Take ''Pride'' in Truth
Anything we put above God's will is spiritually fatal.
June, 2019
I was recently asked a question the modern world labels provocative. It's controversial, even dangerous, to answer honestly. Yet, it's an issue believers must answer with sincerity and love. The question posed was this one:
"How would Jesus respond if a gay couple asked Him, 'will we go to heaven, too?'"
This month, in particular, such a question demands an answer that's both tactful and truthful. While celebrating under the banner of "pride," many would demand only one response: a simple, universal, unconditional affirmative. That, of course, is not the answer I—or any bible-believing Christian—can give. Nor is it the answer I gave. And since it's something Christians have no reason to be ashamed of, it's the same answer I'll relay here.
It's important to point out that "what would Jesus do" questions must be taken with a grain of salt. None of us actually are Jesus, so we can't always know, with 100% certainty, how He would respond. We might be 99% sure. Yet we can't claim to be infallible. In some cases, His response might be legitimately different from how God would want us to respond, since, again, He's God and we are not.
All that said, I think Jesus' response would follow the one He gave to the rich man in Mark 10:17–22. That person was relatively moral and sincere. He was asking about how to gain eternal life. Jesus pointed out what he was doing well. But then Jesus mentioned giving up wealth. The point of that was not that Christians are meant to be poor, but that this specific man had something he was not willing to submit to God: his money. That's why he walked away from Jesus in sadness. And if a person is not willing to submit all, they aren't submitting at all.
Parallel to that, I imagine Jesus might ask the gay couple if they would be willing to leave behind that lifestyle. If their answer is "yes," then He'd be celebrating their salvation (Luke 15:1–7). Not because they would have earned it, or avoided a mortal sin, but because their answer would indicate the proper condition of their hearts. If their answer is "no," then what they'd be saying is, "we're not actually willing to follow God, if God's not following us." The core problem would not be their homosexuality, in and of itself. It would be the same sin as that of the rich young man: stubbornness and an unwillingness to obey God.
Homosexual acts are explicitly condemned in the Bible. There is a reason passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 and 1 Timothy 1:8–11 present it as incompatible with salvation. It's not that it's "the worst sin," by any stretch. Rather, it's exactly like many other sins which demonstrate a heart totally divorced from God. Like violence, greed, idolatry, and so forth, it's evidence of someone living in open rebellion to their Creator's intent. Jesus wasn't afraid to call out sin (John 4:16–18; John 8:11, 8:24). And He was very clear that those who sincerely seek to follow God can, without exception (John 6:37; Matthew 7:7–8).
The rich young man seems to have put much emotion and self-identity into his wealth. That meant he wasn't willing to follow Christ if Christ happened to call him in a different direction. Sadly, many people take the same view of their sexual urges: they see them as their identity, and refuse to accept any suggestion they should seek their identity in Jesus, instead. In fact, they make those urges part of their very identity, and insist others join them in being proud of what they do (Romans 1:26–32). And, as this month's spotlight verse reminds us, they can even find so-called religious people to endorse their sin.
Scripture makes it plain that salvation is available to any who want it (Revelation 22:17). Unfortunately, some people want other things more than they want the Savior.
If the gay couple were to respond, as many have—including same-sex couples—that they should and will repent, then they'd be heaven-bound. If not, they'd be no better or worse than any other person stubbornly clinging to something other than God.
That's an unpopular and often-slandered view. It's not the kind of message that wins a popularity contest. But it's the truth, and truly loving others means taking a stand even when it's not what they may want to hear.
-- Editor
