 Nothing seems to make Christians sweat as much as the LGBTQ plus question, at least speaking from experience. This is a very sensitive and emotional issue for a lot of folks. They've tied their core identity to who they're attracted to. Thus, when it's challenged, we encounter the full throttle of their defense. As a Christian who takes the Bibles seriously and who believes verses like 1 Corinthians 6, 9 to 10, and Leviticus 18, 22, and Genesis 2, I'm disheartened to see many Christians that try to avoid these questions or say that the Bible itself has really no authority to speak in on these issues at all. I get it, these conversations are really tricky to have and they're often uncomfortable and I'm no expert, but today I think we need to pursue a different way about engaging in these conversations. One not-so-good example of doing this, and that's to put it mildly, is this next video we're gonna watch. God loves gay people just as they are beautifully created. Okay, I'm sorry for pausing it so quickly, but we need to ask ourselves the question, is that true? And to get to the bottom of the question, we need to ask ourselves, do we understand the importance of the fall? You see, when God created Adam and Eve, He created them perfectly, but then they rebelled and because of that, they fell into sin and passed on a sin nature to their descendants. Romans 5-12 puts it this way, therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, that's Adam, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. So because of this, we all have tendencies and proclivities and desires that are not towards the things of God, but rather are like a result of our sinful flesh and our wicked desires. So when it comes to sexuality, we may think, oh whatever comes most natural to us or those desires that feel innate within us, those things must be good and get God's sign off, we would be wrong. The Bible is continually calling us to flee sexual immorality and sexual temptation. So let's go back to the LGBTQ question for a second, more specific homosexuality. When God created Adam and Eve in the garden, He created them differently, but they were made to complement one another, that they would become one flesh, that the fruit of their intimacy would bring life both relationally and literally. Homosexuality is a distortion of that design, of God's good design. Now I realize that is a very tough thing to say, especially when you're talking to somebody that identifies in this way, they identify as gay or they have same-sex attraction and you're telling them, hey this is a distortion of God's design. That can be really challenging and I've experienced that. At the same time, if you take the time to explain it from the beginning from Adam and Eve, that tends to make a lot more sense to them than just coming out and blurting saying, oh it's sinful and just because kind of thing. To them it does make a lot of sense, it seems arbitrary, but when you explain it at least they can, okay I am starting to understand. So does God love us as we are? Well He demonstrated His love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, so He demonstrated His love in that way, but in that love He called us to repentance, to not continue to walk in the ways of the world but to pick up our cross and follow Him. To simply say God loves you and leave it at that is an incomplete gospel. I feel like you're taught growing up that even people who commit the worst crimes in the world can be forgiven, but then being gay is not forgivable, I just feel like I've been rejected. I think what she's verbalizing here a lot of people can relate to, a lot of people see the church and have experienced the church and Christians to be largely judgmental and instead of pointing to the gracious mercy of Jesus, they just simply you know paint themselves as you know the good Christian and oh man your life is so much worse than mine and you're not nearly as spiritual as I am and they experienced that judgment in church and that's what they relate to Christianity and because of that they can take away this message that they're somehow unredeemable or unforgivable and that's just not true. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 9 and 10. Paul has just finished listing all of these sins that people get caught up in not just homosexuality but also thieves and greedy and drunkards and revilers and swindlers and he says they won't inherit the kingdom of God and yet right after that he said and such were some of you but you were washed and you were sanctified. I believe this is the primary message that we as Christians need to get across to the LGBTQ community and all people that because of Christ we can be redeemed, that we can be forgiven, that we can be made a new creation, that we were once one way but now we are someone completely new. Haley, God never rejected you. God's people may have rejected you. Yeah. But that's on them. You are a loved child of God just as you are. The challenge here is this. My fruit or in other words my actions and my lifestyle are indications of whose child I truly am. If I'm living in a lifestyle that God directly condemns and I'm doing it unapologetically and unrepentantly, what assurance do I have to say that I'm the child of God? The Bible says that without Jesus' redemption in our life and him taking the punishment on our behalf, we are actually still children of wrath. Now I don't say that to single out somebody in a homosexual lifestyle. I'd say that to somebody that's sleeping with their girlfriend outside of marriage as well. What evidence do you have to say that you're a child of God because you continue to walk in this sin unrepentantly? I would never walk up to that person and try to give them the assurance that they're all right as they are because they're living in sin. Romans 2 4 explains this better than I ever could. Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Like I said before, there's definitely truth to this. Some people have gone into a church and have just experienced judgment instead of love and compassion. They've just been condemned and said, you're unredeemable, you're wicked, you're evil, and hadn't pointed them to the God who loved them enough to send his son to save us. They totally miss the point. And yet after talking about judgment, which I kind of agree with him on, he lists things that are actually kind of good for a church to do. Like tell us how to live and tell us what to do and not in a very nitpicky type of way, but in like a, hey, we're the body of Christ and we're going to spur you on towards godliness and following Jesus. Like that's part of the role of the church because God does have a standard for how he wants us to live our lives and that's part of the church's role in proclaiming that to us and keeping us accountable. But for the non-christians that are walking into churches, I just hope and pray that they would be met with compassion and love. Like that's what we're called to do. Honestly, that first argument doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You're saying it's the verses in a lot of other verses in the Bible. That doesn't make any sense. Also, it's not like we just cherry picked it. Like he said, this verse and these verses are very clear. You can try to twist them and mangle them any which way you want, but it's evident what they're saying. He goes on to say that if you walk away from the Bible, not understanding love, you read it wrong. But my question is who's standard of love or who gets to define what is love? Let's use an example here. Let's say an adulterer is reading the Bible and there's plenty of spots that condemn adultery and they read it and they're feeling judged and condemned. Maybe they even feel a little bit guilty. They have a pit in their stomach and they're not feeling too good about it, but they listen to this guy's advice and they say, you know, if I'm not feeling the love, if I have an experience and understood love, then I must be reading it wrong. So this just must not be true. Is that right? No. No, because just as God is loving, he is good and his goodness has a standard. You might not find his standard very loving or nice. You might even think it's too strict or bigoted sometimes, but it's not our place to claim that God isn't loving or good just because his standard doesn't line up with our standard. Here's the thing. When you read something in the Bible and maybe it contradicts your way of life, maybe it makes you feel bad or makes you even feel guilty. What do you do? Do you conclude that the Bible is about love and that didn't make me very warm and fuzzy on the inside and thus it must be wrong? No, that would be a fatal error. We're called to submit every aspect of our life to God. That's part of following him and just because our standard of love doesn't line up with God's doesn't mean that he's not loving. While intimidating, these conversations are so important to have. My encouragement to you is to enter them with love, grace, and compassion. That same love and compassion that God had for you while you were still a sinner. Remember, you're no better than any of these folks, no matter if the person's drugs is with homosexuality or, you know, greediness or lust or whatever it is. Man, you were right there, but it was God who scooped you up out of the muck and the mire of your own sin by his grace to make you into a new creation and he wants to do that for these folks. The key to remember here is that you're not just going to affirm them in their lifestyle or try to make them feel good and feel okay. They might have experienced some challenging things with the church and there might need to be some untangling that needs to take place there. You need to exemplify the love and compassion that we're talking about earlier, but at the same time, you need to alert them to God's judgment, but then you want to point them to Jesus as the Savior and invite them into God's family and the rest that he has for them. Friends, don't cower to the pressure, pour into Jesus and he will give you the strength that you need to speak the truth in love. If you enjoyed this video, subscribe because I'm putting you on new videos all the time. This ministry is supported by my friends on Patreon. Patreon is a way that people can support me on a monthly basis and that way I can continue to make content that equips people to follow Jesus daily. If that's a mission you want to get behind, support me today and head to the link in my description. Until next time.