Far too many Christians try to “ride the fence” in today’s world. They get caught between clear biblical teaching and what culture pressures them to believe and so they attempt to strike some sort of compromise. The same happened often in the Bible, and one such example came on the day of Elijah’s challenge against the prophets of Baal. In 1 Kings 18:21, as the people gathered near to see who would prevail between God and Baal, Elijah challenged each of them: “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”
It’s time for true Christians to challenge those who are riding on the fence and ask them, how long will you hesitate between two opinions? One such issue which finds Christians with a foot in both worlds is homosexuality. Driven by public opinion and heavily pushed by younger generations in churches, more and more Christians are beginning to accept homosexuality and don’t think it should be discouraged. Entire churches have begun making it known that they are accepting of all “lifestyles and orientations.”
Sadly, that’s exactly the opposite of what a church should be. The church is absolutely a “come as you are” institution, but the key message of the Gospel is that no one stays as they are. Jesus’ blood washes us from our sins and makes us an entirely new person (2 Corinthians 5:17). From Leviticus 18:22 to Romans 1:26-28 to 1 Corinthians 6:9, homosexuality is opposed throughout the Bible, and a Christian cannot persist in willful sin and still be washed by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:26).
The compromisers counter that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, which is demonstrably untrue and shows a horribly misinformed view of the Bible’s inspiration. Or, as “gay Christian” Matthew Vines repeatedly claimed in his book “God and the Gay Christian,” homosexuality today is different than what the Bible opposed. Aside from the fact that the Bible is entirely straightforward about the sin it discusses, there is no reason to believe that some God-approved form of homosexuality cropped up in the last 100 years and that the inspired biblical authors knew nothing about it.
I know that those who struggle to overcome homosexual temptations have an incredibly difficult challenge before them, and I don’t want to downplay their struggle. But that’s exactly why the compromisers must be refuted. The last thing those battling this sin need are people who tell them that they don’t have to fight sin, that they can give into it and still be holy before God. Though the world pats compromising Christians on the back for being more loving, encouraging a person to go on sinning is literally the least loving thing you could ever do to a person.
Yet compromisers continue to proclaim themselves as more loving and less judgmental than other Christians. However, there’s one crucial fact that they forget:
It’s impossible to be more loving or to judge more righteously than God.
If God calls homosexuals to repentance it is because He loves them more than we ever could and He knows exactly what’s best for their lives. It’s a terrifying thought to consider how God will deal with those who are making themselves into stumbling blocks because they would rather align with the world’s definition of love than with God’s. Trading God’s approval for man’s approval is a losing exchange every single time. In fact, that’s exactly how I would define “hate” – encouraging someone’s destructive lifestyle because you’re more worried about the praise of men than God’s word. Compromisers of Christianity should enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling their virtue signaling brings them now because they’re going to pay dearly for it in the end.
Don’t ride the fence. The Scriptures speak clearly about how God sees homosexuality, and one cannot simultaneously be a Christian and openly dispute God’s own inspired words. Are you going to be loving enough to speak the truth?
By Jack Wilkie