Answering Questions #3

Question #3 in this series has the potential to stir all kinds of emotion as we discuss it. It is one of 'those' subjects that just tends to rile people up. Here is the question: How do you approach someone living in a life of sin (homosexuality) that talks like they believe in Christ and are alright (in their mind) with their salvation? Let's start here -- First of all, The Bible is clear that homosexuality is sin (see Romans 1). Also, The Bible is clear in places like Galatians 5 that, regardless of the sin, anyone who is blatantly rebellious to God's law by practicing sin in an unrepentant manner will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Therefore, while I do not claim to know who is in or who is out, I fear greatly for someone who justifies their sinful lifestyle and claims that their "belief" in Christ will allow them in the gates.
At The Bridge, we take Jesus at His word that salvation comes to those who "repent and believe the Gospel." To really believe in Jesus, we must have the correct Jesus identified. The Messiah, the King of the Universe, has given His all to bring the good news to us; therefore, he deserves our obedience and love in whatever He asks of us. If we have been involved in a lifestyle of sin when we come to faith, we have one choice -- leave it. To refuse to do so denies Him as God and proves that we never believed Him on His terms to begin with. That does not mean that this will be easy, especially in the case of homosexuality, but "all things are possible" with God.

I have a feeling that the unrepentant homosexual in the question would possibly agree with all of that. His or her problem is that they have not recognized their sin as sin. While we can, with gentleness and respect, point out that Bible does declare homosexuality as an abomination before God, the Holy Spirit and the 'never comes back void' Word of God will have to do their thing for this person to identify himself/herself as an unrepentant sinner. While we have a role to play, God is the one that comes and 'cuts to the heart.'

A further note on homosexuality ==
I can assure you that as the lead pastor of a quality, Biblical church, I have no 'homophobic' bents. Homosexuals are welcome in our church or in my home anytime. Also, I will admit that the immature church has terrorized this sin more than others, so some of the bad feelings about the church by the gay community are warranted. However, to be clear I view this sin as no more egregious than others, but the activists, even inside the church, make it seem that it is picked on. The reason for this is that this is the only group of sinners that I know of that are organized. I am not aware of the "adulterer's rights groups" or the "extortionist's church organization." Only the homosexual community lobbies Christian denominations and churches for acceptance. This comes from the fact that these folks have been deceived into believing that their sin is not sin, and, therefore, they believe that they should be pastors, teachers, and elders within the church. I love these folks, but on those points we will never agree, and that will not happen at The Bridge.