Pride

This post is unlike any of my others so far. This is not a spiritual writing or a love letter poured out to God. There is nothing eloquent or beautiful about what I have to say. This will not be a politically correct, “people friendly” post, so if you agree with the worlds views I would suggest you stop reading now because you’ll most likely be offended by what I’m about to write.

The month of June has been turned into the month when people celebrate the LGBTQ community. Everywhere we go we see rainbow flags flying, people wearing multi-colored “Love is Love” shirts and pride parades in every major city. Traditional marriage has become an archaic view and anyone who disagrees with the modern day take on homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism, and all other new-age terms, is labeled “homophobic”, “hateful”, “small minded”, and “anti-love”.

The Bible is the only road map I have in this life. It is what I turn to when I’m confused, hurt, sad, lonely, lost, frightened, excited and joyful. It has withstood the test of time, been translated into nearly every language known to man yet it still says the same thing in my English KJV Bible that it does in one friend’s Portuguese Bible and another’s Swahili Bible. Despite this fact, in today’s society, the Bible is seen as an old school paper map in a world filled with modern-day GPS systems; but you know what, the Word has never failed me, and it never loses its signal.

The Bible is where I learn what is right and what is wrong, what is truth and what are lies, and, to be honest, I don’t always “like” what I learn, but regardless of my feelings, I know God’s Word will always lead me in the right direction.

In it I find hope, peace, love, joy and strength. Through it I have learned to be bold, strong, brave, fearless, confident, secure, kind and truly loving. Because of it, I know three things without a doubt:

1. Jesus died so we can be saved
2. I am a child of God and He loves me
3. God cannot lie and does not change

So, because of these three things, in no way do I agree with the modern-day view on sexuality and marriage, not because of personal beliefs, but because of what the Word tells me.

By now I would expect we’ve lost a couple readers but I’m going to push forward anyway.

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.” -Numbers 23:19 NIV

When God says something is a sin under a covenant, it is a sin as long as that covenant remains. The Israelites lived under an incredibly strict and rigorous covenant that we would never be able to abide by in today’s society, but God had them living that way because through them was going to come the Messiah. God had to make sure that nothing would pollute the line of Judah.

We, fortunately, do not live under the old covenant but under a new, freeing covenant made by Jesus Christ.

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” -Luke 22:20 NIV

Although we live under a new covenant that does not mean everything the world normalizes is tolerable in the eyes of God. We, like the Israelites in the Old Testament, have a way of life that God desires for us. We have morals and values that are incomparable to those of the world, we don’t accept everything the masses accept, we first look to the Lord to see what is admissible by Him.

Since the beginning of time God has not changed and the new Jesus covenant we live under has stayed the same since He died on that cross.

“And he [Jesus] answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female. And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” -Matthew 19:4-5

We have over complicated this so much, but it really is simple: God made us male and female and only in the midst of a male and female union can God abide. God has not changed, and neither have His views on marriage and sexuality.

Is this politically correct in today’s society?
-No.

Does it matter that it isn’t accepted by the world?
-No.

They killed Jesus for not being “politically correct” so is it really any surprise that marriage, the closest thing we have to a visual picture of the covenant God made with humanity, has been belittled, tarnished and turned into something God never intended?

Two incredible biblical characters wrote about sexual perversion. One example comes from Moses out of the Old Testament and the other from Paul out of the New Testament.

“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.” -Leviticus 20:13

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly.” -Romans 1:26-27

I don’t believe I need to digest these verses any more, both Moses and Paul are very clear when it comes to God’s views on this subject.

Now, am I saying God loves me more than someone who is a part of the LGBTQ community?
-No.

Am I condemning them to hell?
-No.

Do I believe they should be mocked, belittled or harmed?
-Absolutely not.

This post is not meant to condemn, it is to bring light to a topic that has become increasingly hidden in the dark, even within Christian communities and churches.

When we make conscious decisions to live a life contrary to the Word we are pushing ourselves farther and farther away from God. God cannot abide in the midst of continual sin, so why as a society, as a church, are we normalizing sin in our daily lives?

When we normalize we lose the ability to defeat; why would we do that to one another?

Shouldn’t we want our brothers and sisters to be free from anything that would separate us from God?

Jesus died so we would be loosed from everything the world throws at us, everything the enemy attacks us with. God loves each and every one of us enough to want us to reject sin in order to be closer to Him.

If God says something is wrong, which we see through Jesus, Moses and Paul that this particular topic is indeed wrong, then why are we so quick to celebrate it? Why are we so ready to accept things into our lives that are contrary to the Word, that keep us separated from Him?

All I have to stand upon in this life are the words that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord. He gave me a book to abide by and I am doing the best I can to live each day according to that book. No, I am not perfect, sometimes I feel so far from perfect it’s embarrassing, so I in no way have the right to condemn anyone, but I do have the right to proclaim the truth because the truth truly does set us free.

I am proud of my relationship with God and, because of that pride, I get upset when I see people, particularly Christians, proclaiming something as acceptable by God that God has declared as sin because doing so does nothing but harm people. So, I guess that is why I wrote this post in the first place.

If my words make you mad, it’s okay, I don’t take offense, but I would encourage you to do your own research; look to the Word rather than the world and to God rather than the government. Pour over the scriptures, you may be surprised at what you’ll find.

We, as Christians, live our lives according to the Word. No, our views will not always be popular or vastly accepted, but that is a price we pay as followers of Jesus. God loves each and every one of us and because of that love He wants to push us away from sin and pull us closer to Him.