Can I be a Christian and a Homosexual?

QUESTIONS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY-

The Bible says “love thy neighbor” and we are “equals under god’s eyes” but as church people look down on certain things like homosexuality. Now I understand that the Bible says it is wrong but it is really fair to us to judge them when (as it says in the bible) every sin is equal and no sin is too big you you ask for God to forgive you. Who are we to judge them, whenever our sin, even if it was just a little white lie is just as bad in Gods eyes as if you were a homosexual.

Can I be a Christian and a Homosexual?

Why are people homosexuals when God made everyone as if Adam and Eve?

This covers several topics and hopefully by the end of this you will have a super-quick overview,
There are several points to go at here:

1. The Bible does say “Love Thy Neighbor”. (Matt 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9)

2. The Bible does not say we are all EQUALS under God’s eyes. This is an incorrect statement. Before I go any further, let me explain this.

#1- Sin is sin and it is not something that we should be doing. Big or little.

#2- Different sins in the Bible have different consequences-
In the Old Testament, a thief paid restitution; an occult practitioner was cut off from Israel and someone who committed adultery or a homosexual act was put to death (Exodus 22 & Leviticus 20)

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Paul expresses 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 gossip, for example, because gossip is a sin done outside the human body.

#3- We know that from Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and from Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So everyone is a sinner and everyone deserves death. But here lies a case of the Grace of God vs. the Government of God.

Grace is extended to all sin (except one and we will deal with that in just a minute)
Government of God because of God’s Justice. God is a JUST God and he must punish sin.

EXAMPLE: Is stealing a package of post-it notes off of you teachers desk just as bad as bringing a gun to school and killing your teacher?

Both examples you can ask for forgiveness on and God will forgive you… That is His Grace.
As far as stealing the post-it notes, there really isn’t much of a repercussion on this sin. You may or may not return them. You may or may not deal with guilt. (your guilt is God dealing with that sin) It wasn’t right that you did it, but no one is going to put you in jail for this, or cut off your hand, etc.

Now, on the other hand if you were to go into school tomorrow with a gun and kill your teacher, there would be some repercussion on this sin. God is a JUST God and he has to punish the sin. You will deal with the guilt and also the law of the land. You will get put into jail. You will have a record that will follow you the rest of your life.

Both were sins, but one had greater consequences… SO DON’T FOR A MINUTE BELIEVE THAT ALL SIN IS CREATED EQUAL!

(on a sidenote, because I said I would deal with it earlier… the ONLY unforgivable sin is the permanent rejection of Jesus Christ Matthew 12:31-32)

#4- The Bible doesn’t say not to judge (Matthew 7) but it is saying by what measure you should judge.

So now that I have tackled all of those, let’s dive into Homosexuality.

The Question of “Can I be a Christian and a Homosexual”, the answer would be “YES”. However, I need to address this a little bit.

If you are asking this question trying to defend your homosexuality, then I would personally question whether or not you are saved. Because homosexuality is a sin and if you are living in that sin nature and not wanting to get out of it, I would question whether or not the Holy Spirit is in your life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

If the old hasn’t gone is a person actually in Christ.

If you are a Christian and a Homosexual and you think that it is OK, then you obviously don’t have a good grasp of what it means to be a Christian and you for sure have not read in the Bible what God thinks about homosexuality.

The last question on homosexuality is this: Why are people Homosexuals if God created everyone as ADAM and EVE?

First let me tell you my journey about understanding homosexuals, I used to think that if someone was homosexual, that you could just get a can of “STOP IT” and spray it on them and they could quit, but over the past few months have realized that this is not the case.
I understand that for some of you there is a major “YUCK FACTOR” when we talk about homosexuality, but we need to talk about it, because many people around you are dealing with it, some of you are dealing with it and my guess is that at some point in your life someone very close to you will deal with it.

I went to a conference this past November where Melissa Fryrear spoke and all of this data is from her:

There are Two Big Myths about Homosexuality in the world today:

1. Homosexuality is genetic
2. People choose to be gay

First for the Genetic issue…

Are people born Gay?
A. The American Psychological Association’s statement: “There are no replicated studies that prove homosexuality is genetic.”

B. Gay researchers admit no discovery of so-called gay gene (Simon LeVay, Dean Hamer, Richard Pillard)

C. Further study: Homosexuality and The Politics of Truth by Jeffrey Satinover, M.D.; Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate by Drs. Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse; http://www.narth.com/ (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) http://www.exodus.to/

Do People Choose to be Gay?
A. Most people do not choose the feelings, to be emotionally, romantically, sexually drawn to the same sex.

B. Some people with the feelings decide not to engage in same-sex behaviors

C. Some people with the feelings decide to engage in same-sex behaviors

D. Some people with the feelings decide also to adopt a gay- or lesbian- identity

E. There is increase in number of teen, young adults experimenting bisexually (cultural trend toward pansexuality)

Why would someone be attracted to the same sex?
A. Current scientific consensus is homosexuality develops across person’s lifetime and likely caused by complex interaction of familial, environmental, social, psychological, and temperamental factors

B. Official position of two liberal and gay-affirming American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association (believe it or not!)

C. For further study: Desires in Conflict by Joe Dallas (men); Restoring Sexual Identity by Anne Paulk (women)

Male Homosexuality
A. Familial Dynamics (Real or Perceived): Classic Triadic Relationship

a. Temperaments
1. Father is quiet, withdrawn, non-expressive and/or even hostile
2. Mother is overly emotionally involved, dominant, and strong
3. Son is shy, timid, introverted, artistic, and imaginative

b. Relational Components
1. Father and son do not healthily connect
2. Poor relationship between husband and wife
3. Mother shifts emotional needs to her son, becomes overly involved, two form special relationship
4. Father becomes even more withdrawn and uninvolved in his son’s life

c. Results
1. Breakdown between father/son, over attachment between mother/son, creates in son lacking confidence in own masculine identity (and possibly over-identification with feminine identity)
2. Attempts to fulfill sense of masculine deficit by connecting with another man—only knows how sexually: homoemotional needs expressed homosexually

B. Sexual Violation
a. 93% study participants reporting sexual contact with older or more powerful partner classified as sexually abused
b. 37% participants reported encouraged or forced sexual contact before age 19 with older or more powerful partner
c. 94% occurred with men. Median age participant at first contact 10; median age difference between partners 11 years
d. 51% involved use of force; 33% involved anal sex

C. Peer Alienation, Labeling, Harassment
a. Overwhelming sense of feeling “different”
b. Does not “measure up” in his own estimation
c. “Kitchen Window Boy”: viewing masculine world from outside, but never being a part of it
d. Teased and labeled “sissy,” “fag,” “queer”

D. Other Influencing Factors
a. Personality temperament
b. “Reverse effects” viewing pornography
c. Fear of, or rejection by, opposite sex
d. Pro-gay cultural messages
e. Negative spiritual influences aligning with Christian worldview

Female Homosexuality
A. Variations of Lesbianism
a. Same-Sex Experimentation: women who have “dabbled” in same-sex experience(s) but have not embraced homosexuality as an identity
b. Emotional Enmeshment: women who would never act out sexually, but have relied on another woman to gain an identity and a sense of well-being
c. Generation Y: younger women who think that bisexuality is in vogue or “cool”
d. “Classic” Lesbianism: women who strive to fulfill emotional needs and sexual desires through other women; they embrace a lesbian identity

B. Familial Dynamics (Real or Perceived)
a. Mother-Daughter Relationship
1. Core emotional needs met develops healthy “sense of being”
2. If no “sense of being,” vulnerable to emptiness and longing
3. Emptiness, longing emerge in drive to connect with another woman
4. Breakdown in maternal bonding creates same-sex love deficit; this becomes sexualized
5. Homoemotionality develops into homosexuality

b. Father-Daughter Relationship
1. Protection, Attention, Adoration, Support: Instills sense worth as person; sense value as female; models opposite sex relating
2. Lack protection, attention, adoration, support converse occurs

c. Husband-Wife Relationship
1. Affects whether daughter will desire to emulate or reject her roles wife and mother

C. Abuse: Sexual, Physical, and/or Emotional
a. National estimates against women in general: 17% to 25%; among lesbian women, conservative figure 60% and as high as 90%
b. Anne Paulk’s Interviews: 66% women experienced sexual abuse; 62% witnessed some form abuse against family member; of those molested, 85% sexually violated by male; 17% sexually violated by female; 25% were molested more than once
c. Dr. Stanton Jones: “Experience of sexual abuse as a child…more than tripled likelihood of later reporting homosexual orientation.”

D. Peer Issues
a. Overwhelming sense of feeling “different”
b. Does not “measure up” in his own estimation
c. “Third Sex” mentality

E. Gender Rejection
a. Paulk’s interviews study: “Did you want to be like your mother when you were growing up?” 80% “No!”
b. 75% responded men more desirable role models
c. 90% identified as tomboys; 60% mistaken for boy
d. Judgments: “Being a woman is bad.” “Women are weak.” “Men cannot be trusted.” “Men only want sex.”

F. Other Influencing Factors
a. Personality temperament
b. Exposure to pornography
c. Exposure to radical feminist ideologies
d. Negative experiences with boys/boyfriends/husband
e. Loneliness
f. Pro-gay cultural messages
g. Negative spiritual influences aligning with Christian worldview

What is the truth?
A. Because homosexuality is not genetic, it can be prevented

B. Because homosexuality is not genetic, people can overcome it

C. Thousands of personal stories testify to this reality; Biblical Evidence 1 Corinthians 6:11

D. More information: Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation by Drs. Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse. A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality by Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D.; An Ounce of Prevention by Don Schmierer.

Why is this a big deal?
The Bible only condones heterosexual behavior within marriage of one man, one woman. (True throughout the entire Bible)

Marriage is central to Christian theology-

As God has impressed His image on humankind in male and female, two people of the same sex do not reflect His image; only the complement of male and female do.

Earthly marriage (male as bridgegroom and female as bride) serves as a symbol of the ultimate heavenly marriage when Christ, the bridgegroom, marries His church, the bride (Rev 19)