{"id":4331,"date":"2015-03-07T18:32:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T18:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4331"},"modified":"2015-03-07T18:32:44","modified_gmt":"2015-03-07T18:32:44","slug":"sexuality-does-not-define-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/sexuality-does-not-define-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Sexuality does not define us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sexuality is an issue that the church has struggled to find a balance view on over many years. I approach this topic from my understanding of the biblical viewpoint, and God\u2019s love for every person. From my study of Scriptures, I do believe homosexuality is sin and is a lifestyle that a person chooses to engage in. To date, I can find no scientific proof that an individual is born gay. I am open-minded and if science proves that this is genetically possible, I may rethink my stance. But, to date this has not happened. I do believe that the church needs to build a \u201cbridge\u201d with the GLBT community. Marin states that, \u201cEvangelical churches, families and individuals all across the country are being challenged by the GLBT community. The dichotomized relationship between evangelicals and the GLBT community has a traumatic history and continues to grow further apart. Each group talks past the other rather than to the other group.\u201d[1]<\/a> Dialog is the key to bringing the church and GLBT community together. We may never agree on core beliefs that separate us, but we can learn to live and work together.<\/p>\n

Scripture has a lot to say on the subject of homosexuality. Leviticus 18:22 says, “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.” Leviticus 20:13 says, “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” These two verses clearly illustrate that God does not condone the act of homosexuality, and the practice of it leads to death like any other sin. What we must understand is that any action that leads a person to spiritual separation from God, will ultimately lead to death.<\/p>\n

When engaging with GLBT individuals, the question often comes up, \u201cwill a gay person be allowed into heaven?\u201d This is a difficult question to navigate, because it forces a person to take a stance on this polarizing issue. But, here is where we can allow the Bible to answer. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” On the surface this verse appears to bash GLBT individuals. Yet, it really deals with all types of behavior that God does not tolerate. Unfortunately, we haven\u2019t learned how to appropriately state the facts without emotionally and outright rejecting GLBT individuals. God does love everyone, yet we all sin. Some of us are tempted to sin, but have learned to overcome temptations and to choose not to sin. The issue that I see is that we don\u2019t know how to accept people that are different than us, nor do we know how to separate the person from the sin.<\/p>\n

Our prior neighbors were lesbians. They were very good neighbors, and we became good friends. They knew our views on homosexuality, yet they also felt welcome in our home. We did not allow their sexual choices to define our relationship. I see their lifestyle as no different than a friend at church who got divorced due to cheating on her husband. She is now living with this other man. She knows that I don\u2019t condone this, and will not support the fact that she is sleeping with a person that she isn\u2019t married to. Her choices and sin have led to a broken family. Yet, I still treat her with love and I care about her wellbeing. My family and I will continue to welcome her into our home without judging her. My hope is that she will see the love of Christ in our home and in my marriage, so that my example will eventually speak louder than anything else that I could say. In both of these cases, I haven\u2019t lied or hidden my beliefs or views. I don\u2019t allow my views and beliefs to dictate the way that I treat people.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve made bad choices in my own life. My own sin struggles may not be sexual, but I have sin nevertheless. If we could all come into community with this mindset, we may be better able to build bridges and move forward.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Marin, Andrew (2009-09-25). Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community (Kindle Locations 222-223). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sexuality is an issue that the church has struggled to find a balance view on over many years. I approach this topic from my understanding of the biblical viewpoint, and God\u2019s love for every person. From my study of Scriptures, I do believe homosexuality is sin and is a lifestyle that a person chooses to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[134,126],"class_list":["post-4331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-marin","tag-thatcher","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4332,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4331\/revisions\/4332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}