Jesus Loves Homosexuals!

In the heated debate on gay rights and gay marriage...where are Christians to take their stand? Doesn't the Bible teach that homosexuality is a sin?  Indeed the teachings of both the Old and New Testament regard same sex relations as prohibited and outside the intention of the Creator. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah show God's wrath on a city deemed almost entirely homosexual. However it's not clear that was the reason for its destruction.

 "here are two passages that refer to homosexual behavior that are set in larger narratives. That is, they are part of a story, not a legal or moral code. Each deals with the threat of homosexual rape. The more famous of the two comes from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis 19:1-11. Lot, Abraham's nephew, is staying in Sodom when he is visited by angels. Men from the city come and demand that they be allowed to have sex with Lot's guests. Lot refuses and when he is threatened by the townspeople the angels he has hosted protect him. A similar story occurs in Judges 19:16-30 (minus angels and with a grislier outcome).There is broad consensus among scholars on both the left and the right (except for the very most conservative) that these passages have nothing to do with homosexuality per se, but rather with hospitality and justice. That is, both scenes represent hosts protecting their guests from severe humiliation and outrageous injustice. Some other parts of the Bible interpret these passages just this way. Ezekiel, for instance, refers to the sin of Sodom not in terms of sexual immorality but rather justice: "This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy" (16:49).http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/what-does-the-bible-reall_b_990444.html

The strict Law Code given to the Israelite in Leviticus also seems to  harshly address the issue but most Christians agree we are not under this code:

The Holiness Code of Leviticus There are two verses in the book of Leviticus that refer to homosexual behavior. The first reads, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" (18:22). While the second goes even further: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them" (20:13). Again, there is considerable agreement that both of these passages are portions of what is commonly called the holiness code, a set of rules and regulations spanning chapters 17-26 that are intended to set Israel apart from the Egyptians they fled and the Canaanites they were now living among. (There is also overwhelming agreement, thankfully, that however one feels about homosexuality, the death penalty is an extreme and unwarranted response!)

There is considerable debate, however, about three matters. 1) Do these passages refer to consensual homosexual practice (and whether that was even a recognized option in the ancient world), or do they describe the cultic practice of Israel's neighbors and adversaries? 2) Are these regulations contingent because they derive from particular challenges and situations the Israelites faced at that time (the importance of procreation, for instance, given that Israel was a nomadic people dependent on increasing its population for survival), or do they intend to establish universal sexual norms? And 3) even if these regulations were normative for Israelites, do they continue to be for Christians given how many other Levitical codes are contradicted later in the New Testament or have historically been ignored by modern Christians .http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/what-does-the-bible-reall_b_990444.html

The new testament authors address homosexuality with many other vices: 

 Romans 1:26-27: "For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

1 Timothy 1:9-11: "This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave-traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me."

1 Corinthians 6:9-11: "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers -- none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

So some debate whether or not, consensual, same sex relations is prohibited altogether or in modern day context where there is no rape or children involved and the relationship is identical to healthy heterosexual partnerships, with the gender difference only.

Most Christians I have talked to fall into one of four groups regarding these verses, depending on how they address two questions. The first we've named directly at several points already: Do the passages refer to anything like the phenomena of life-long, monogamous or mutually consensual same-gendered relationships that we know of today? (It's worth noting that the word "homosexual" was not present in the ancient world but was instead invented in the 19th century.) The second issue we've only alluded to: Whether or not the passages refer to the phenomenon we are describing today, are we bound to ethical determinations made by persons living in vastly different cultures and times and whose understanding of the world and of God's activity was shaped and limited by their own cultural viewpoints.
Depending on how you answer those two critical questions, you will likely fall into one of our groups.

• 1. The passages in question refer to homosexual practice in all times and cultures and so universally prohibit such practice.

• 2. The passages do not refer to homosexuality as we know it today and so cannot be seen as prohibiting it. Other passages therefore need to inform our discussions about sexuality in general and homosexual relationships in particular.

• 3. The passages may or may not refer to homosexuality as we know it, but they -- and the larger witness of Scripture -- imply a view of nature and creation that supports sexual relationship and union only between man and woman, and so homosexual practice is prohibited.

• 4. The passages may or may not refer to homosexuality as we know it, but they -- and all of Scripture -- are conditioned by the cultural and historical realities of the authors and so offer an incomplete and insufficient understanding of creation and nature and so cannot be used to prohibit homosexual practice today. Rather, one needs to read the larger biblical witness to discern God's hopes for caring, mutually supportive relationships, whether heterosexual or homosexual.

.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/what-does-the-bible-reall_b_990444.html

I'm not here to debate whether homosexuality is a sin. In fact I personally believe it is.It is a sin among a multitude of sins that we as humans commit on a regular basis.Romans 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

So is all sin the same in Gods eyes? No, the bible and Jesus are pretty clear that some sins are worse or "bigger" than others. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel”(Matthew 23: 23 – 24).
More on this: http://www.gracecentered.com/are_all_sins_equal.htm

In 1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.”The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to express that sexual sin is different from other sins. Because the sin is against the human body, Christians commit the sin against the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “All other sins are outside the body.” This distinguishes sexual sin from coveting, for example, because coveting is a sin done outside the human body.

http://www.gracecentered.com/are_all_sins_equal.htm

But while murder may be worse than same sex relations which is worse than cheating on your taxes...we can agree that sin is sin. And we can also agree God hates sin. God hated sin so much and loved us so much...He sent his son to die a horrible death on the cross and to take our sin upon Him.
Jesus Loves Hom
John 3:16-18 (Message Bible) “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

In light of that Grace...how can we ever cast judgement on another man or woman's sin? Why do some Christians try to assign the gay and lesbian community to hell? Or at the least exclude them from the family of God. In Matthew 7:3 Jesus mocks someone who struggles with great sin but takes it upon himself to “fix” another person who commits a less serious sin. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

It is clear, our trust and belief in Jesus Christ is what makes us holy enough to have eternal life. The scriptures are inclusive- not exclusive of those who still practice sin. They invite the sinner to repentance and love...not condemnation or alienation. Since we all still sin in varying degrees but are under the same Grace should we not extend our grace towards those who feel like outsiders and reassure them that God is their father who loves them?

But while murder may be worse than same sex relations which is worse than cheating on your taxes...we can agree that sin is sin. And we can also agree God hates sin. God hated sin so much and loved us so much...He sent his son to die a horrible death on the cross and to take our sin upon Him.
John 3:16-18 (Message Bible) “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

In light of that Grace...how can we ever cast judgement on another man or woman's sin? Why do some Christians try to assign the gay and lesbian community to hell? Or at the least exclude them from the family of God. In Matthew 7:3 Jesus mocks someone who struggles with great sin but takes it upon himself to “fix” another person who commits a less serious sin. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

It is clear, our trust and belief in Jesus Christ is what makes us holy enough to have eternal life. The scriptures are inclusive- not exclusive of those who still practice sin. They invite the sinner to repentance and love...not condemnation or alienation. Since we all still sin in varying degrees but are under the same Grace, should we not extend our grace towards those who feel like outsiders and reassure them that God is their father who loves them?

Luke 10

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Then Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan,  a man who cares for someone who has a DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT BELIEF AND VALUES SYSTEM FROM HIS OWN.

 In the King James version the word - love - appears 310 times in 280 verses...there is but a handful of verses regarding same sex relations. Maybe that is where we need to focus our energy. By receiving God's love and showing others that love, we can HELP ourselves and others to experience God's will for our individual lives. God will HELP us with our weaknesses when we COME TO HIM and believe. Don't block the path for others by reminding them why they are not worthy...were YOU worthy?

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.