Justifying

At church, our pastor is going through an interesting study in Sunday school he has entitled: “Gay Marriage, Women Pastors and Applying the Bible Today”. As any good writer knows, a catchy title is the starting place for selling a good book.

And a Sunday school class. In actuality, it is a class on hermeneutics, which is the study of applying the Bible in one’s day-to-day life. Of course, there are thousands of things one could study in such a class. He has chosen some “hot topics” as his launch pad, although the class will cover other things outside of women pastors and homosexuality. In our church, you could say he is speaking to the choir. However, the sad reality is that these heinous sins are slipping quietly into the church. In fact, it may be hard to come by a church in Emry’s generation that doesn’t stand against these serious problems.

This past Sunday, we started the study on homosexuality. Apparently, there is a book out that is pretty popular in evangelical circles right now entitled God and the Gay Christian. I haven’t read it, so I won’t sit here and denounce every single word it contains. But, first off, why would anyone take their theology from a guy with a degree from Harvard? We all know that college isn’t putting out Puritans today…

That aside, the title alone should be a red flag. I’m not saying there aren’t Christians who struggle with the sin of homosexuality, but can any true believer cheerfully stand up and proudly call themselves gay? I’m going to say no. No more than a true believer would proudly call themselves a liar, cheat, thief, murderer or adulterer.

Which is what I started thinking on Sunday. Homosexuality and gay marriage is an extremely hot topic in our world today. Like most people, I live in a neighborhood with at least one such “couple”. So it’s no surprise that “Christians” are putting out books trying to justify homosexual behavior. (Such as saying Sodom was destroyed because of the sin of gang rape and inhospitality. The former, certainly. As for the latter, how many straws can you grasp at here?)  But if we’re going to sit around and justify a heinous sin that is condemned both in the Old and New Testaments, why stop there?

I mean, isn’t it interesting that we don’t find a book on the Christian best seller list trying to justify lying? I think someone could make a pretty good case for that with the story of Rahab. How about murder? Surely God didn’t curse Cain because he killed Abel, right? Maybe someone should write a book justifying covetousness, or disobeying your parents, or cheating on your spouse? There are a myriad of sins we could sweep under the table, twisting the Bible so it supports our natural ways.

I think the reason you don’t find such books is because Christians (both those who truly are saved by God’s grace and those who claim the title in name only) agree that murder, adultery, and stealing are sins. Mostly. There are those who call murder by other names (abortion, euthanasia, etc.). And people will forever be trying to justify their actions. But I don’t see any books on the shelf entitled: God and the Christian Liar. So, why is homosexuality different?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer to that. Maybe it’s because it’s not just a “church topic” but a political one. Or maybe because gays are loud at demanding their “rights”, being heard over anyone else and getting on the front page of the news. In the end, I suppose, the answer is that man is by nature a sinner. And sinners want to be justified in their sin. So, they write books with ridiculous titles and incredulous ideas. And, sadly, it works.

At least for now. Because eternity is coming. A time when the only justifying that matters comes from a Holy God (instead of ourselves) and the only book that stands is His. A wonderful and blessed time for those of us who truly are Christians. But for those who twist God’s Word to justify their sin…well, they’ll soon know that Sodom wasn’t destroyed because they were “inhospitable”.

Lord, come quickly! Amen.