 Okay, so this is a tough topic. Are Christians homophobic? One in six Gen Z kids identifies as a part of the LGBTQ community, which is kind of wild. Like if you look back at the statistics from years ago, it was like 2% of the population. One in six is quite a significant jump from that. And so the probability is that young people in your lives and beyond that as well, but just looking at this particular statistic, in your life identify significantly with this community. And so how do we as Christians engage with homosexuality and gender issues and all sorts of these things. And so today we're going to be talking a little bit about homosexuality specifically. So when we look in the Bible, it's not hard to find that God created us male and female. And in the context of marriage, he designed us for men for women and women for men, equally created in God's image, but yet created for specific purposes. I was scrolling TikTok the other day and I noticed one fellow that was accusing Christians of being homophobic. Now this is an uncommon accusation against Christians, especially when we verbalize, okay, homosexuality is a sin when you act out on that behavior. So I kind of want to respond to this video, maybe give you guys a little bit of an insight in how I respond to these particular accusations, because it's not uncommon that you come across people in your own life, not just online, that are going to claim you are homophobic or judgmental or bigoted or all these sorts of things. So let's respond to this video and really engage it from a biblical perspective. Alright, I'm done with this argument. If you think homosexuality is a sin, which Christians are supposed to believe according to the Bible, then you are homophobic. Let's break this down incredibly simply. Definition of homophobia, a dislike of or prejudice against gay people, prejudice, preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Okay, so the first thing to remember is to not get offended when people try to harbor these accusations against you when somebody calls you homophobic. It's important not to get super defensive. That's not what we're trying to do here. We're not trying to prove that we're a good person and we're great. Ultimately, we want to be standing on God's word and standing up for truth and in doing that people may call you names and they may misunderstand what you're trying to say. At the same time though, this guy has a presupposition that is not correct. Even when you look at the definition of homophobia, you notice that it is prejudice harbored towards a quote unquote gay person. This isn't a definition that we as Christians have. You're identifying a person based on their behavior and you're letting that be their identity. I don't believe there are quote unquote gay people. I think there are people that are experiencing same sex attraction. But the issue here is the issue of identity. You see, when we look in the Bible, we find out that we all have this thing called a sin nature. That means that our innate desires aren't leading us towards goodness. They're actually leading us to what is evil and what is wrong. The things that maybe some people feel that come most natural to them are actually things that are not good. That's why we need to redefine what our identity is. That's only possible when we put our faith in Jesus. You see, what people try to do is they try to identify themselves based on their behavior or what they like to do or the groups that they're associated with. A big group identity right now is the LGBTQ community. Oh, I'm gay. I'm lesbian. I'm trans. People find identity in that. They find community in that. People will go to the ends of the earth to tell you, look, this is who I am. This is what my identity is. How dare you challenge me on that and how dare you not accept this supposedly integral aspect of who I am? The real question is at this point is, okay, well, maybe that isn't who you need to identify yourself as. Maybe if we understand God as the transforming savior that he is, we can let go of those preconceived identities associated with the flesh or the things that we used to desire or used to be pulled by or even enslaved by, but now we can look to Christ and find a new identity in him. Even look at people that have opposite sex attraction. Young guys, guys in their 20s, guys in their teens, the biggest thing right now is pornography. That is across the spectrum of not just young guys, girls too, older guys, older girls, everybody. Pornography is absolutely destroying people's lives and think about it. If you were to identify as somebody that, oh, look, I look at pornography. I don't know what you would call that, a pornographer, somebody that watches porn because that's my desire because that's what I want to do. You identify as, okay, you want to sleep with your girlfriend. Oh, I'm going to identify as a fornicator. That's just part of who I am. I can't help it. It's what I want to do and I'm going to continue to do it because that's how God created me. Notice there, you both have the desire to do that. You both have the desire to sleep with somebody and yet that doesn't mean that it's right. That doesn't mean that, okay, well, just because I feel that way, that makes it good. We need to look to the ultimate standard of truth and morality and outside of God, there is nothing. It's just absurdity. Some people will try to look towards the atheistic worldview for the sense of morality, saying, you know, it just kind of evolves with the culture and you got to be accepting of whatever, you know, the culture comes up with. But it's like, no, nobody really holds to that. There are lots of cultures across, you know, the span of history that we look back on and say, no, that was evil. That was wrong. So we're holding to some sort of standard of morality. Ultimately, we need to know that it comes from God and what God says goes because he's outside of our world. He's outside of time and space. He's a transcendent force that is able to speak revelation into our world to tell us what is right from wrong. And we need that because otherwise it's just our own subjective opinion. So when we realize that we say, okay, well, look, we all have this sinful desire. We all, you know, and this isn't about, you know, singling out gay people or people within the LGBTQ community. It's not about that. It's simply about saying, Hey, look, we all have an identity issue. We all find identity in things that are not true, right, good, and we need to be transformed. And we're going to hear from this guy here why that is bad. You saying homosexuality is a sin because it says it in the Bible. It's like me saying being black is wrong because on a post-it note on the wall, it says so. That is an opinion that is not based on reason. Therefore, definitionally, it's prejudice. Interesting. Interesting. This fellow believes that his opinions are based on reason, but I would ask him what that reason is based on. How does he have the ability to reason, to know right from wrong? Without God, without the Bible, without God's revelation to us, we are simply stardust bumping into stardust. There is no valid opinion. There is no objective standard of truth because think about it. Look, if we are just primordial, who says something is right or wrong or good or not? That's like saying two rocks banging together is a right or a wrong or a rock ought to do something or stardust ought to do something. Who says? Who says? And so your arguments, your reasoning is no more reasonable than somebody saying, Hey, look, this is what God's word says and I'm going to hold to that. Notice how God's word is built off though I witnessed accounts of people that were actually there in history when these events took place. That it was inspired by a God that was transcendent, that is transcendent outside of time and space. This has no resemblance to somebody writing something on a post-it note and putting it on a wall because look, God's word holds weight. Without it, we are left with absurdity. And this fellow does hold to a certain sense of morality. He says, look, you're wrong if you say homosexuality is sinful. That is prejudice. That is bad. And I would ask you, sir, why you think that's the case? Why is prejudice bad? From an atheistic worldview, prejudice is necessary. Look, certain groups need to be able to survive and they need to group in with other people that are similar to them and overtake the other groups so that they can be the survival of the fittest so they can continue on. But now this fellow is just inserting all sorts of numerality into the atheistic system because look, that's what he feels is true. That's what he feels is right. And look, I think he's appealing to his inner conscience that God has written his law on this fellow's heart that says, look, it is wrong to be prejudiced. But at the same time, this guy is neglecting the other aspects of his conscience when God says, look, you need to look to me for truth that we've all sinned that we've all broken God's law that just because we feel a certain way or desires latest a certain way does not mean it's good that we all need to be transformed from the inside out that we need to have our identity changed. And then of course, there's the argument, well, I don't dislike gay people. I just dislike what they do. But what you dislike about them is an integral part of who they are that they cannot control. That's like saying to a short person, Oh, I support you, but I don't support the fact that you're short. It doesn't make sense. Okay, this guy says it's an integral part in their life. So if you're not affirming that, you're not affirming them. And we've heard this before on this channel that if you're not affirming gay people, every aspect of who they are, you're not affirming their behavior because it is so integral to who they are, you're not affirming them. And I would just simply disagree with that premise. Look, we can all say, Oh, there's things so integral to us that if you don't accept this about me, then you don't accept me. But look, love doesn't have to accept every single behavior of a person. That's absurd. And if you do, if that's your definition of love, then that is not true love. That's that's coercion. That's coming up to a person saying, look, you need to accept me and everything that I do, even though it may be harmful to you or to me, it's because it's so integral to who I am. It's like according to who and can't a core, I can't control a can't control your behaviors according to who, you know, the amazing thing about God is he unlocks all these sorts of things that we never thought to be possible. Oh, look, I can't control my desires. I can control these things with my willpower. I can't do it. Well, look through God's power and presence in your life. He's enabled you to be able to overcome temptation. That's something that God has allowed us to do. Yes, on your own, you can't control these desires. Yes, on your own, you can't stop watching pornography. But with Christ, he has given you everything you need to live a godly life in Christ Jesus through his power and his presence in your life. That's only what happens when you submit your life to him when we give up our own identity. In summary, you cannot claim that an unchangeable attribute about someone is sinful but that you still love them. So, yes, Christianity is homophobic. Once again, I'm not offended by the accusation of homophobia. It's something people will swing around at you in order to get you to feel bad and in order to get you to relinquish your beliefs. But look, here's the thing. He says unchangeable aspect of who you are. I'm not one of these people that says, oh, once you come to Christ, then you're going to, you know, stop experiencing same-sex attraction right away. I know certain people say that. I don't think that's true. And I know that based on experience with the people in my life and online that I've come in contact with that haven't experienced that. They've come to Christ and yet they still experience these temptations. And so what do we do with that? Well, we do with that. Well, we do with all sorts of struggles that we have and that we still have as Christians. Look, you might still have the desire to look at pornography. You might still have the desire to sleep with your girlfriend or boyfriend. You might still have the desire to, you know, lie or cheat or covet or any of these things that are against God. But that doesn't mean that God hasn't changed you or He's not with you or it didn't work. God may give you the grace to overcome these temptations completely where you just don't even experience it anymore. He frees you from it. And that's an amazing blessing for those that experience that. For other people, it's a lifelong journey of just battling with these things. But we need to change the conversation from, look, these are unchangeable attributes. And this is a integral identity to, look, no, this is not, this doesn't need to be who you are. When you come to know how good Christ is and how loving He was to die for you, you want to pursue holiness and goodness, even if that goes against what you may feel is natural. Look, this is not a popular message. But my hope is if the more we can approach this with truth in love to the people in our lives and the people that are identifying as part of these communities, the more we can get across to them, hey, look, I am not against you here. I want what's best for you. It's not that I hate you or dislike you. It's simply that I see how good God is and how merciful He is and how glorious He is and how wonderful and fulfilling and transforming a life lived in His purpose. And according to His design is, I want you to experience that. I want you to experience the joy found in Christ. And that means giving up the sin in your life. That means submitting it all to Him. But it is worth it. It is worth it. And I want to help us as a community. And if you're somebody that identifies as part of that community watching this video, I want you to know that I love you and that God is so good and that it is so worth it following Him. Hey, guys, thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, I encourage you to subscribe because I'm putting out new videos every single day. Also, please head on over to Patreon if you want to help support my ministry. Through your support, this ministry keeps going and growing. So thank you so much for that. And I will talk to you guys next time. God bless.