Homophobia is a form of disgust, judgment, or even hatred toward same-sex practices or the people who are tempted by them or who engage in them. It is a response to sin, to be sure, but how Christian is this response? How should Christians view homophobia? Here we consider these questions and look at two risks that Christians should avoid.
The word homophobia first appeared in the year 1969 as a way to describe fear on the part of heterosexual men that other men might think they are gay. Since then, it has taken on a very general meaning, for example: "harmful or unfair things a person does based on a fear or dislike of gay people or queer people."(1) Not surprisingly, the negative Christian response to SSA is often interpreted by LGB+ people as homophobic. According to a 2014 study by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute), 51% of LGB+ people in the U.S. believe that evangelical churches are generally "unfriendly" toward LGB+ people—in other words, "homophobic."(2) This is probably because dislike for the sin has been distorted in either or both of two ways. Neither distortion is likely to win hearts for Christ. We examine each distortion below:
DISTORTION #1 : Disgust for the sin bleeds over into disgust for people.
It's common for Christians to be offended by viewpoints and acts that break with God's design for creation. In fact, the Old and New Testaments are full of reminders to see sin for what it is:
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech (Proverbs 8: 13).
I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path (Psalm 119: 104).
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good (Romans 12: 9).
While it is true that God expresses hatred for certain people or groups at various times (Hosea 9: 15; Psalm 5: 5; Malachi 1: 2–3), nowhere in Scripture does God instruct believers to hate or even indulge disgust for another person, regardless of their sin. Rather, God instructs us to confine our hatred to viewpoints and actions, and even then to exercise extreme caution:
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him (Leviticus 19: 17).
And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh (Jude 1: 22–23).
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted (Galatians 6: 1).
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10: 12)
DISTORTION #2 : Disgust for the sin is disproportionate to disgust for other kinds of sin.
As a result of this distortion, a person develops a distorted sense of the sinfulness of same-sex eroticism. Again, it is appropriate to abhor sin—first the sin in ourselves and then the sin in others. We abhor sin because we know it opposes God and that it cannot exist in God's presence. However, same-sex eroticism is one sin among many. Singling it out and handling it as a special kind of spiritual emergency all its own might feel timely but it is hardly biblical. Where same-sex eroticism is mentioned in the Bible, it is almost always listed as a sin among sins, one of the many that followers of Christ should abandon. What is especially interesting is how some of the sins listed alongside same-sex eroticism are ones many Christians would view as minor vices, if even sins at all. For example:
And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. (...) You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination (Leviticus 18: 20–22).
“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person” (Mark 7: 20–23).
Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6: 9–10).
[T]he law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine... (1 Timothy 1: 9–10).
This is not to suggest that same-sex eroticism is a minor sin—not at all! Rather, it should remind us to keep all sin in perspective, not excusing some sins as too small to matter while blowing the magnitude of other sins out of proportion. This disproportionality is grotesquely evident in the teaching of preachers like this one, who praised the shooting of 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub in 2016. In a sermon not long after the shooting, he declared that it was a tragedy more people didn't die, because LGBT+ people deserve to die. His conclusion, which he based in scripture, absurdly distorts the biblical prohibitions against same-sex eroticism. It isolates same-sex eroticism as a sin that is uniquely unredeemable, uniquely deserving of punishment. But scripture tells us that all sin is deserving of punishment, including sins that are far more common and which have nothing to do with sexuality. The need for Christ by all people, not just LGBT+ people, is actually far greater than a preacher like this would have us think. But so is Christ's mercy.
In summary, homophobia is wrong-hearted for Christians because:
it defies God's commands about detesting sin while having a heart of compassion and kindness toward those trapped in sin; and (or)
it defies God's perspective on same-sex eroticism with regard to other sins.
Those who feel they must wage war against same-sex eroticism should be careful not to become like the Pharisees, who called out the truth of sin without extending a hand of grace. Jesus condemned their action:
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger (Matthew 23: 4).
What about those who have left the LGBT+ culture in pursuit of sexual wholeness as new creations in Christ? Again, the Christian response must line up with scripture. God no longer views any person in terms of their past sin or even in terms of their present weaknesses. To those who had been steeped in various types of sin—including sexual immorality—Paul says:
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).
Paul also tells us:
Thank God that he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 57).
Since God chooses to count us victorious in spite of our sinful past, we have all the more reason to view others—Christians and non-Christians alike—in terms of what God can and will do in their lives, for "the Lord is able to make them stand" (Romans 14: 4).
—by Rick E.
Rick is the director of Free in Christ Ministries
References:
Comments