What in the World Part 2…Appendix 2 (SSA)

by Aaron

At Element we are currently doing a series called What in the World Part 2, which seeks to answer questions you asked us last year. This past Sunday was a little tougher, because the question that was asked was: “What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?” If you missed it you can listen/watch it here. As you can imagine, this is a volatile subject in our culture today, and any answer that takes a stand will offend someone.
 
We didn’t spend a lot time talking about homosexuality; rather, we spent a lot of time talking about the story of the Scriptures and redemption. I did take you back to the book of Genesis and the creation account to show the normative way Scripture speaks about intimate sexual unions between one man and one woman. I do not believe that the Bible is in any way ambiguous in its stance on same sex unions.
 
I also believe that the Bible is not ambiguous on who Jesus died for and loves: all of us. Anything short of God’s best for us in our lives is sin. Many times, we live in open rebellion because what we want or feel trumps God’s call in our life. So when Jesus says things like,It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matt 9:12, Mark 2:17, Luke 5:31), those words are spoken to everyone—whether gay or straight. As divisive as our society is today (including the Church, sadly), we can easily forget how broad the scope of sin truly is and start to categorize certain sins, such as homosexuality, as worse or more taboo than others. When the Apostle Paul states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” it refers to all of us…and when Paul continues and says, “…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” this also refers to all of us.
 
Yes, at Element we believe that homosexuality is a sin, but we must make a distinction between the things people do, the things they struggle with, and who they are. In a culture that tells us we are defined by our actions or how we self-identify, we need to remember the truth of the Gospel—we are named and known by our Creator, and those who believe in His saving grace are forever redeemed. This truth should enable us to love anyone, regardless of what they struggle with, because love isn’t condoning what people do…it is recognizing their true identity and worth found in God. Too often, the Church has elevated this one thing above all other issues and said, “This is the worst thing a human can do!” But the worst thing any of us could do is reject the love and grace of God. God doesn’t hate people who are struggling with sin in their lives. If that was true, He would hate all of us. The reality is that our struggle with sin is not the end of us, nor does it define us; it is this universal brokenness that can drive us to the healing hands of the Great Physician.
 
In order to help you start the dialogue, I would like to point you to a couple of blogs. (I know, you are already reading a blog and now I am referring you to another one…it’s like the Twilight Zone). Read these articles with an open heart and pray that God would reveal to you what He is trying to say. The first one is written by a young man who struggles with SSA (same sex attraction); the second is a study by Mark Yarhouse, Professor of Psychology and the Rosemarie Scotti Hughes Endowed Chair of Christian Thought in Mental Health Practice at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
 
As followers of Jesus, we must be willing to enter into discussion with others, but we need to remember what this actually entails from a Gospel perspective. It is not telling people God hates them, and it’s not telling them the Bible condones whatever they want to do. Rather, we must enter with grace and point to the redemptive love and hope of God in all things—that it is not our works that save us, but the work of Jesus that saves and restores us.
 
Lastly, let’s work to create a culture within Element and beyond where we can feel the freedom to express our struggles with sin without shame. As shared in the first blog below, church climates are often tragically perceived as oppressive. If our lives are truly centered around the Gospel, we should be encouraged to move toward one another in our brokenness, as we recognize the great need each of us has for Jesus.
 
https://torreygazette.com/blog/2015/10/26/on-my-struggle-with-homosexuality
http://henrycenter.tiu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Yarhouse-Homosexuality.pdf