Purpose




Thoughts of a messed up Christian saved by God's grace





Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Nick, Joni, and I

**This is one of those blog posts where I talk about things relating to my personal struggles, which may make some people uncomfortable.

   I have had my share of arguing and debating people who want to claim that you can be Christian and gay. And by gay here, I mean engaging in sexual activity with the same sex. I was in a Facebook group for Christian bloggers a while back that was inundated with liberal Christians claiming so, and they were very hard on anyone who dared go with what the Bible says. I was actually called a hateful bigot several times by a man who claims to be a pastor, but is a false prophet.... John....even though he knew I myself deal with that issue.

   A few months back, a guy on Facebook sent me a friend request. He's a nice guy, but is a liberal Christian. He posted last week in regards to the baker and Supreme Court case "Jesus would bake the cake, and it would be a good one." I commented my disagreement, which led to a back and forth debate on Facebook messenger throughout the day. The debate was civil, even on my part...which can be difficult for me. I take it seriously when well meaning Christians pat gay people on the back and tell them the Bible doesn't really say it is a sin, and they can be Christian and gay....as in having sex. It bothers me a lot, and irritates me a lot. I believe there will be a lot of gay people in hell, helped there by well meaning Christians.

   But anyway, one statement my friend made has stuck with me. If I understand everything he said in  our long conversation, he doesn't believe a Christian can have casual gay sex, but he believes God approves of a monogamous gay relationship.

  It would take a lot of scrolling to find his exact words, but it boils down to this: "I cannot believe God would expect a gay person to stay celibate, and go to hell if he gives in and has a gay relationship." It reminds me of the serpent's words to Eve "Did God indeed say 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

  We tend to look at things with our human emotions. It isn't fair that someone who is attracted to the same sex has to be lonely and not have someone to love. And it isn't. Pardon my "french", but it sucks. But life isn't always fair. And life isn't all about having a relationship with someone. That should not be our goal. Our goal should be a relationship with Jesus, more than anything else. What is more important to us, sex and a relationship with a person, or pleasing God and having a relationship with Him?

  Two of my all time heroes are Nick Vujicic and Joni Eareckson Tada. Nick was born with no arms or legs, just a foot. He is an amazing guy who has not let his handicaps stop him from living life to the fullest, and has done such things as surfed and other things you would think a guy like him would not be able to do. He is married with I think 4 kids now. He goes all over the world speaking, and has written at least 4 books. God has used him in ways he would never have been used had he been born whole.



   Joni Eareckson Tada had a diving accident at the age of 17 in 1967 that paralyzed her from the neck down. She has spent 51 years in a wheelchair, but like Nick she has not let that stop her from doing God's work. She has authored several books, speaks, paints, and more. She has a ministry to get wheelchairs to those who cannot afford them or have access to them.




 Now let's weigh the options here. If you had to pick one of these 3, which would you pick:

1) Born with no limbs

2) Paralyzed from the neck down for most of your life.

3) Same-sex attraction, and most likely a celibate lonely life.

  None of these are fair. No one asks for any of them, and all are stuck with them for life. (Different people progress different with SSA. Some are able to marry the opposite sex and make it work, and a small number lose the SSA completely..... but most deal with it on some level all their lives.)

   I can tell you which I'd pick: the one I got stuck with. Yeah, it has been hell at times. It is lonely. Most Christians don't get it and have no clue. Some Christians equate it with being a child molester. You are feared by one side, and hated by the other if you dare suggest change is possible and necessary.

 But to have no limbs or be paralyzed.......no. I couldn't handle that.

  It isn't fair what I deal with, but it isn't fair that those 2 godly individuals deal with what they have. You see, God is all about making us like Him and getting us to Heaven to spend eternity with Him. His purpose is not to make us happy. Sure, if we are in the center of His will, we should be happy to some extent.

 But to say hundreds of years of godly men were wrong, and that suddenly shallow, liberal-minded men who are as close to God as we are to  the moon suddenly know better than those men (and the Bible) ....it is ludicrous. It is ludicrous to say God is OK with what the Bible clearly says is a sin, because it isn't fair for gay people to not have sex and to not have someone to love.

  The Old Testament has some blunt things to say about this sin. It is called an abomination. Several sexual sins are condemned, and the penalty for most was stoning. Jesus came and removed those penalties, but not the penalty of hell. And Jesus was actually harder on sin than the Old Testament. For instance, He went further on adultery and said if a man looks lustfully at a woman, he commits adultery. That same Jesus is not going to suddenly be OK with homosexuality. And no, just because He didn't address it, it does not mean He changed His mind about it. There are other things He didn't address that are definitely wrong.

   Being a Christian involves some words that are absent when 2 guys (or women) are screwing each other and claiming to be Christians: denying yourself, sacrifice, carrying a cross. My life has not always gone like I wanted, and I took some roads I never should have taken. There have been times when God seemed so far away, and I despaired of ever being who and what I should be. But no matter my state in all of these years, I have always firmly believed the Bible is clear that sex between 2 people of the same gender is sin, and will lead to an eternity in hell. Along with many other sins.

  Anyone who gambles their soul on these liberal Christians' beliefs that you can be gay and Christian, are fools and will pay for it some day. God won't give anyone a free pass on judgment day because well meaning Christians told them they could do it.

  And to these people claiming you can be gay and Christian, I leave the following verse. The previous verse lists several sins that will send people to hell, including homosexuality. And then this awesome verse is next. If it is OK, then why was the need to be delivered from it?


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