Homosexuality has sure come a long way, and these days it isn’t unusual to find a pastor giving a sermon on it to his church. The general consensus is that they should be able to live in love with whoever they want, and you’ll find many churches and “pastors” who not only support this but actively teach it to, and live it out in front of their congregations. But why have they taken aim at this particular sin and ignored many others?
It was brought up in a recent conversation between friends, that homosexuals are a different case because they have a genetic cause for their behaviour. Of course the discussion quickly turned, and even if you did believe there was some kind of science to support this claim, it is just trying to explain away their sin.
A popular comment was made about how homosexual behaviour was no different than any other kind of preference, including the love of chocolate. How naive.
In reality, let’s say you have a practising homosexual in your church. They aren’t repentant and have no desire to change. They want to continue to live in their sin, and they want to continue to attend your church. What do you do? Well, with 60% of evangelicals supporting this lifestyle, many churches would embrace them, overlook their sin, and should anyone speak out about it the church might undertake a program to help people shake off their fears and do everything they can to accommodate this brand of sinner. Soon they are attending church, openly displaying affection for their partner at services, and receiving the blessing of the church for doing so.
Now, let’s say a man in your church is given to anger. It is genuine – whether a learned behaviour, something from their environment or genetic. What is the response from the church. That’s easy. When the person shows a display of anger it makes others uncomfortable. Wind of the persons problem gets back to the pastor who works with others to plan an intervention at the home of the man’s family. They assure the man he can get better and begin a plan of counselling and prayer to help heal him of his affliction. After several unsuccessful attempts at becoming rehabilitated, the man shows he has no desire to calm his anger and in fact has embraced it as part of who he is. The church realizes they’ve done everything they can for him and eventually considers him to be not of the family of God nor a true Christian, and refuses to allow him to attend the church.
What a stark contrast to what we are seeing here today. Selective acceptance and the source of which come totally from outside influence. To the point that the church has no idea any further when they are being influenced by God, and when they are being influenced by Satan. They’ve lost discernment and good judgement.
This video clip of James White is sure to make you question just how acceptance of these sins has become so rampant. The only authority for such acceptance comes from within the individual or church itself. Which makes one wonder if those churches are already decieved and under some kind of judgement.
“It’s only when it is the light that they fight against it.”
I was on the shore of a lake. I thought it was wintertime but the lake was not frozen. I was preparing the boat for storage by tipping it to get rain water out from it. My wife was on the beach with me, and my child was on the grass just a few feet off the beach. All of a sudden it began to storm. High wind and heavy rains were starting. I said “we need to get inside” and my wife asked “why?” Over the course of a minute or so we discussed the weather and what the effects would be if we stayed outside. I could feel myself becoming frustrated because my wife did not seem to be understanding the conditions. She kept saying things like “it’s not that bad outside.” I was starting to get angry. Then all of a sudden a great bolt of lightning and a deafening thunder. Now I’ve been in the middle of a storm before (I used to chase) and near lightning, but this was something I’ve never experienced before. I’m not sure that I saw the lightning bolt, just the light, but it clearly happened. My eyes were not on my daughter at the time, but I was concerned the lightning may have hit her. And that’s the dreams end.
The light of this world obscures God’s light
In this case, half the town had the power go out. That meant it was dark. Really dark. No streetlights, no house lights, even the casino lights that normally shine miles into the sky were off. The only thing I saw were the emergency lights on in the stairwells of the condos nearby, and the solar garden lights from my neighbours yards.
When I looked up I saw stars. Stars like I hadn’t seen in a long time. The milky way was plain and clear. There was no moon to dull their shine. Everything was just as God had intended it to be.
Now when I was younger I saw something to rival this event. The hydro plant went down on a starry night and took out power to every city in about a 300 km radius. That night was amazing. The stars were bright, there were no solar lights in those days so it was as dark as can be, and being younger, my eyesight was better.
The fear of the Lord
But tonight was no minor event. I stood out in the yard with my arms wide out and I marvelled at how large the Creator must be. And I was a little afraid. I was in wonder, in amazement, but I was trembling. I shook. I couldn’t help but be awestruck that someone could make those tons of stars that I could now so plainly see, but at the same time how could I not be a little fearful of someone so powerful. What is man that you are mindful of us?
The Revelation
Whatever the case, it is the light in this world that blocks us from seeing the glory of God’s creation. It is the daily distractions, the routine that keep us blinded. To have the childlike kind of perception and faith that notices the things that we take for granted. To be able to see the things we ignore because they are somewhere between the point A that we are at and the point B where we wish to be. To be able to see the glory of God because it is His glory, and to ignore the light we create to falsely illuminate our path, if only through this world. The light that really only obscures the light of God.
Back in this world
Having been back in the light of this world for only a little bit of time, I was already wishing I was fully illuminated in the light of God. The light that we read about in Revelation 21:
To have been able to share my experience tonight with my children, or with you. That you would be able to see a little bit more of God’s own light.
Oh well…until that glorious day when together we both understand the light in Revelation 21.