By Melvin Otey 
In May 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize “gay marriage.” Since then, eleven other states, including six in the last year, and the District of Columbia legalized gay marriage. As of April 2013, six additional states have allowed “civil unions” for homosexual couples. Moreover, the Supreme Court is preparing to rule on two cases involving the issue, one regarding Proposition 8 in California and one regarding the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act. The political landscape regarding homosexuality has obviously changed rapidly and dramatically. 
In September 2012, the ACLU and the Attorney General for the State of Colorado filed complaints against a bakery because one of its owners declined to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple because doing so would violate his religious beliefs. In April 2013, the ACLU and the Attorney General for the State of Washington filed similar civil actions against a florist who refused to provide flowers for a gay wedding while also specifically citing her Christian beliefs. These are merely two examples in a string of recent legal actions against Bible-believers who expressed their opposition to same-sex unions. 
In May 2013, Jason Collins, a 12-year veteran of the National Basketball Association, became the first active, openly homosexual athlete in major American sports. His announcement was met with overwhelming public support from the likes of Presidents Obama and Clinton and sports stars Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant. In June, Bloomberg News published the results of a national poll indicating that 52% of respondents supported allowing same-sex couples to marry while only 41% opposed. Things have changed socially as well. 
What are Christians to do in light of the dramatic changes in American culture regarding homosexuality? 
Know the Truth About the Issue 
When something functions as it is designed to function, it is functioning naturally. No reasonable person will contend that human genitalia are designed for homosexual activity. Males and females are obviously designed to correspond to one another sexually (Genesis 2:18-25, 1:26-28). That is natural. Even if some have a greater proclivity toward same-sex attraction than others, whether based on genetics or societal factors, that does not make homoeroticism “natural.” It is, in fact, outside of the body’s anatomical design. 
Christians have largely been bamboozled along with the rest of American society regarding the true nature of this controversy. While there is no biological support for the notion, we have heard that people are “born gay” long enough that many now believe. Of course, no one is born engaging in sexual activity of any kind, and absent abuse, small children have no idea what sex is. People are not “born gay.” 
The true concern here regards behavior rather than passing thoughts. Once children begin to reach puberty and young adulthood, they will naturally begin to have sexual interests. Some of those interests, however, might be deviant. For example, some entertain thoughts about animals or smaller children, but most recognize this as aberrant thinking and restrain themselves. Homoerotic thoughts might also enter one’s mind naturally, but such thoughts are also reprobate, and they should likewise be resisted.  
Spread the Truth About the Word 
Too many have no urgency regarding this matter, and I fear that we are letting the Lord down. Instead of speaking up for Christ, we are largely are keeping quiet at a time when we ought to be saying, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). We should be affirming unapologetically, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; But sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). 
I recently saw an encouraging instance of a person speaking out against homosexuality based on his belief in God and the Bible. In declaring his sexual orientation, Jason Collins claimed that he takes “the teachings of Jesus seriously, particularly the ones that touch on tolerance and understanding.” Chris Broussard, a basketball analyst for ESPN, was asked his thoughts about Collins’ statement and offered an honest, balanced retort: 
And if you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality––adultery, fornication, premarital sex between heterosexuals––whatever it may be, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian.  
More Christians need to speak up like this. We cannot be so politically correct that we become spiritually wrong through silence. We cannot be so concerned about offending our neighbors that we offend our Lord. We cannot deceive ourselves by thinking, “It’s not our place to judge” (see John 7:24; Matthew 7:1-5). Truly, it is not our place to condemn, but we are duty-bound to spread the Truth about what God condemns and encourage others to repent (Ezekiel 3:17ff; 2 Corinthians 5:11).  
Endure Persecution as a Christian 
Jesus was persecuted as He called people in His society to repentance, and the apostles were persecuted as they confronted their contemporaries with the truth about their spiritual guilt (Acts 4:1-21, 5:17, 5:40, 7:51-58). We should also expect to pay a price for faithfully spreading the Truth (1 Peter 4:15-16). In the current climate, persecution will increasingly come as we spread the truth about homosexuality and oppose same-sex unions. Persecution has always come as a result of faithfulness (John 15:18-21; Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12). 
Most Christians in American have no idea what it means to suffer persecution for the name of Christ; I am afraid that some of us are going to learn. Yesterday’s entreaties for “tolerance” have become brow-beatings for acceptance. Christians will face more lawsuits. Some of us will be forced to undergo “sensitivity training.” Some will lose jobs. Others will be court-martialed out of the military. In the coming days, some of us may actually go to prison for simply saying what the Bible says about homosexuality. 
Because Americans have historically self-identified as Christians, many Christians in America are accustomed to being part of a cultural majority. We are unaccustomed to truly standing out, to being radically different than our neighbors, to being ridiculed and called names like “homophobic.” In an increasingly sinful environment, though, the Lord expects us to stand out (Matthew 5:13-16), and we will need to become more comfortable with enduring legal, social, financial, academic, and professional pressures to accept and affirm something God denounces. 
Love Those Who Disagree 
As Christians, we know that God condemns homosexual behavior. We must not be afraid to share this truth, and we must not be afraid to deal with the negative reactions that are sure to come. Remember though, that while we must make it clear that we do not agree with homosexual sin, just like we do not agree with adultery, abortion, child abuse, drug use, lying, and stealing, we must be respectful and loving in doing so. Our goal is always to help people and bring people to Christ, not hurt them and run them off to Satan. 
Even as people mistreat us, we must love them and pray for them and treat them kindly. Jesus bids us to “love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:43). Of course, homosexuals are not necessarily our personal enemies or enemies of the church because of their sexual sins. However, some will attack us and try to hinder our work when we speak against their sin. Still, God loves us first, even when we do not do what we should, so we can and must, in turn, love others first, even when they do not do what they should. 
We do not need to run from homosexuals in our communities, schools, places of employment. Instead, we should affirmatively seek to talk with them, have lunch with them, and build relationships with them. This may be surprising to some, but this is consistent with the example of Jesus (Matthew 9:10) and the teaching of Paul (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). We should welcome homosexuals into our assemblies, as we would welcome anyone else in need of spiritual healing, so that we can expose them to the love of Christ and the Christian family, share the message of the cross, and call them to repentance and remission of sins. The Gospel is for all (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).