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Freedom of religion. I have been given the right to believe whatever I choose and call that my religion. If my religion believes that stealing is wrong, I am guaranteed the right to say I think stealing is wrong (freedom of speech). If my religion believes homosexuality is wrong, I am guaranteed the right to say I think it is wrong.
I have been amazed watching Facebook posts from non-Christain people quoting Bible verses (out of context of course) stating "Love one another" and "Judge not, lest ye be judged". Let's think about those two quotes from the Bible. Matthew 7:1-3 states, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
So the questions is, are Christians judging homosexuals? Well, they shouldn't be. This verse is a reminder from God to Christians to examine your own life before you condemn another's. We are told to judge with "righteous" judgement. I don't believe God meant for us to reach a point where we think we are perfect, and then go around condemning everyone else who isn't. 1. We are not, nor will any of us ever be perfect. 2. We are not to "condemn" someone else - that is God's job. The Bible says Jesus Christ will judge all men. To say that I will ever attain the status to be able to judge someone else in the manner of God is preposterous! John 8:7 says "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". I have seen this verse multiple times on Facebook. Again, taken out of context. In this chapter, the Pharisees were trying to set a trap for Jesus, who was teaching in the temple. They had caught a woman in the very act of adultery. They hauled her in to tell Jesus what she had done and let Him know that the current punishment for this crime was to stone her to death. They were waiting to see what He would say. His statement to them was "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." This was a pointed statement to remind them that we ALL have sin in our lives, whether we think it is big or small, it is still sin in God's eyes. One by one, they all left the temple, knowing that Jesus knew what was in each man's heart. Then Jesus asked the sinful woman, "Where are they? Has no one condemned (or judged) you?" She replied, "No one, Sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin." Does this mean Jesus was condoning her behavoir? Absolutely not! He was demonstrating God's love for us. Even in the midst of great sin, God does still love us. But He hates our sin. He gives us every chance to turn and repent and follow Him.
I am equally amazed at the "Christians" I have seen posting things like, "Everyone has the right to be happy." and "You can't help who you fall in love with." As Christians, we are commanded to "love one another". We are never commanded to condone and celebrate sin. We are to love all people, even the vilest of sinners. We are shown by the example of Jesus, who dined and conversed with a multitude of sinners, that the heart of man is mostly reached through love. We are to lovingly and gracefully point out the sin of a brother, that is, another Christian, that through God's guidance they may realize their sin and repent of it. There is a great difference between pointing out what God says is sin, and "judging" someone. But apparently my right to "free speech" is now called "judging" by society. And Jesus never minced words with sinners. When He spoke to the woman at the well, he didn't him-haw around. He told her to go get her husband. She said she didn't have one. He told her how right she was - she had previously had 5 husbands, and the one she was living with now wasn't her husband at all. He didn't try and cover it up, or mix it with something else, He just laid it all out on the table. She was not a Christian. Without the love and conviction of God's Holy Spirit, a person's sense of right and wrong is a little off. They mostly live in the "it makes me feel good, so it must be ok" spirit. So, to those people, I suppose when their sin is pointed out, they take immediate offense to it. And to those who are unsaved, without the Holy Spirit living within them, you can't know the true inner joy and peace that comes from trying to live a life pleasing to God. The calm assurance that you have when you are walking in God's will can't be described to them in an understandable way.
God gave us all free will. In the Garden of Eden, Eve was given free will. She was temped by Satan, and caved under pressure. From that day on, Jesus Christ is the only man to be tempted by Satan and never, ever give in. All of us have wants, thoughts, urges, etc. that are sinful - it's our fleshly nature. But we all also have the power to choose what we will do. And I think we can all say that sometimes we stand strong and do the right thing, and sometimes we crash and do the wrong thing. When we do wrong, we are to repent - to be truly sorry for whatever sin we have committed and ask God's forgiveness. Homosexual people generally claim they can't help that they are attracted to the same sex. I personally don't believe that if you are a Christian, walking with God, you will have those "uncontrollable urges or feelings". On the other hand, when we are tempted by whatever thoughts or feelings we have, we do, in fact, have the power to not act on them. An alcoholic has urges to drink. A recovering alcoholic has urges to drink. The difference between the two is their choice of action.
I see where people are constantly stating they have a "right" to be happy. Where did you ever get that idea? As far as I know, God did not promise happiness. Happiness being the feeling you get from your external circumstances, or things that happen around you. This feeling is of the flesh and is short-lived. God promised us hope, peace and comfort. Hope for a future. Hope for eternal life with Him. Peace in our hearts, whether our external circumstances are good or bad. Comfort in knowing that whatever happens in this earthly world, it is, at best, temporary, and our security lies in knowing we will spend eternity in Heaven with God if we are saved. And if we all got what we "deserved", we would all be cast into an eternal, burning, fiery hell. It is only by the grace of God, and by the sacrifice of the life of Jesus Christ that we have hope for something other than hell.
I also see all the comments stating that homosexuality is no greater sin than any other sin. That is totally correct! Sin(s) have been given "levels of badness" by humans. In God's eyes, lying about someone is no worse than molesting a child. But so far, I have seen many more people be "judged" by us and go to prison for child molestation than for lying. And if society is going to condone and celebrate homosexuality, why not celebrate some other things as well? How about if I want to french-kiss my horse in a parade? Would society look down on that? Why? All sin is the same, right? Or what if all the child molesters had a convention where everyone brought a child and molested them and then had a big party after? Sin is sin, after all. If I wanted to embezzle money from a big company I worked at, but it made me feel really good, and I had always wanted a lot of money, shouldn't I be able to get someone to make a law that says it is ok? I can't help it if I have always wanted a lot of money. And what if a boy, who is, say 14 thinks he is homosexual and wants to experiment with a man of, say, 50? Is that still considered child molestation, or is it now protected by our new law, which is open to interpretation?
You can see how this is merely the beginning of a slippery slope. I fear there will be many more sinful things condoned by our society. The Bible foretells of things to come that show us signs that the return of Jesus Christ is near. Signs that are appearing all around us today. Judgement WILL come, but it will not be by your Facebook friends. It will be by the King of Kings, God Himself. And for the people who are not saved, when they stand in judgement before God, whatever excuse or reason they give will not matter. The question will be whether you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, or whether you rejected Him and chose this world, sin and Satan as your guide. There will be no gray areas. There will be no room for explaining why you chose what you chose. Either you chose God, or you chose the devil. You get eternal life either way. As for me, I choose to spend my eternity with the one who loved me so much He sacrificed his only Son to pay the price for my sins. I pray the lost people would find the love of God before it is too late.
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