Is it just me, or has society lost sight of the importance of the Law of God? I am amazed each time I read about yet another church agonizing over issues such as gay clergy and gay marriage. Why is there even a debate?
The Lord speaks very plainly on this matter in both the Old and New Testaments. How difficult can it be to understand?
Consider these few verses of scripture...
Leviticus 18:22 (KJV)
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination...
1 Cor. 6:9-10 (KJV)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, [10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Romans 1:26-27 (KJV)
[26] For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: [27] And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
The scriptures quoted above make it quite plain that God does not condone homosexual behavior, and yet the Lutheran Church just held a huge convention to debate policy regarding non-celibate gay ministers and gay marriage. Do these people not own a Bible?
An article posted in theconservativevoice.com notes that the Rev. Robert Goldstein, a gay minister at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago, urged delegates to "go beyond the justice of incrementalism" and remove all limits on gay leadership in the denomination.
Now I'm just a layperson, but it seems to me that if committing a homosexual act is in and of itself an abomination, wouldn't having gay clergy be an even larger abomination? It isn't just the Lutherans, either. The American Episcopal Church confirmed its first gay bishop in 2003, and homosexual pedophilia is an ongoing scandal within the Catholic Church. Where does all this craziness come from?
As time goes by, churchgoers seem to be becoming more concerned with how they are perceived outside the church rather than how they'll be judged by God. This is evidenced by the fact that the Holy Scripture is being completely ignored in favor of that proven killer of high morals: Political Correctness.
Perhaps some churchgoers are genuinely trying to be more compassionate and accepting of those who live outside of God's Law. Unfortunately, God's Law does not change with the times. What was wrong two thousand years ago is still wrong today. What's the point in having rules if you don't abide by them?
What verses of scripture will a gay minister use when preaching about homosexuality? How can he realistically expect to lead anyone to God when he himself is living a lifestyle defined by God as an abomination? Have these people written their own gay-friendly Bible and left the Word of God as it was written in a dumpster behind the church?
And how is it that gay marriage can even be a possibility? It is the duty of the church to show gays the wrongness of homosexuality and to help them find the strength to resist these carnal urges. To bless a same-sex union is an insult to God and guides the "couple" down the path to damnation. What an odd thing for a church to be doing.
It doesn't matter what you think or what you feel regarding gays in the church. God's Law is unchanging, and He has spoken clearly on the matter. Common sense dictates that church policy must be in keeping with the Bible. To set a policy that so openly contradicts God's Law is the equivalent of divorcing the church from the very God it claims to serve.
Alan Burkhart is a freelance political writer. You can contact him at alan@alanburkhart.com or by visiting his website: http://www.alanburkhart.com.
