story came to my attention which I believe needs to be addressed in a Christian context.

Last week, a lesbian couple in Kingston, Ontario received threatening letters demanding that they leave town. The author went so far as to threaten shooting the couple with BB guns (one news report can be found here: http://kingstonherald.com/news/threatening-letters-kingston-2010311764). The reason I want to discuss this disturbing case here is because the author professed to be a Christian and even ended the letter “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our saviour.”

Thankfully, the public has almost unanimously come out in support of this couple and has publicly condemned the threats. I would like to add my voice of support for these women and condemn the threats. It really should go without saying that this kind of action has no place in Canada, but as long as incidents still arise, apparently it still needs to be said: this kind of treatment of any individual for any reason has NO place in Canada.

More importantly for the purpose of this blog, the kind of darkness that these threats represent should have NO place among Christians. I’m sure most readers know that this is an unusual manifestation of “Christianity,” especially in Canada. These sick individuals in no way represent the Jesus Christ that I know, or the Christianity that I profess.

I believe Christians especially need to be talking about this kind of thing. We need to make sure this kind of darkness never has a sanctuary among our ranks. We can’t just ignore it or brush it aside. As the Bible says, we must “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” (Ephesians 5:11-13) It can’t just be the secular media talking about this, but we as Christians need to be willing to talk about it openly as well. We have to bring these works of darkness into the light to expose and defeat them.

It is most troubling to Christians when people do terrible things in Jesus’ name. Jesus said that many people would falsely claim to act in his name: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)

I usually do not feel comfortable assessing whether someone is a true Christian or not (we leave that judgement to God), but the Bible provides an interesting clue which I think is applicable here: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.” (1 John 2:9) If there is anyone who claims to be following Jesus who still has this kind of hate in their hearts, we need to treat them with care and try to show them the true love and grace of God. Only then can they experience genuine conversion through Jesus Christ.

Any discussion on Christianity and homosexuality would be incomplete without being upfront about the Christian position on the matter. We have to be clear that male-female monogamy is the pattern instituted by God, and that homosexuality is a departure from God’s will – but so are a number of other things: serving other gods, dishonesty, and divorce, for example. We don’t see divorcees receiving the kind of horrendous treatment “in the name of Jesus” that we have with the LGBT community. The “Christians” who target LGBT people this way have bought into a number of dangerous fallacies, including the following: 1) the politicization of the church, towing some ultra-conservative political agenda rather than bringing souls to Jesus (remember, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world), 2) the idea that there is a “sin-scale” where some sins are worse than others (remember, Christians, if you have broken one part of the law, you have broken it all. See James 2:10. That makes us all guilty of every sin, and it means that each of us needs God’s forgiveness as much as anybody else).

Closing thoughts

To Christians: check your heart. If you have this kind of hatred toward the LGBT community or anybody else, go to God for forgiveness. If you have been saved by the grace of God, remember to share that same unconditional love with everyone you know regardless of their affiliation.

To the LGBT community: I am sorry that we as Christians have failed you for so long. We were called to love, and instead we have condemned, judged, and made afraid. I hope that the actions of some so-called “Christians” will not taint your perception of the one we profess to follow. If you read Jesus’ words in the gospels you will see his heart and will for humanity – something that we should have been reflecting. We have a ways to go. I hope you will see more and more Christians shedding our medieval baggage and returning to the pure example that Jesus set for us in the first place. And I hope you can forgive us. God bless you!

Born Again

Back at the keyboard! A month has gone by since my last blog post – I’ve been busy with a move, travelling, and a subsequent lack of internet connection. If all goes well, I hope to resume the habit of posting once a week. So stay tuned.

What does it mean to be “born again”?

2,000 years ago, a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night. He was a part of the Jewish religious group called the Pharisees, who had a public dislike for Jesus; but Nicodemus had become convinced that there was more to Jesus than he had previously thought. So in the middle of the night he approached Jesus in secret. It was then that Jesus told him what he had to do: “Ye must be born again.” When asked to clarify, Jesus goes on to say, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6-7)

How is someone “born of the Spirit”? Nicodemus had the same question, to which Jesus responded by pointing to himself! Read on in John 3 and you will find the now best-known Bible verse: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We are born again when we look to Jesus solely and wholly for our salvation, and are regenerated by his Spirit.

Do I have to be perfect to come to Jesus?

No. That’s the point – Jesus saves you because you can’t save yourself. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5). It’s purely an act of his grace that we can be saved, not by anything that we can do.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Too many people have the false impression that Christianity means joining a holy club and doing everything just right in order to please God. The fact is that each person has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but the good news (the “gospel”) is that Jesus did all the work that ever needed to be done, and he offers the results to us as a gift (Romans 6:23).

What happens after someone is born again?

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Being saved by God’s grace doesn’t mean you say a prayer one day and just go about business as usual. It means a life-changing decision to follow Jesus, listening to his voice, and allowing him to shape you from the inside out.

Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Everything changes. Where the world says love your friends and hate your enemies, Jesus says, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you” (Matthew 5:44). Where the world values material possessions and wealth, Jesus says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Jesus calls us to a radical transformation where sin dies, love reigns, and priorities are realigned to God’s purposes.

Closing thoughts

You must be born again. If the concept is foreign to you, I hope this serves as a basic introduction. Check back to this blog later for further discussion on the Christian life! In the meantime, pick up a Bible (if you don’t have one, you can read for free online at websites such as biblegateway.org) and see what Jesus is all about! If you have very little experience with the Bible, I recommend you start with the Gospel of John.

The Bible and Christians

Throughout the month of June I have been writing a series on the importance of the Bible. Today I conclude that series with a blog post on what the Bible means to me now as a Christian.

1. Guidance

As I have stated before, the title of the blog is based on a line from Psalm 119 which says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

  

God’s Word reveals his will for humanity, as we see in it examples and lessons applicable to our lives. In that sense we can receive guidance for our day-to-day concerns by prayerfully understanding what the Bible conveys.

Most importantly it guides us to our source of salvation – Jesus! If we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus, how can we be saved unless we hear about Jesus? As the apostle Paul said, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). The apostle Peter similarly said, “the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1 Peter 1:25). Certainly you can see the importance of this book to the Christian. By it we come to the knowledge of a saving relationship with God through Jesus! Praise God! Remember that next time you pick up the book!

2. Spiritual Discernment/Warfare

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

Ephesians 6 describes the “armour of God” which the Christian must use in order to withstand and combat the forces of evil. Each item in the list is defensive except for the sword, which represents both the Spirit and the Word of God.

Jesus gave us the perfect example of how the Word can be used to combat evil. When he was fasting in the wilderness, Satan appeared and tempted him three times. Each time, Jesus responded by quoting scripture! He said authoritatively, “It is written…” (See Matthew 4)

How does this apply to someone’s day-to-day life? First, if you find yourself confronted by temptation, discouragement, or confusion, you can go to the Bible to cut through these things. Have scriptures in your heart that can come to mind in time of need. Second, if confronted by some new doctrine, test it by the Bible. As I mentioned last post, if any spirits (and those who claim to have spoken to spirits) “speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). It is important to be familiar with the Bible so we can have a ready response when someone presents us with doctrine which is contrary to what God gave us in his Word. Like Jesus, we can be ready to say, “It is written…”

3. Nourishment

The Bible says that we receive spiritual nourishment in our reading of it. As Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

This “nourishment” facilitates our growth as Christians. As the apostle Peter said, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2:2)

If you feel as though you are stagnant in your Christian life, it may be because you’re spiritually malnourished! Put aside the sinful media of the world as spend some quality time with the sincere milk of the word. (Clever, eh? I thought so)

Some final thoughts:

I feel the need to apologize to anyone who has been hurt by the venomous words I used about the Bible in the past; as an atheist I understood the Judeo-Christian scriptures to be the vain imaginings of primitive men, and I often expressed that idea without tact. I have repented and I believe God has forgiven me for the terrible things I said about his Word; I hope you can too, and I am sincerely sorry.

Thank you for reading this series on the Bible. Next I hope to begin a series on some basics of Christian life, beginning with this concept of being “born again.” ‘Til next time!