Monday 12 June 2017

CATALYST Youth- Friday, April 28, 2017- "Why are some Christians so homophobic?"




This week, we continued our series, “WHY?” by tackling a pretty tough, but super relevant issue- “Why are some Christians so homophobic?” This is an important issue, because, let’s face it, there are A LOT of people who call themselves Christians and yet are mean, hateful and offensive. These kinds of people often take aim at gay people or people who they disagree with on other issues, and because we live in a country (and culture) that’s "generally" super accepting of gay people, Christians are sometimes portrayed as the enemy! Just this past week, one of my old Bible College professors posted an article on Facebook that had to do with gay marriage, and it was just SHOCKING to read some of the comments made by “so-called Christians”. Unfortunately those are the kinds of people who often make the news, and as a result, there are a lot of gay people who feel that Christians are against them- that we hate them and that even God hates them!

So, this week we took the time to look at what the Bible says about homosexuality, talk about how Christians and even some gay people disagree on the issue, and then looked at how God wants us to treat people who we might disagree with.

1. BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS SAYING THAT GOD HAS THE RIGHT TO CALL THE SHOTS IN YOUR LIFE. 


Before we really dig into this issue, the first thing we need to understand is that, if you’re a Christian (which LITERALLY means being a follower of Jesus), then not only have you accepted God’s love and forgiveness, but you’ve accepted that God has shown us a right and wrong way to live. God, as our CREATOR, intends for us to live our lives a certain way, and when we go our own way or reject the way God wants us to live, the Bible calls that “sin”. So, “sin” basically means to walk away from God’s plan or purpose for your life, and the Bible says that, when we walk away from God, we’re lost. We’re in trouble. We’ve chosen to separate ourselves from the God who loves us.
 

Following Jesus isn't easy because it often means giving up the things you might REALLY want to do, to live the way that God wants you to live instead. You’re basically saying, “God, I’m giving YOU the right to call the shots in my life”, "I’m giving YOU the steering wheel of my life"! TRUST ME, THAT’S NOT EASY! 

It’s WAY easier to do what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do! It’s way easier for me to stay angry or get revenge on somebody instead of forgiving them and showing them kindness! It’s pretty easy to sleep with your girlfriend or boyfriend when cartoon hearts are floating in the air all around you. It’s pretty easy to lie in order to get out of trouble! It’s pretty easy to fight and argue with someone who disagrees with you instead of having a kind conversation. Following God’s way is HARD STUFF! Even Jesus found it hard, but in Luke 22:42 he famously prayed, “GOD, NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS BE DONE”. In other words, “God, I want to ultimately do what you want, not what I want. You’re the boss! You’re in charge! I trust that you know best, so I’m going to follow your directions!” In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, YOU MUST GIVE UP YOUR OWN WAY, take up your cross, and follow me.”
 

So, as Christians, if we’re giving God the steering wheel of our lives, then that means being serious about living the way that he designed life to be lived! But, HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT THAT WAY IS? Well, he’s given us the Bible—which is essentially our instruction book for living direct from the manufacturer of life. It's full of stories and teaching to help us know what’s right and wrong and to live the rich and fulfilling life God has planned for us!  So, if you’re a Christian who has said, “God, not my way- I want to live life YOUR way”, then when we’re discussing LGBTQ issues, we really owe it to ourselves to look and see what the Bible says on the subject.
 

Below is a brief overview of what the Bible says about homosexuality, and we'll look at how and why some Christians (and even gay people) disagree about what it might mean.

2. ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, GOD CREATED MALE/FEMALE
 

Genesis 1:27 says, “God created male and female”. Genesis 2:18- 23 gives us a reason why. When God created the first man he said, “It is not good for the man to be alone”, so here, God acknowledges that loneliness isn’t healthy. (as a side note- in the same passage, he says that animals can't meet our need for human companionship either). So, what did God do? He created a partner who Adam could share life with...and that partner was a woman! It concludes with Genesis 2:24, “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one”.

So right from Genesis we’re told that God invented male/female marriage! Now obviously this is kind of essential for procreation—you need a male and female to have children biologically, but more than that, it was an answer to LONELINESS. God made male and female to be the perfect partners for each other! (Note: this doesn't mean that a person who never gets married is missing out on God's best for their lives. As humans, we need to surround ourselves with friends who really care for us and meet that need of loneliness, but God definitely meant marriage between a man and a woman to be the ultimate expression of companionship.)
 

In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus said the same thing. When someone asked him if it was ok to get a divorce, Jesus said, “Haven’t you read the Scriptures? They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.” And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
 

Jesus, who by the way, was single (so he wasn't biased towards male/female marriage for personal reasons), emphasizes male/female marriage and that God has joined male and female together.
 

3.  ANYTIME HOMOSEXUALITY IS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE, IT'S REFERRED TO AS A SIN
 

Now, the Bible doesn’t mention homosexuality a lot (the purpose of the Bible is largely to know about who God is and our need for him),  but in the six passages that SPECIFICALLY mention homosexuality (Gen 19, Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Cor 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:10) it describes it as a sin or lists it right beside other sins like lying, stealing, being unkind, being greedy, getting drunk, cheating, and abusing people. So, in other words, these are all things that are the opposite of how God created us to live.
 

Probably the most compelling of those passages is Romans 1:18-32 which talks about how, when people continue to reject God and go their own way, one of the results will be that men and women will pursue same-sex relationships. It's saying that homosexuality is a result of the sin sickness in our world.

So when we look at the passages that speak of God’s INVENTION of male/female marriage, and when every passage that references homosexuality includes it in a list of other sins, then you can see why the vast majority of Christians would believe that homosexuality isn’t God’s intention for humanity. So, if someone is gay (in terms of them having same-sex attraction), most Christians would say that it’s because we’re all born with this sin problem where we naturally want to do what’s opposite of what God wants for us (which is just as true for a gay person as it’s true for me), and so that person who is attracted to someone of the same sex needs to struggle against that and not act out that attraction (because for Christians, it's not TEMPTATION that's wrong-- it's actually DOING the opposite of what God wants that's wrong).
 

There is a guy named Wesley Hill who is an author, a professor in a Bible College, and a gay Christian who believes that even though he has a same-sex attraction, that it's not what God intends for his life. In his book "Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality" he writes about how hard it is to give up what he might want in order to do what he believes is right- what he believes is right in God's eyes.


4. THE GREAT DEBATE
 

Now, all that said, there ARE Christians (gay Christians & Christians who aren’t gay) who would disagree and say that homosexuality isn’t a sin. This is why there are a few church denominations that have decided to marry gay people. They don’t see it as something wrong in God’s eyes. When those people read and try to understand what the Bible says, they’ve concluded that gay marriage is just as pleasing to God as male/female marriage, largely for two reasons…

A) The first is that Gay marriage wasn’t even a possibility at that time in history, so when the Bible was written, the concept of gay marriage didn’t exist! In fact, today in 2017, gay marriage is only LEGAL in 22 out of the 195 Countries on the planet, so, because it wasn’t legal at the time, it makes sense that any reference in the Bible to homosexuality would be negative.

B) The second argument is that because gay marriage didn’t exist at the time, anytime the Bible references homosexuality, it has to be talking about sex outside of marriage. The Bible tells us that God meant for sex to be a part of a committed marriage relationship. That’s the way he designed it! So, because any sexual relationship (gay or not) outside of marriage is a sin and gay marriage didn’t exist, then it's no wonder why the Bible speaks against homosexuality! The presumption here is that if gay marriage had been an accepted part of society at the time, God would be just as thrilled to see two people from the same sex get married as two people from the opposite sex.
 

So, as you can see, there’s a lot of disagreement on this issue. Christians don’t all agree! Gay people don’t even all agree! There’s a website called The Gay Christian Network where they’ve posted something called THE GREAT DEBATE, where two gay people have posted essays arguing both points. It’s pretty interesting to read the perspectives of two people, both gay, and both Christians, who disagree with each other about whether actually living a gay lifestyle is right or wrong.
 

5. WE CAN DISAGREE AND STILL BE FRIENDS

I know someone who is gay and EVERYBODY in his family knows about it except for his dad (who is a Christian). They’ve actually all decided to keep it a secret from him, because they think that if he were to find out, he would disown his son and want nothing to do with him! Isn’t that terrible?
 

That’s nothing like the way God sees us! A few weeks ago, we looked at the story of the Prodigal Son. This kid decided to leave home, insult his dad, spend all his money on parties and sleeping around—and the dad never stopped loving him! I’m sure the dad wasn’t all happy and excited about how his son had chosen to live his life—but he definitely didn’t hate him! When the son returned home, the dad ran out to meet him and welcome him back into the family with a huge hug! He offered him love and forgiveness! That’s the way God is with ALL of us—no matter what we’ve said or done!
 

If we’re people who have chosen to follow God’s way, then we should be known as people who are loving and kind to EVERYONE- even if we disagree with how they choose to live their lives! If I disagree with how someone chooses to live their life, whether that person is gay, or is a part of a political party that I disagree with, or gets wasted every weekend, or swears a lot, or likes the Toronto Maple Leafs, that shouldn’t change the fact that as a Christian, God has called me to LOVE that person.
 

In the Bible, Jesus was known as a “FRIEND OF SINNERS” (Luke 7) He would actually eat with people who were considered to be the “scum of the earth”- like prostitutes and thieves and other hated people! That doesn’t mean that Jesus thought the way they lived their lives was awesome! In fact, he often offered people forgiveness and told them, “go and stop sinning—start living the way God wants you to!” (John 8:11), but he was never all hateful and judgey towards people.
 

I have a lot of friends who make life choices that I disagree with. I have friends who sleep around. I have friends who get totally wasted. I have friends who download music and movies without paying for them. I have friends who REALLY hate God and want ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM (mostly because they’ve had a really bad experience with a jerk Christian in the past). I’m not all pushy and obnoxious and forceful with my beliefs. I don’t take every opportunity to let them know that “what they’re doing is wrong and GOD THINKS SO TOO!” If I’m having a conversation with a friend and they ask me my opinion, then I can share it in a way that’s loving and kind (1 Peter 3:16 emphasizes answering questions in a gentle and respectful way), but I don’t HATE people I disagree with! I want them to come to know Jesus. I want them to live the life that God intended for them. I hate to see them make destructive choices and have a lot of regrets and baggage in life, because I care about them, but I’m not their enemy. I’m not AGAINST them!
 

Some gay people would say—“Well, because you think I’m living my life in a way that’s opposite of what God wants for me, that means you’re against me and God’s against me!” BUT THAT’S NOT TRUE. That’s like saying that, I’m against my friend who gets drunk! I might disapprove of his life choices and pray that he makes some changes, but that doesn’t mean he’s my enemy! In the same way, Jesus showed love and hung out with the “scum of the earth” in his day. That doesn’t mean he loved the way they lived their lives! No. He wanted them to change and draw close to God, but he wasn’t their enemy!

This week we looked at what the Bible has to say about LGBTQ. We’ve seen how there are even Christians who disagree, but the most important think we can take home with us is that we can disagree with people and still be friends. It's a shame when Christians who disagree with a gay lifestyle are hateful and offensive. That certainly doesn't have God cheering. No matter where you might stand on this issue, if you're a Christian, then you need to be known for your love. Loving someone doesn't mean loving everything they do, but it means treating them with value and respect.


DISCUSSION FOR HOME

1. This week, discuss with your teen about what they learned at CATALYST this week (discussing the Great Debate about Christianity and homosexuality). Ask them what they think about LGBTQ issues, and more importantly, what do they think God's opinion is? Ask them if they have any other questions they would like to talk about.

2. This week, Pastor Ben repeated, "We can disagree and still be friends". Ask your teen to explain what that means and how that might impact the way they interact with others as people trying to live the way God wants them to. For example, if your teen believes that homosexuality is the opposite of what God wants for people, how should they, as Christians, treat their friends or classmates who are gay? If your teen accepts what the Bible says about drunkenness being a sin, how does that impact how they treat people they know who get drunk or abuse drugs?

Saturday 3 June 2017

CATALYST Youth- Friday, June 2, 2017- FAITH AFTER HIGH SCHOOL



This week at CATALYST, special guest Daniel Desgroseilliers, a campus pastor at Ottawa University, shared some important things about how to ensure you stay close to Jesus beyond high school as well as some of what he does on campus at Ottawa U. This week, we recorded his talk (on ipad), so if you missed it, give it a listen below! You can also listen/download through your iTunes podcast app or stream/download it from our church website.