When I googled the question: “Can a Christian be Homosexual?”, a link to a page by a fellow named Matthew Vines was among the top on the list. Mr. Vines is of the view that homosexuality should be allowed in the Church. A link to his page can be found here: The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality.

Mr. Vines makes several points (the bold is covered in this post, click previous points to see my response):

• Despite growing up in a loving, stable family, devoid of abuse, living an abstinence-until-marriage lifestyle, and desiring to have a family of his own someday, he has concluded that he is gay.
• Traditional “anti-gay” views of the Church have forced homosexuals to be lonely, which is against God’s design.
• The Old Testament Law does not apply to Christians, which means that references to the law in regard to homosexuality being evil are no longer valid.
• The concept of sexual orientation is new, so the Bible cannot shed light upon this subject as ancient forms of homosexual acts were offensive or abusive, not examples of two people coming together in a committed relationship.
• “Gay people have a natural, permanent orientation toward those of the same sex; it’s not something that they choose, and it’s not something that they can change.”
• Certain compound words around the New Testament references to homosexuality are really meant for the economic sexual exploitation of homosexuals.
• The Church has been really harmful toward people of homosexual orientation and it needs to become more accepting of homosexuals and not so condemning.
• Being different is not a sin and being “gay” is not a sin either.

Once again I find myself agreeing with Vines on his view that being “different” is not a sin, but then in the same thought, I must disagree with his view that “being gay is not a sin either.” Then again, it all comes down to definition. What does it mean to be gay?

The “Queer” community has done some work for us in this. It is called the Decahedron of Q and it can be found at this website.

The Queer community has tried to identify the various forms of queerness, which they label as a minority. Included in this list are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, allies, and pan-sexual. Definitions for each category can be found on the website as well.

However, as a Christian, can I really condemn all of these as sin? Who of us hasn’t questioned their own sexuality? I myself questioned my sexuality at different times in my life; does that make me gay? Paul the apostle describes himself as what may be considered “asexual” by the definitions given in the website. Does that make him “queer” too? 

Some of these categories are defined only by desires and others by actions, so it can be difficult when someone confesses that they are homosexual to determine what exactly is meant. It is important for us as Christians to ask penetrating questions so that we can understand where they are coming from, help them with their spiritual needs to get to Christ, and lead them in their journey of sanctification. Having the Queer community define queerness in these categories is extremely helpful and helps us to understand that what is communicated when someone says “I am a homosexual,” may not always mean that they are participating in an active lifestyle.

My advice for the Church is to define sinful homosexuality as the active kind, one in which partakers are active with partners. The inactive homosexuality or queerness may or may not be sinful. Even Jesus said that if you lust for a woman, you commit adultery with her in your heart. However, as I mentioned, desires are not necessarily sin in-and-of-themselves. Most of the time they are merely temptations of sin, put there by either the Devil or our own sinful nature. It seems this view is the most Biblical view to take as it treats homosexuality like every other human desire.

Homosexual marriage, then, would fall into the category of active homosexuality. Even though it would be a union recognized by the government (and some churches), it is not acceptable to God. My advice for those homosexuals who have remained abstinent as Vines has would be to attempt several heterosexual relationships. And by attempt, I mean an actual relationship, not active sex. Purity should be promoted in all hetero- and homo-sexual relationships. I think in a real mutual relationship, you will find that loneliness dissipates, not because sexual desires are met, but because you have someone to share life with. For those not desiring marriage, pursue close friendships in purity as well, because there is great value in having a friend that is closer than a brother.

“What if I am already in a homosexual marriage?” someone might say. My simple answer is to go to Christ and really pray for guidance. He will give it. My hard answer is to seriously consider divorce. I don’t like saying that because I hate it and I know God hates it also. But, God has allowed it, perhaps in foreseeing this day. Holy divorce is not unprecedented, as those Israelites who had broken the command to not intermarry with people of the surrounding sinful nations repented through divorce in order to be obedient to God (see Ezra 10), so it may be that a similar thing must occur with someone who is in a homosexual marriage. As I have said, it is a difficult topic upon which I hope to shed more light on in future posts.