Faith

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A homosexual or lesbian couple walks into your church. Well, first of all, that says something about your local congregation. Either it is very liberal or very accepting of alternate life styles. But, let's face it. Your average church does not roll out the welcome mat for these types of people. So how would the particular church that you are attending right now, respond to such an episode? In contrast, how should a local church respond, biblically?

First of all, most Christian who read their Bibles know that it speaks against this kind of life, in Romans 1:24-27, and with its emphasis in other places, of husband-wife relationships. However, the Bible speaks against all sinful behavior--and sin, is sin.

The difficult part of all of this is that the Bible places a high standard of morality on people who are part of the family of God, so one has to maintain that high standard without coming across as being judgmental. At the same time, these kind of people want to feel accepted by Christians. So, how does one make them feel loved and accepted without sacrificing the standard? I do not have the answer to that question. I am simply tossing out a question to ponder.

We can also ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" How did Jesus respond to people in the Gospel accounts who did not measure up to His standard? He had compassion on them, but also, in some cases, told them to go and sin no more. In another instance, Jesus said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."

In any case, Christians and local churches must not drive these people away because we do not agree with their type of life, or believe that it violates God's moral code. At the same time, these people must know that Christians have an obligation to God and to society to maintain a high level of morality.

The question asked at the beginning of this article is one that needs to be asked by every local congregation. To take it one step further, how would you personally respond if a homosexual or lesbian couple entered the front door of your church?

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