I’ll open by saying that as followers of Christ, we are called to be salt of the earth. How can we be salt of the earth if we sugar-coat the Gospel? Part of sharing the Gospel is calling out what God calls sin, so that sinners can recognize the depravity in their hearts and their need for a Savior. I’ll also say that as followers of Christ, when we are promoting the Gospel and calling out sin, it is vital to do so in love, not hate.
Over the years, there has been a HUGE wave of homosexuality and transgender acceptance. Same-sex marriage became legal across the U.S. 7 years ago and our current president supports sex reassignment surgery for children. It is not only accepted and tolerated, but it is becoming more and more normalized in our culture. The propaganda has even manifested in public schools and in children’s movies. What is most troubling is that it is not only normalized by the secular world, but also by some Christians.
American Christianity preaches the antithesis of what God has said about homosexuality. American Christianity will teach that this type of lifestyle should be celebrated and that romantic love between two people of the same sex is just as Holy and Christ-like as romantic love between two people of the opposite sex. It teaches that since God created each of us uniquely and in His image, then that means that God ordained our sexual orientation, too. It teaches that Jesus would approve of the love between a same-sex couple, because “love is love” and that He just wants us to be happy. It teaches that tolerance and acceptance are Biblical virtues and that if we do not buy into the homosexual agenda whole-heartedly, then we are judgmental hypocrites and not Christ-like… Every bit of this is a life from the pit of Hell.
God created romantic love to be between a man and a woman ONLY- anything else would-be a mockery of His natural order, Did God create us uniquely and in His image? Of course. BUT He did not call us to live in sin and to be a slave to our struggles. I don’t care how anyone rationalizes it; a person’s sexual/gender identity was not our God-given identity. Our identity is in Christ alone- not in our sexual orientation and whatever sinful desire we may struggle with. He did not create liars to be liars, thieves to be thieves, murderers to be murderers, idolaters to be idolaters, adulterers to be adulterers, or drunkards to be drunkards… he did not create homosexuals to be homosexuals either. Contrary to the popular misconception about the Gospel, Jesus wants us Holy before he wants us happy. He does not call us to forsake our call for Holiness in exchange for our happiness. He called us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and to follow Him. (Matthew 16:24). He wants us to find our joy and contentment in Him, not in our sins. Tolerance and acceptance as defined by social justice are NOT Biblical virtues; mercy and grace are though.
On the flip side, many Christians will also preach that homosexuals should be killed/ humiliated/ bullied/ condemned, because they are an abomination. They preach that the most effective way to get homosexuals to repent of their sins is to march in the streets with picket signs and scream, “GOD HATES FAGS!” and “ADAM AND EVE, NOT ADAM AND STEVE!” These are also lies from the pit of Hell.
I shouldn’t have to remind any Christian that God is love and He loves all of us right where we are at- including gays. And that condemnation is not of God, but of the enemy. And that screaming at someone into repentance is not where a regenerated heart begins. It begins with leading them to a love for Jesus and a desire to please God. It begins with an understanding that even though He loves us where we are, He loves us too much to leave us where we are and that He has so much more to offer us than sin ever will.
So, what does it mean to be Christ-like towards this community? The answer to the question can be summed up simply doing what true Christians are already doing: living for Christ and sharing the Gospel of Christ. Just because worldly culture is constantly changing and evolving, it does not mean that God’s Word has changed. He is the same God today, yesterday, and tomorrow, and it has even been prophesized that as we move closer to the end of times that good will be called evil and evil will be called good. (Isaiah 5:20) Don’t endorse their sin by redefining scripture. But don’t spew hate and condemnation either. You will never encounter a single person on this earth that God does not love and does not want to redeem. People of the LGBT community are God’s creation, and their lives are just as precious as everyone else’s. They are also a very vulnerable community, especially children. Many have committed suicide and have acted in self-harm because of the bullying and condemnation that they have endured by the hands of people claiming Christ.
The world says that unless you unequivocally accept what God calls sin, then that means that you hate the person that is committing the sin. But of course, true Christians know that that is categorically untrue.
In a world where self-proclaimed Christians either 1.) water-down the Gospel; or 2.) spew hate and condemnation… choose the radical approach: loving like Jesus.
Jesus was radical, even when He walked the earth, and He is radical now. He loved radically, recklessly, and unconditionally. He preached that he who is within sin may cast the first stone, but then preached to go and sin no more. (John 8:7-11). He is so forgiving and so merciful and wants everyone’s identity to be rooted in Him. He wants us all to surrender our lives to Him and to be set free from the bondage that sin has held us captive in. He wants to live in our hearts so that we can be a light in the dark place that we call, earth. But He also does not compromise truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6 states, “Love does not delight in wrong-doing, but rejoices in truth.” Therefore, rebuking homosexuality IS loving.
So, when you approach a LGBT person- specifically, a LGBT person whom God placed upon your heart to speak to- you should ask yourself, “How can I get this person to know Jesus Christ?” Remember fellow Brothers and Sisters, the goal is not to get everyone to like you by sugar-coating the Gospel, nor is it to bully people into repentance by spewing hate… but to get people to Jesus Christ. So be salt and light. Always.
