Bishop Eddie Long a pastor of a mega-church in Atlanta Georgia is being examined for allegations of sexual coercion. Four young men say that the pastor used his authority to convince them to engage in sexual interactions with him. Bishop Long denies all allegations that are being made against him and refuses to speak more on the matter presently.
Previously, when speaking on the effect of homosexuality Long says, “Your parents ... or someone else may have influenced you to engage in sexual behavior that was not godly, but God did not ordain that behavior for you.” The preacher believes that God does not create man to share natural affections with another man, but instead those who believe in the homosexual lifestyle have been influenced to believe such lies.
The perfect combination of man and woman is a holy union that is blessed by God. It is a connection that resembles the unity of the Trinity and cannot be dispelled by human fallacy that supports homosexual relationships. A proper relationship between a man and a woman can be clearly seen and supported throughout the Scriptures (Gen: creation; Gen 2:24; Mk 10:7; Matt 19:5; etc). Because we know this as Christians our job is not to seek out and destroy all people living the homosexual lifestyle; our job now becomes to offer them the truth of God in Love because we know that it is God’s goodness that leads man to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Larry Crabb believes that the power of connection with other human beings possesses the ability to change lives. Unity formed through the body of Christ is spoken of similarly from the Bible. Both the beliefs of Crabb and the words of the Bible share a common theme of love. We are taught to love one another with the same mind and heart that Christ loved us with. The love of Christ does not manifest itself in a homosexual relationship between a pastor and his congregation nor through any relationships of the same sex. But instead the love of Christ is shown when we correct such actions out of love with the hope of restoration to the Godly order of things.
It is always hardest to love people who are most different than you. But it is true as Christians we need to love love others as Christ loved. Homosexuality is such a had subject for most Christians to deal with, however we need to be that truth and comfort to homosexuals.
ReplyDeleteVery well said Ayla ! Here is a paragraph of another comment I have posted on the same subject:
ReplyDeleteI think we should be careful that our love for the lost would not become tolerance and acceptance of their life style. Let’s not forget that God “discriminates” the gay people…!!! He not just disagree with their life …. but he discriminates till the point of killing them, see Sodom and Gomorrah. Also God is giving permission to a nation (Israel) to have all the gay people put to death that were found among themselves. I think that is very hard core discrimination … reinforced by God … don’t you think ? I am not saying we should kill the gay … but I think we can discriminate and condemn their life style … and in the same time love them as a broken fallen people for whom Jesus died.
This is a pressing problem facing the church today and i think it is a safe argument to say that the body does not know the "correct" way to address this topic. First and foremost God does call us to love. Love Him and love our neighbors, point blank it. Because of the fall we are all sinners, we all have sinned and are subject to sin. We find peace and forgiveness in our savior and we repent in hopes of stepping away from sin and into the light of a gracious and merciful God.
ReplyDeleteHomosexuality is of course a sin, and as the church we must call it that. I agree with dtimisan we must not become tolerant of homosexuality but instead stand up for the truth, even if that hurts feelings.
And, if we believe page one of the bible we believe it all. Standing firm in that the battle is His, we are called to love and we in fact must love and trust that Jesus is Mighty to Save, and just as he saved us, he can save those we are still astray.