In high school, I had a friend who was homosexual. I didn’t know it at first. I had brought him to my church youth group, so he approached me about a “friend” of his that was struggling with homosexuality. I offered what I hoped were helpful words, both verbally & in writing to this “friend” of his. I eventually came to understand that it was actually him. It didn’t change him, but it planted seeds of truth with an attitude of grace. I told him it was wrong, but that God offers forgiveness, help & hope of change.
It’s June, so once again we’re faced with what’s become a month of promoting “pride.” That word “pride” is of course a euphemism for celebrating who people have intimate relations with. It’s bad enough that Scripture condemns the sin of pride (“Pride goes before destruction….” Proverbs 16:18, 29:23, 1 John 2:16, Mark 7:22), but then it’s twisted it into a positive word to glorify what God calls immoral behavior. Symbolic flags & re-purposed rainbows, commercials & displays will be offensively foisted upon us that represent indecency, rejection of God’s plan for marriage, & the delusion that people can change their biological gender. Such people will be hailed as brave & authentic.
But If I speak out against acts that Romans 1 calls dishonorable, unnatural, & shameless, what will I be called? Hater! Homophobe! Transphobe! Does it actually mean that I hate such people though? If I don’t agree or support perversion does that make me homophobic? Of course not. I don’t hate or fear sinful people because all people are sinful people. The difference is that we recognize sin as bad instead of celebrating it as good. God calls all people to repent of all sins, not to glory in them. So if someone disagrees, rejects, or calls me names because of that, does that make them “Christianphobic?” Maybe it’s just “Ministerphobic?” If they reject Scripture, doesn’t that make them the haters & “Godphobes” (Rom. 1:30)? Maybe it just makes them “Biblephobic.” Jesus warned us that we would be hated because of Him (Matt. 10:22).
Christians have sometimes not done a good job in dealing with this issue. We shouldn’t treat anyone as less than a person made in the image of God who Jesus died for. We don’t degrade or despise people. There’s no place for hate because God loves the world so much He sent His Son to save us! But God is not only love, He is holy. He hates sin, & as His people we should hate it as He does (Heb. 1:9, 2 Cor. 6:14-16). That’s why we seek to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), & to be full of grace & truth (John 1:14). But trying to speak hard truths in compassionate ways can be a difficult & delicate balancing act.
How did Jesus deal with sinful people? He was called a “friend of sinners” (Luke 7:34), but that didn’t mean he supported or approved of their behavior. He came to call people to repentance & salvation (Luke 5:32, Matt. 9:13). To the woman at the well who’d already had 5 husbands & was living with a 6th man, he pointed out her sin but offered her salvation (John 4). To the woman caught in adultery, he didn’t condemn her as the religious people were doing — rightly, but hypocritically. He offered her mercy, but also told her to go sin no more (John 8).
Sinners need light, forgiveness, & deliverance. Jesus can transform people’s hearts which leads to changes in behaviors. While the world is going to act like the world, God’s people are called to submit to Christ’s Lordship by the power of the Holy Spirit no matter what temptations, feelings, inclinations, proclivities, or orientations we may have. What they need is redemptive relationships of truth & grace, not deception & a pseudo-tolerance that makes them “feel better” about themselves. We only experience freedom when we embrace God’s design for our lives & Christ as our identity. We all need to turn our hearts to Him because only Jesus can fix what’s broken.
So don’t be intimidated or afraid to stand up for what God says & reject this glorification of “pride.” Just do it with kindness as well as conviction. God’s kindness is meant to lead people to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Love, not hate, must be our posture. Speak up as Jesus did for God’s good design of binary gender, heterosexuality, & opposite-sex marriage (Matt. 19:4-6).
And yes, businesses like Target deserve to be called out & boycotted especially when they target children. Yes, that is “grooming” children by confusing them with ideas that would have never normally crossed their innocent, vulnerable, & easily influenced minds. The world is full of evil, & it’s impossible to boycott every business promoting & providing such things as chest binders for girls, & “tuck-friendly” undergarments for boys like Target does. But by making an example of a few such companies, maybe we can make a difference instead of turning a blind eye. And yes, impacting Target’s finances is now causing a retreat!
When parents, teachers, politicians, or so-called medical & mental health “professionals” expose children to this nonsense, or worse, provide “healthcare” that maims them physically & mentally, they are causing unbelievable damage. Jesus said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6).