Chicken, Sexuality, and Forgiveness
Hello friends, readers, brothers and sisters in Christ. It seems that we have become inundated with the Chick-fil-a issue. Being in Canada I have never eaten at Chick-fil-a, I have never even heard of it to be honest. But now here we are – I have heard of Chick-fil-a. The liberal media and liberal society we are in has declared war on Mr. Cathy and his company because of a stance he took with regard to traditional marriage. What did they expect a Christian to say?
So Mr. Cathy made a statement…now it’s my turn.
This is my statement: Jesus lived a sinless life,He died and rose again so that sinners might be forgiven their sins and reconciled to God.
That is not really my statement. It is God’s. Any sinner, who repents and believes in the sacrifice of Christ, will be saved. That includes both heterosexual and homosexual sinners. I personally know “gay Christians.” This may come as a shock to some of you but they do exist. Gay Christians exist. They are around you. Some have confided in me and asked that I do not expose them, some are public. They are gay, queer, homosexual – whatever word you wish to use – these people are attracted to people of the same sex, and yet they believe in the sure promises of God. Yes, for my reformed friends – they are reformed as well. In fact they inhabit the pews next to you on Sunday. They are all celibate. Everyone who has confided in me. Some have given in to temptation and fallen into sin and repented, some have remained celibate for life. And they all suffer intensely for the truth. God has granted them to suffer and they do so with joyful hearts. If only I could suffer so joyfully.
I also know many heterosexual single Christian men and woman. Some who are well into their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s who have to struggle also against their flesh. Who struggle against their lusts. Who struggle against their desire for sexual fulfillment that is against God’s law. Do you think you suffer? If you are married, you know the joy of sex. If you are married you also likely know what it is like to go without for a time. Now …imagine that time “without” lasting a lifetime. That is perseverance. That is faith. That is trust in the sure promises of God. That is what the homosexual Christian goes through. Not only that, but that they suffer ALONE for fear of what you and I will think of them. I am glad some have confided in me their fears and struggles. I pray that God would comfort them and give them strength.
Question: Really, is there a difference between a person who has a homosexual orientation and a person who struggles against lusting after the opposite sex?
I want make another statement.
God created sexuality… and His will is very clear for how it is to be experienced and enjoyed in holiness and joy.
Mark 10:6-9 explains his will for marriage:
6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
His will is that a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and that the two will become one in body. In marriage between a man and woman sex finds its meaning. In marriage, sex finds it’s holy, pure and God blessed meaning. Whether the couple is sterile and simply enjoys sex for the pleasure of it, or whether the couple has 12 children or 1 child, God is very clear; Sex is to occur only between a married man and woman.
And God makes no distinction between homosexual or heterosexual. In answer to my question: There is no difference between those who have left God’s way for sexual fulfillment and partaken of homosexual intercourse or heterosexual premarital or extramarital sex. The point is that in Jesus, all sinners are offered amazing and radical mercy, love and forgiveness. Regardless of your sexual sins… let me rephrase that…Regardless of any sin, in Jesus we can find forgiveness, joy and reconciliation.
My issue is not with the homosexual person, like I said, I have friends who are “gay.” Just as my issue is not with the proud person, or the glutton, or the cheater. My issue is that our society has seen fit to normalize sin. That is, we are “supposed” to celebrate same sex marriage. We are to overlook the life in the womb for a woman’s choice. We are to tolerate all sins as long as they don’t “affect” us. We are a sinful and selfish people, reveling in our sins – that is what I grieve over.
Christians know what is coming. Eternal hell or eternal glorification. No one escapes! We reap in eternity what we sow in this life. The difference between Christians and the unbelieving world is that we greive over our sins and shortcomings…we don’t celebrate them. We fight against them in the spirit and in faith. Yes even our homosexual brothers and sisters in Christ fight with the strength of the spirit. We seek our salvation outside of ourselves in Jesus Christ. We hate our sin. We don’t celebrate our sin or try to normalize it. We turn to Jesus for forgiveness, strength and help.
Sometimes, I weep for the world. I grieve for the world that does not view a single cell growing in the womb as life. I weep for the world that sees us reveling in our pleasures at the expense of each other, at the expense of God.
To be honest, I am tired of the Chick-fil-a news. I am tired of hearing about same sex marriage. I am tired of having to do choice chains ( I have only done 1 but still) I mourn over the loss of the institution of marriage. I mourn the deaths of hundreds of thousands of babies every year. I am tired and I am not even 35 years old yet! I wonder what else I can get tired about? My point is this… we are all sinners. Have you committed a sexual sin? Cheated on your spouse? How about other sins? Have you had an abortion? We all need a saviour. I need a saviour. You need a saviour. Everyone needs a saviour…we are ALL sinners.
Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God – 1 Corinthians 6:11.
As Lot was in his day, as Abraham was in his, and as many others before us down through the millennia, we may well be tired, and justifiably so, of the sin and evil we see around us, but we cannot quit standing true to God’s word, we must continue to speak the truth in love. As the apostle Paul said we must run with patience the race set before us. Let us keep on keeping on, and let us encourage and uplift one another in the faithful admonition of Jesus’ Word 🙂 Blessings!
When I am tired, it is then that I realize the strength that God provides. I am tired. I really am. I struggle against these things, I am vocal, I spend hours researching and reading and advocating on top of my family and job and devotions (and this blog)…so yes I admit that I am tired. But God is so much stronger than I am! I am not giving up, and I hope no else is either! To God be the glory! Thank you for the Comment and encouragement Debra!
Christ’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (or fatigue).
Yes we all sin, and because of this we all need a Savior. So to that part of your blog I agree. And I do not want to get into a huge debate on the homosexual issue. But do you not find it interesting that homosexual sins are referred to in the Bible as unnatural sins, and to my knowledge it is the only sin referred to as such. Can we then ”lump” it in with other sins be them sexual or otherwise? I hesitate to do this.
HI garret, I want to say that I agree with you that the bible states in Romans 1 that God gave them over to their unnatural relations, but for 3 chapters Paul goes on about all kinds of sin – not just homosexuality. Let me start by asking a few questions. Is pornography natural? Is masturbation natural? Is necrophilia natural? Is pedophilia natural? Is bestiality natural? Is sodomy with a heterosexual partner natural? So what is natural of sex?
The natural way in which we are to partake of and enjoy sex is as a man and wife in a marriage covenant…all other sexual intercourse is sin and all sin is unnatural. All sexual sin is not natural…period. All of it. We were created in God’s image and that image is now broken. In our fallen nature we desire sexual fulfillment that is not natural, be it with our eyes on the computer, with ourselves, animals, multiple partners, same sex partners, and on and on.
I understand where you are coming from. I really do. Same sex intercourse is not natural but I feel that you are missing my point. We can debate this until the cows come home, but my point here is this…God grants us to suffer. Yes, it is a gift from God. Our temptations and struggles are a gift from God to glorify HIM! This includes struggling against homosexuality. Is it unnatural? Of course it is. But perhaps one day my brothers and sisters who do struggle with these things will be able to declare that God has released them from this particular “thorn.” Or then on the last day they can declare that God carried them through their weakness. Either way, God get’s the glory.
Now I have a question for you. What good does it do to dwell on it? What good does it do to make a distinction between sexual sins? It is all wrong. Whilw I agree that homosexuality is not natural like sex between heterosexual partners, I still affirm that there is no difference between those who have left God’s way for sexual fulfillment and partaken of homosexual intercourse or heterosexual premarital or extramarital sex.
I want to apologise for getting defensive on this last response. I know that we agree here, I just wish that we (Christians in general) would stop normalizing sin by making distinctions between sins. When we say that homosexuality is “worse” or a “less natural sin” than having an affair – I have real problem with that. 2 unmarried men or women sleeping together, while unnatural, does not tear asunder what God has joined together, nor does it break apart a family (usually) – nor does it result in a an unwanted child, or an abortion. Anyway, before I start arguing again…I see no benefit to making these distinctions and that is all. 🙂
Have you read Respectable Sins? by I forget his name. I agree that we accept sins as the norm and we do nothing about it and this is indeed a shame to Christians.
Our Congregation’s women’s society used it as the study guide for last season, it is by Jerry bridges… I have read some of it and I think the topic is something we all need to think about.
Respectable Sins is an excellent book. I encourage every Christian to read it and be humbled by the magnitude of our sins and the incredible grace of Christ.