http://joedallas.com/blog/index.php/2014/05/05/assessing-god-and-the-gay-christian-part-one-of-five/
Assessing “God and the Gay Christian” – Part I
Why Bother?
Today’s church is being asked – pressured, really – to follow the culture’s lead, and the culture is leading towards wholesale approval of homosexuality. So Matthew Vine’s new book God and the Gay Christian is a fresh, eloquent, and well publicized addition to the pressure.
If Vines had authored an argument for immersion baptism as opposed to sprinkling, or for a Mid-Tribulation Rapture viewpoint instead of a Pre-Tribulation one, or for the continuation of the gift of tongues as opposed to its extinction, then I’d say Yawn to the whole thing. Those are non-essentials to my thinking; subjects we can argue about with no threat to unity, because they’re neither foundational to the faith nor crucial to Christian living.
And plenty of Christian voices are calling for us to view homosexuality in the same light. Tony Campolo says believers shouldn’t break fellowship over it because it’s not an essential doctrinal matter, Craig Gross of XXX Church warns against simplistic, black and white positions on the subject, and well known blogger Rachel Held Evans joins equally well read author Andrew Marin by advocating no clear position at all on homosexuality, in lieu of simply showing love.
But a plain reading of both Testaments makes it impossible to share these views, because Scripture does, in fact, elevate the definition of marriage, the family, and normal sexual behavior to the status of essential.
The Creation account in Genesis explains the male/female union as a one-flesh joining, in answer to man’s God-ordained need for partnership (Genesis 2: 20-24), a description Jesus referenced and reinforced by asking, rhetorically, “Know ye not that He who created them created them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4) Anything falling short of this standard (monogamous and heterosexual) qualifies as sin, and significant sin at that. Sexual immorality (i.e. fornication, lust, adultery or incest) is specifically named and condemned in 22 out of the 27 books of the New Testament; Paul exhorted the Ephesians not to let fornication even be mentioned among them (Ephesians 5:3) while warning the Corinthians that it was a significant transgression against the body. (I Corinthians 6:18), So significant, in fact, that it warranted the first recorded case of church discipline via excommunication (I Corinthians 5: 1-5) and a stern rebuke from Paul to the church for allowing it to go unchecked in its midst. (I Corinthians 5: 1-2)
Clearly, then, sexual sin matters. And it matters hugely.
That’s why this book calls for scrutiny. It asks us to revise our understanding of what we’ve traditionally considered a sexual, and thereby serious, sin. If its author is right, then we need to overhaul our thinking. If he’s wrong, then his call for revision is an invitation to gross doctrinal and moral error, having the potential to deceive believers, misinform the public, and further weaken the moral climate in the Body of Christ. And that, I’d say, is a pretty big deal. So this week, we’ll be reviewing Vine’s arguments, offering responses and counterarguments, and (hopefully) some thoughts to equip readers for the conversations they’re likely to have on the subject.
He’s Not All Wrong
I’m impressed with some aspects of the book. Vines shows integrity by clarifying from the outset that most of the points he makes aren’t new, and indeed, they’re not. My overall impression, in fact, was that he’s re-hashed and re-articulated John Boswell’s 1980 work Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, the ground-breaking standard for a pro-gay interpretation of the Bible. But he’s done so in a style that’s much more user-friendly than Dr. Boswell’s original and somewhat ponderous book, and that alone will broaden his readership. Those unfamiliar with Boswell could easily get the impression Vines developed these revisionist ideas on his own, so I appreciated his diligence to cite original sources. Sadly, I know some conservative Christian writers who could take lessons from this openly gay apologist on fairness and honesty when it comes to giving due credit, rather than passing someone else’s ideas off as your own.
I was also struck by his earnest style. If I were to be convinced only by a gentlemanly and balanced tone, then Vines would win me over hands down. Unlike many on both sides who write about homosexuality, he avoids sarcasm and vitriol. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop while reading, and it really never did. No cheap shots; no character assassination; no demonizing his opponents. By the end of the book I found myself disagreeing with practically everything he said, while appreciating virtually everything about the way he said it. Content is primary, but attitude counts, too, so I salute Matthew Vines for displaying a pretty good one. It’s the assumptions and conclusions he comes to that I take issue with.
Assumption 1: We Need to Know Why
I parted company with Matthew by page 12, where he questions how we can call same sex relations sinful if we can’t prove that they hurt anybody. His assumption seems to be that for something to qualify as sin, the damage it does to another person needs to be verified. When considering other sins with obvious consequences he states, “By understanding the reasons behind Scripture’s teachings, I could apply its principles to all circumstances in my life”, he asserts. But what literal damage, he ponders, does a committed same sex relationship cause? The question thus shifts from “Is it declared wrong?” to “Why should it be declared wrong?” In other words, I not only need to know what God has said, but why He said it as well.
But that can’t be right. Does every sin need to be proven harmful to be classified as sin? Sexual relations before or apart from marriage are Biblically prohibited, but can we really prove that an unmarried couple living together, or an adulterous relationship that’s kept secret, cause verifiable harm? Or that the young man secretly and sexually fantasizing about the pretty girl next door is hurting anyone?
No, nor do we have to, because sin needn’t have a verifiable outcome to qualify as sin. It need only fall short of what God intended. Consider King David’s words after his horrendous acts with Bathsheba and against her husband: “Against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned.” (Psalm 51:4) Obviously others had been harmed, Bathsheba’s innocent husband topping the list. But ultimately sin is an offense to God, no matter who else may or may not be proven to have been hurt in the process. If our bodies belong to Him, than straying outside His will for them is, in and of itself, the definition of transgression.
That said, we do know that a same sex union disregards the obvious biological differences in human anatomy. As Evan Lenow, assistant professor of Ethics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, notes:
“God’s design for man is that he could enter into a complimentary relationship with a woman, who is like him yet still different. At a very basic level, the complimentary biological differences between man and woman make this clear. Thus homosexual intercourse cannot be the union of a man and his suitable helper –”
This isn’t rocket science. In man’s unfallen state, the intended nature of sexual union is evidenced in our first parent’s very specific plumbing, unmistakable in form and function. A deviation from that is inherently a deviation from divine design.
Not that we have to know but, in answer to the question “Why?” – that’s why.
Assumption 2: Better in Love than Alone
The author’s second assumption seems even more serious. Vines argues that, since God declared it’s not good for man to be alone, then everyone should be in a marital relationship, unless they’re called to celibacy, and the nature of that relationship (homosexual or heterosexual) doesn’t matter. The relationship, not it’s nature, is the main thing. To prove his point he makes a few sub-points:
- “Adam and Eve were right for each other, not because they were different, but because they were alike” (p. 46) This undermines the importance of a complimentary union by saying it didn’t really matter what sexes they were; what mattered is that they were brought together, which paves the way for allowing same sex intimacy.
- “Celibacy is a gift, and those who do not have the gift should marry” (p. 48) Therefore, if someone does not have the gift of celibacy, they should not only marry, but they should marry whichever sex appeals the most to them. Again, the form of marriage becomes secondary to the experience of a partnership.
- “Mandatory celibacy for gay Christians — sends the message to gay Christians that their sexual selves are inherently shameful.” (p. 57) Since everyone should be married, and since people should only marry those they are primarily attracted to, it logically follows that gay marriage is right because gay people, like all people, should be married, and gay people can only marry their own sex.So the real issue for partnership, according to Vines, is not the sex of your partner, but the fact that you have one, and to tell homosexual people not to partner with other homosexuals violates God’s observation that man should not be alone.
The Junk Food Dilemma
But having a legitimate need for intimacy cannot justify illegitimate ways of fulfilling that need. It’s not good for man to go hungry; that doesn’t legitimize unhealthy foods. It’s not good for a man to be broke; that doesn’t legitimize robbery. It is better, in fact, to have a legitimate need go unmet, than to fulfill it in the wrong way, and our sexual needs aren’t exempt from this principle. In this fallen world, and dealing with my fallen nature, if the only thing that really turns me on sexually and emotionally is Activity B, yet only Activity A is sanctioned by God, then I cannot rewrite the rules to accommodate my taste. Rather, I need to explore the possibility of engaging in Activity A, or do without. That may not mean I have the gift of celibacy so much as the unfortunate necessity of celibacy, but if the choice is between celibacy and sin, for the Believer the decision should be a no-brainer.
When the Model is Muddled
I was especially struck by Vine’s disregard for the divine concept the male/female partnership expresses – God’s union with His people in the Old Testament (Isa 54:5 Hos 2:7; Joel 1:8) and Christ’s union with His church in the New (Eph 5:25-33)– and how impossible it is to adhere to that model in anything but an opposite sex union. In the Old Testament God’s people are seen in the feminine as the Bride and He as the Bridegroom; in the New Testament Christ is in a specifically male role; His church is an equally specific female one. (Rev 19:7-9, Rev 21:2,9-10; Rev 22:17) You cannot recognize this model without recognizing the inherent heterosexuality of it – a male to female connection. And if the marital union is, as Paul declares it to be, an illustration of Christ and His church, than that union must likewise be male to female. Sex is meant to honor this model; deviate from the model, and you deviate from the plan, muddling what ought to be modeled.
Vines instead focuses the value of the sexual relationship on the level of satisfaction it brings both partners. And from here yet another broad assumption is posed: If you’re homosexual, you can never be anything but homosexual, so marriage to the opposite sex cannot happen. Therefore, your only choice is celibacy, or union with someone of your own sex.
Gay and Only Gay?
At this point it’s tempting to say, “But what of all those who claim to have indeed changed and embraced a heterosexual union?” a protest I myself would be quick to make.
But those are testimonies of people like me who admittedly have a bias – that homosexuality is wrong; heterosexuality normal. More compelling to me, it seems, are the histories of many openly gay women and men who agree with Vines, and who celebrate homosexuality, but who also admit to having once been married to the opposite sex, and to having fathered or mothered children, and to having been able to not only perform sexually but to procreate as well, all the while realizing they were homosexual, yet operating heterosexually as well. They report that their homosexual attractions remained, but – and this is something needing careful thought – those attractions didn’t prevent them from heterosexual union. Their burden was, of course, the continuation of homosexual desires, and the fact that they never seemed to have felt as attracted to their spouse as they were to the same sex. But their same-sex temptations need not have ruled them. At some point many of them chose to leave their families because they decided to partner with the sex they felt most attracted to. Still, their prior marriages proved that, despite Vine’s assertions, they were indeed capable of heterosexual marriage and parenting.
And what about those who never, despite the most earnest prayer and efforts, feel any attraction to the opposite sex? They certainly exist, and many of them are in the pews next to us each Sunday. They are homosexual in attraction but Christian in fact, and their commitment to Christ compels them to say no to what God has forbidden. They are by no means doing anything wrong by simply having those desires, and the fact those desires remain is no indication of shortcoming on their part. For them, celibacy seems the only logical option. After all, no one should marry if they have no sexual attraction to their spouse; no one should be foolhardy enough to think marriage cures homosexuality. And there must be a place in the church for celibate believers who resist same-sex longings and embrace the disciple’s call to both Cross and Crown.
Sexuality and the Cross
But that hardly calls for legitimizing something God prohibits just because it’s what a person feels most naturally inclined to. Vines would have us believe it’s cruel to tell someone their sexual desires are inherently wrong. I would argue that the same can and should be said to most if not all of us. The Christian husband’s occasional attractions to his secretary; the teen’s yearning to go further than he should with his girlfriend; the older man’s inability to be aroused by his elderly wife while becoming quite aroused by a centerfold – these all qualify as “inherently wrong desires.” So at the end of the day, when we tell the believer with homosexual tendencies not to yield to those tendencies, to resist them perhaps on a daily basis, and to accept God’s grace as sufficient in times of temptations, are we really telling him to do anything we ourselves aren’t also required to do?
I appreciate Vine’s concern. I had it myself when I repented of homosexuality 30 years ago, wondering if or when I would ever feel a longing for a woman, or if I’d need to adapt to singleness. And no answers were clear to me other than this: Despite my best efforts to make it say otherwise, the Bible condemned, in the plainest terms, all forms of homosexual behavior, no exceptions or qualifiers. If I therefore wanted to live as a true follower of Him, I’d be called to deny that part of myself I’d become accustomed to indulging, with no guarantee of ever losing the desire for it, or of ever enjoying sexual union with a woman. This, I believe, was nothing more than the cost of discipleship; the lot of anyone ready to take up his cross and walk, not knowing the immediate outcome, but certain of the eternal one.
With perhaps the best intentions, Vines commends not an unqualified obedience, but a gratification of the very self Jesus calls us to deny, baptizing sin in seemingly compassionate but, in the end, very misleading terms. And thereby God and the Gay Christian promotes a God who accommodates man on man’s terms, rather than the One who sets the terms and expects them to be revered, not revised.
Tomorrow we’ll examine Matthew Vine’s approach to the book of Leviticus, and its relevance to believers today. Hope you’ll join us.
Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Part II: Homosexuality and Leviticus
God and the Gay Christian, Matthew Vine’s new and well publicized book, argues that we should reconsider what the Bible says about homosexuality. His premise is that scripture is inspired and authoritative, but that it does not condemn homosexuality, and that the reason we think it does is because the Bible has been misinterpreted or misunderstood for centuries.
Such a sweeping charge – that Christians have essentially gotten it wrong for hundreds of years – needs a pretty convincing argument to back it. Whether or not Vines has provided such an argument is the focus on this five-part series. So far we’ve examined his claims about Adam and Eve’s union; his assertion that God’s intention for man not to be alone calls for same-sex marriage to be sanctioned; and his belief that telling homosexuals their desires are wrong is damaging and cruel. (See yesterday’s post)
Today, let’s look at God and the Gay Christian‘s take on the Book of Leviticus, and consider its merit.
Abomination in Fact —
“You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.” (Lev. 18:22)
“If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death.” (Lev. 20:13)
A plain reading of these verses leads to an obvious conclusion: men ought not to sexually partner with other men. And a plain reading of these chapters in their entirety underscores that conclusion. Leviticus 18 is primarily about sexual practices forbidden to the Israelites and, in fact, forbidden to believers as well in the New Testament, and Leviticus 20 is largely, though not exclusively, about similar behaviors. Regarding sex, these two chapters combined prohibit not only homosexuality, but also incest (Lev. 18: 6-18 andLev. 20: 11-12; 17; 19-21) adultery (Lev. 18:20 and Lev. 20:10) and bestiality (Lev. 18:23; Lev. 20: 15-16) along with the use of mediums, idol worship, and sorcery. It’s notable that most of these behaviors (apart from bestiality, and thankfully no one’s claiming Biblical approval of that one) are specifically condemned in the New Testament as well. In fact, in both these chapters, apart from bestiality, the only behaviors forbidden that are not likewise forbidden in the New Testament are intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period, and refusal to distinguish between clean and unclean animals.
It logically follows that God intended Israel to abstain from these acts, homosexuality included, an intention not limited to Israel, but also reiterated for believers in the New Testament.
Vines begs to differ, in a way which first affirms truth but then, to my thinking, turns it on its head.
— Or Abomination in Context?
In his chapter on Leviticus, the author shows fairness by making some important points, points I don’t normally read in material promoting pro-homosexual theology. Whereas pro-gay writers often accuse conservative Christians of picking and choosing which verses in the Law we take seriously, Vines rightly claims that “Christians haven’t arbitrarily chosen to ignore the parts of the Bible we don’t like.” (p. 78) That statement alone separates Vines from most other gay apologists I’ve read, who fall back on cliched remarks about condemning homosexuality but eating shellfish or wearing mixed fabrics, accusing us of hypocrisy when we observe moral codes but ignore ceremonial or dietary ones. He also correctly notes that Christ fulfilled the Law; that we’re not justified by keeping it; and that it serves to “expose our sin, revealing our need for a Savior”, as Vines puts very well on page 80.
But after carefully and pretty accurately explaining the Old Testament Law’s nature and use, he then introduces an argument no doubt borrowed from John Boswell’s Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality: that the word “abomination” (toe’vah in Hebrew) refers more to something ceremonially impure, rather than something inherently wrong or abominable. Citing scholars who share his view, Vines argues that toe’vah appears in Bible verses referencing gold and silver dedicated too idols, or making sacrifices to God in the proximity of false gods. “Toe’vah” therefore refers to idolatrous practices of Gentiles”, he asserts on p. 85, and he concludes that the “abomination” God abhors when he commands a man not to lie with a man, has nothing to do with the homosexuality itself, but rather the context it’s practiced in. (Presumably meaning homosexuality is legit if NOT practiced as a part of idol worship; forbidden if it IS. It’s therefore the context, not the thing itself, which matters.)
What, then, are we to say about the adultery, incest and bestiality prohibited in these chapters as well? Are they, too, only forbidden if they’re practiced in the context of idol worship, but allowed otherwise? We can’t have it both ways – if homosexuality is condemned if expressed in a cultic ritual but commended otherwise, it becomes hard not to make the same claim about all sexual practices in these chapters. This is one my main complaints against Matthew’s reasoning here: he imposes contingencies on these verses where contingencies do not in fact exist.
Nor does his usage of “toe’vah” hold up well. Contrary to his assertion that it is primarily used to described something ceremonially idolatrous or unclean, its notable that perhaps the most well-known use of the word occurs in
Proverbs 6:16-19:
“These six things doth The Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination (toe’vah) to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift to running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Nothing ceremonial about these sins; they’re wrong in and of themselves, no matter what context they’re practiced in. The same can and should be said about incest, adultery, bestiality and homosexuality as well. It is first forbidden, then described as an abomination, the descriptive word toe’vah being the same word used to describe both ceremonially unclean acts, and actions that are wrong in and of themselves. On these points the Law is neither as coy nor ambiguous as Vines would have us believe, thereby we should condemn what it condemns with equal clarity.
But Is the Sin Sexist or Sexual?
Matthew’s one last attempt to absolve homosexuality of any wrong in the sight of Leviticus comes when he suggests that since the laying of one man with another most certainly refers to anal intercourse, and since anal intercourse at that time “feminized” the receptive partner in the sight of ancient culture, the sin of men lying with men had nothing to do with men having sex, but rather with one man subordinating another by putting him in the female role.
For support Vines turns to ancient writers Philo, Plutarch, and Clement of Alexandria, all of whom described the act of anal intercourse between men as one degrading the receptive partner by making him womanly. He further argues that, since women’s status was at the time far inferior to men’s, it was thereby an insult to a man to put him in a womanly role, particularly a sexual one.
He even goes so far as to suggest homosexual sex between men which did NOT include anal intercourse would be seen as less serious, since no penetration was involved, an argument sadly evoking memories of a former President’s claim that oral sex did not constitute literal adultery.
But here again, while raising an informative point, a cogent argument does not follow. Yes, women’s status at the time was lower the men’s; yes, the feminizing of a man would therefore be viewed as atrocious, just as in modern times the prison rape and subsequent “feminization” of a weaker inmate would be viewed with horror. None of which has direct bearing on these verses, because they condemn a sexual act between men without adding any qualifier, contingency or contextual argument. Were consensual homosexual actions acceptable to God, surely He had the capacity to inspire Old Testament authors to make a distinction between coerced homosexual sex versus legitimate homosexual sex; or between degrading homosexual actions versus affirming, mutually loving ones.
Yet no such qualifiers, contingencies or distinctions can be found here, leaving this reader wondering whether Vines might also argue that incest between Father and Daughter is only wrong if the daughter is coerced or degraded, but right if the relationship was indeed consensual. Since he appears a very reasonable and moral man, it’s unlikely he’d hold such ideas, but they seem consistent with the conclusions he’s drawn about homosexuality.
All of which brings us back to a straightforward and, I believe, common sense reading of the document in question. What does it say? Who was it said to? Is what it says reiterated throughout the document? What are the practical, obvious implications of what it says?
On those questions, which yield conclusions I believe to be obvious, we’ll close. Because, as is often said when describing the obvious:
The Thing Speaks for Itself.
Tomorrow we’ll look at Vine’s take on Homosexuality and Christ’s teachings. Please join us.
(For further reading on how to answer the pro-gay interpretation of the Bible please check out my book The Gay Gospel? How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible)
Assessing Matthew Vines’ “God and the Gay Christian” Part III – Jesus and Homosexuality
The heart is an artist that paints over what profoundly disturbs us, leaving on the canvas a less dark, less sharp
version of the truth.
-Dean Koontz, Forever Od
When you love someone, you hope they’re right.
If they’re wrong, you can confront their wrong while praying they come to see the truth, or you can revisit the truth itself and see if might reconsider, be flexible, change its stance. The notorious story of comedian W.C. Fields comes to mind, in which someone sees him on his death bed perusing the Bible and asks him what he’s doing
“Just checkin’ to see if there are any loopholes.”
Enter Matthew Vines, an articulate, intelligent young man claiming to be both Christian and openly gay, whose new book God and the Gay Christian provides, to my thinking, just the sort of loopholes Fields had in mind. Having read then re-read Vines, I’m impressed by his verbal artistry, the kind which, as Koontz describes above, paints over the Bible’s clear condemnation of homosexuality and leaves on the canvas a more gay-friendly, but definitely less sharp, version of the truth.
No wonder it’s made such a splash. If you deeply love someone who’s homosexual, and are just as deeply convinced God disapproves, it could be a mighty relief to hear someone offer a new, improved version of the Bible assuring you that your loved one and God are just fine, thank you, and that his homosexuality is acceptable. No more worries about consequences in this life or the next; no more concerns about how or when the Prodigal will return. Who doesn’t want to
hear that?
And in Vines, both the message and messenger are well packaged. His writing is clear and persuasive; his position as a Bible believing evangelical is stressed throughout the book. Whereas other pro-gay apologists admit to a liberal view of scripture, Vines defends the authority of the Bible and the basics of the faith quite well. I believe he’s sincere and that he cares deeply about the basics he defends, making him all the more credible to Christian readers who are susceptible to un-Biblical reassurances and not well grounded in sound doctrine. (Which describes, sad to say, way too many of today’s believers – the fact this book was published through evangelical channels is but one of many proofs of how doctrinally weak we’ve become.)
In two prior posts we’ve assessed his take on the complimentary nature of the male/female union, and on Levitcal references to male homosexuality. Today let’s look at Vine’s take on the teachings of Christ Himself
Did Jesus Say Anything About It? If So, What?
I was glad, when reading Vine’s remarks about the Gospels, to see he declined the standard revisionist arguments we’re accustomed to hearing when it comes to Jesus and homosexuality.
Frequently pro-gay apologists will claim Jesus said nothing about the subject, so it can’t have mattered to Him. That’s a weak defense, considering Jesus also said nothing (at least in the gospel accounts) about bestiality, spousal abuse, or incest, yet no one would claim His silence on those behaviors suggested approval of them. And since John said all the books ever written couldn’t contain all He did (John 21:25) we cannot know all of what He did or did not say, nor do the gospel accounts claim to have recorded all His words.
Besides which, while it’s true that in the gospels He didn’t mention certain sexual sins, homosexuality included, He did clarify God’s intention for the marital union as being monogamous, permanent, independent, and heterosexual. (Matthew 19:4-6) All of which makes the “Jesus said nothing” argument a flimsy one and, to his credit, Vines seems to realize this.
He also avoided what I consider to be a silly, modern attempt to sexualize the relationship between the Centurion who approached Jesus, and his servant who was seriously ill. (Matthew 8:5-10) Some have argued that since the Centurion loved his servant deeply, and since some Centurions allegedly had sexual relations with their servants, then it logically follows that the Centurion and his servant were lovers, and that Jesus both healed a gay man and commended the faith of his sexual partner. But reading sex into this account is as presumptuous as assuming that if a boss says he cares about his secretary, since some bosses sleep with their secretaries, he must also, therefore, be sleeping with her. Vines again shows good common sense by leaving this one alone.
Good Fruit, Good Tree, Case Closed
But he offers instead a curious argument for a pro-homosexual view of scripture, in which he confidently states:
“Jesus test is simple. If something bears bad fruit, it cannot be a good tree. And if something bears good fruit, then it cannot be a bad tree.” (p. 14)
He then goes on to explain that many homosexual people show evidence of good fruit in their lives. Conversely, when homosexual people try to suppress their sexual desires, it produces bad fruit, evidenced in the depression, dysfunction, and even suicides of some who’ve tried saying “no” to their same-sex inclinations.
Equally bad fruit, he claims, comes from anti-homosexual teaching and attitudes, both of which damage homosexuals.
Likewise, he claims, good fruit comes when gay Christians accept their orientation as normal and God given, and find partnership in marriage with someone of the same sex. It also comes when people affirm their homosexual friends and loved ones, rather than hold to the view that homosexuality is sin. Thereby everyone involved is happier, healthier, and more self-accepting, all of which points to good fruit, which can only come from good trees.
Pointing to happy, high functioning homosexual people who claim a Christian identity and lead respectable lives, Vines assumes the case is closed since they, as good fruit bearers, must likewise be good trees in God’s sight.
But is this either/or paradigm really what Jesus proposed?
If so, then common sense tells us everyone qualifies for both categories, because we all at times display good fruit, at other times, something less. Peter popped out some terrific fruit – getting the revelation of who Christ was, for example (Matthew 16:17) or walking on water with the Lord (Matthew 14:28) or preaching the seminal sermon of Church history in Acts 2. (Not to mention other great moments of ministry recorded in Acts, and his authorship of I and II Peter.) He also produced some pretty bad fruit when he denied the Lord (Mark 14: 66-72) rebuked Jesus for declaring His intention to die (Mark 18:32) and refused to eat with Gentiles for fear of Jewish disapproval. (Galatians 2:11-14) Hence the same Lord who said “Blessed art thou Simon Jonah” in Matthew 16:17 could, a mere seven verses later, thunder at him “Get behind me Satan.” (Matthew 16:23)
Peter brought forth both good and bad fruit, so which tree was he?
For that matter, what do we make of Paul, who admitted he at times did what he didn’t want to do, and at other times didn’t do what he should? (Romans 7:19) Or of the churches at Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis, all of whom got very mixed reviews from Jesus when He noted their good and bad points? (Revelation chapters 2-4) In all these cases, both good and bad fruit, to varying degrees, came from the same trees. So is the fruit question really “either/or?”
Each Fruit on its Own Merit
Comparing scripture to scripture, we see Jesus must have meant something less simplistic when He described trees and their fruit, a point Matthew Henry well makes in his commentary on Matthew 7:
“But then that must be reckoned the fruit of the tree which it brings forth naturally and which is its genuine product-which it brings forth plentifully and constantly and which is its usual product. Men are known, not by particular acts, but by the course and tenor of their conversation, and by the more frequent acts.”
In other words, the fact good fruit comes from someone cannot legitimize everything they do, no more than bad fruit discounts all other good blossoming in a man or woman’s life. Thereby, if someone is openly homosexual, no doubt good fruit can come from them, fruit which is indeed wholesome but cannot validate all other parts of their lives.
I saw this in play when I was part of a pro-gay church in the early 1980’s, a church attended mostly by people claiming to be both gay and Christian, and teaching a pro-gay version of the Bible. Many of us prayed together, did charitable works, worshipped regularly, studied the Bible weekly, and shared the gospel with non-believers. All the while claiming, and acting upon, an openly lesbian or gay identity.
I even remember one Halloween night when my male partner and I joined our lesbian pastor and her partner to pray – and I mean long, hard intercessory prayer – for the kids who were out trick or treating, and against any demonic influences coming into play during the evening. How many conservative pastors do
that nowadays?
So good fruit can and does come from people who are wrong in critical areas, and bad fruit can likewise come from people whose lives are generally in line with sound doctrine. I’ll be the first to agree with Vines that many homosexuals bear good fruit in their lives, sometimes more than I’ve seen in many heterosexuals. I could say the same of people involved in other equally serious moral or doctrinal errors. But bad fruit – sin, for example, of any kind – cannot be justified by the fruit-bearer’s other good qualities. It’s got to be judged on its own, weighed against a higher and holier standard.
In our next posting we’ll look at Vine’s interpretation of Paul’s references to homosexuality, in Romans 1, I Corinthians, and I Timothy.
And in our final post we’ll examine more closely the claims that traditional teaching on homosexuality damages gay and lesbian people, and on other claims Vines has made about the modern church and its approach to the issue.
Please join us.
And for more information about the pro-gay interpretation of scripture see my book The Gay Gospel? How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible at joedallas.com.
Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Part IV: Paul and Romans One
“All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.”
-Simon and Garfunkel, The Boxer
Reading Matthew Vines new book reminds me of my first visit to a pro-gay church back in 1978.
The sanctuary was full of folks declaring themselves to be both gay and Christian, and looking, truth to tell, terrific. There were couples of all ages standing arm in arm, single men and women, and even some kids scattered throughout the pews. They seemed robust and sincere as they sang choruses and hymns I was familiar with, and watching the people around me clapping, lifting their hands with eyes closed, and singing earnestly, I thought “My gosh, they look like any evangelical or charismatic congregation you could find any Sunday in America!”
I was all too susceptible to their pro-gay doctrine, largely because there was just enough truth being promoted there to make me comfortable with the error. The songs were traditional and solid; the sermon was, by and large, pretty good; the people seemed fervent. Yet food that’s 90% wholesome and 10% poisonous can do some major damage; teaching that’s largely true but significantly false can do the same.
That’s the impact I fear Vine’s work will have on many readers. Much of what he says is true, and what’s not true in his book is said so well it could easily pass as true. His take on Romans, which we’ll look at today, is a classic example of well articulated error posing as sound doctrine. To the undiscerning, it has the appearance of a solution to the exhausting and very prevalent problem of those who say: “I’m Christian, and I’m same sex attracted. Now what?”
Darn That Paul!
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
–Romans 1:26-27
Vines begins his assessment of these verses in Romans One by noting this Epistle has sent many homosexual readers “down a path of despair.” He then relates a well known tragedy, dramatized into a movie called Prayers for Bobby, in the case of a young man whose Christian parents disapproved aggressively of his homosexuality, quoting the Romans verses in question, allegedly driving their son to suicide. He concludes, perhaps rightfully, that Paul’s remarks in Romans constitute the “most significant verse in the debate.”
Paul certainly does throw a stumbling block into gay-affirming arguments with such a precise condemnation, and on this point Vines even goes so far as to admit the Apostle’s description of homosexuality is “indisputably negative” – one might say Duh! if one was the sarcastic sort – but then insists that this description has nothing to do with loving, committed same sex relationships, and everything to do with unbridled lust. In a nutshell, his argument is that what Paul condemns here are certain forms of homosexual expression, but not homosexuality itself. Just as Biblical condemnations of heterosexual lust and fornication aren’t criticisms of opposite-sex unions in general, so, Vines says, we should note the difference between the excessive homosexual free-for-all’s mentioned in Romans, versus committed, responsible same-sex unions. There are three ways Vines tries to convince us of this reinterpretation:
1. Paul’s Limited Understanding of Homosexuality
2. The Exploitive Nature of Homosexuality in Paul’s Time
3. The Male-Dominated Thinking Behind Condemnations of Homosexuality
Today, let’s try unpacking the first of these points, and tomorrow we’ll tackle the second and third.
Did Paul Know Anything About Gays?
A number of pro-gay apologists, Vines included, would have us believe Paul was unaware of committed, romantic love between homosexuals. Instead, they say, Paul viewed homosexuality as something men who were basically heterosexual did after they’d gorged themselves on sex with women, then decided to go for something kinkier or more intense. What Paul didn’t know, according to this theory, is that some people are constitutionally attracted only to the same sex, and that such people are capable of forming deep emotional bonds, similar to a married couple.
But such bonds between homosexuals were written about, and very specifically, by philosophers who were well known at Paul’s time, Plato included. Are we really to believe that a man as educated and sophisticated as St. Paul was unaware of their work? Because the likelihood of Paul being ignorant of Plato is as high as the likelihood of Rev. Billy Graham being unaware of Sigmund Freud and his work. Surely Dr. Graham wouldn’t agree with much of what Freud said, but it’s inconceivable that he was thereby ignorant of what Freud said.
Besides which, perhaps unintentionally, this proposal of Vines hugely negates the inspiration and authority of Paul’s writing, as it presumes that the Holy Spirit who inspired his epistles was, like Paul, ignorant of committed and loving relationships among homosexuals. To believe the Bible is divinely inspired, as Vines claims to, is to thereby believe its authors were not limited by their natural knowledge when they wrote. Even if Paul had been ignorant of loving homosexual relationships, which is a dubious assumption, the Spirit urging his writings was not, and was thereby quite capable of guiding him to write about homosexuality with insight beyond his natural means.
More to the point, when the testimony of Old Testament scripture and the Holy Spirit inspired him to condemn a behavior, that inspired condemnation was made with a full understanding, on God’s part, of the behavior in question. To ignore this is to deny one of the prime reasons we revere the scripture – it is authoritative because it is God inspired, and the God who inspired it needs no education from modern thinkers on the complexities of the human condition. On this point Albert Mohler in his own critique of Vines poses the question: “What else does the Bible not know about what it means to b human? If the Bible cannot be trusted to reveal the truth about us in every respect, how can we trust it to reveal our salvation?”
My biggest objection to this slant on Romans, though, lies not with the fact it presumes Paul was ignorant about Plato, nor with the way it diminishes Biblical authority, though I object strongly to both. My concern is that his argument suggests that love justifies a relationship. He suggests that many of us are against gay coupling because we think no real love can exist between gays. But I’ve never heard anyone argue that point. In fact, I’ve no doubt many same sex couples love each other deeply, and take their commitment seriously.
I’d likewise argue that Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, two of the best known performers of all time who had a longstanding and widely celebrated romance despite the fact Tracy was married to another woman, seem to have loved each other immeasurably. Their relationship was adulterous, loving, immoral, and full of deep commitment. The inherent wrongness of the union didn’t nullify the love involved, nor could the love involved nullify the inherent wrongness of adultery. Love and sin can, and often do, co-exist, the one not cancelling out the other. And, most importantly, the one not being able to justify the other.
Which is exactly why Paul condemned homosexual behavior without context or contingency. He declared it unnatural and immoral in and of itself, whether practiced in the context of idol worship, Roman orgies, pederasty, or a loving adult union.
“We need to discern why Paul wrote what he did”, Vines asserts in his chapter on Romans. There we agree. And a careful examination of what he wrote proves that he wrote what he meant, and what we thought he meant is what he meant, and that what he meant is obvious, unmistakable, and as relevant today as when it was first penned.
Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Pt.V
“The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify.”
-George Orwell, 1984
When plain truth condemns what we love, our choices are few. We can abandon what we love in obedience to the truth, we can rebel openly against the truth, or we can attempt to re-write the truth to appease our conscience and silence our critics. When we choose Option 3 we join Winston, the main character in Orwell’s classic 1984 quoted above, as he alters (or rectifies) the inconvenient, unwanted facts.
Matthew Vines essentially does the same in his new book God and the Gay Christian, by taking scriptures plainly saying one thing and re-interpreting them to mean another. So far we’ve looked at his revisions of Biblical references to homosexuality in Leviticus, his approach to Jesus’ teachings, and in yesterday’s post we visited his reworking of Paul’s remarks about same sex coupling in Romans Chapter One. As mentioned earlier, Vines believes Paul did not criticize homosexuality as we know it today, and/or his knowledge on the subject was sketchy. Specifically, he argues that the Apostle’s negative references to this behavior were due to:
1. Paul’s Limited Understanding of Homosexuality
2. The Exploitive Nature of Homosexuality in Paul’s Time
3. The Male-Dominated Thinking Behind Condemnations of Homosexuality
Yesterday we looked at his first argument about Paul’s limited understanding of the subject. Today let’s look at his second and third points.
The Exploitative Nature of Homosexuality in Paul’s Time
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
–Romans 1: 26-27
Paul’s description of homosexuality here is brief and unflattering: against nature, shameful, a vice earning a deserved penalty. In fairness he doesn’t elevate this above other sins, and he mentions a number of other equally serious sins in this chapter.
But it’s noteworthy that he chooses a perversion of the Creator’s intentions for the sexual union as a primary symptom of fallen nature. In fact, many (myself included) believe Romans One presents an inverted view of creation as God intended it, per Genesis: Man under God; Creation under Man; Male and Female united. In Romans 1 we see this picture turned upside down via sin, and the resulting, tragic confusion: Man under God becomes Man usurping God; Man over Nature becomes Man worshiping Nature; Male/Female uniting gives way to homosexual unions.
Vines would have us believe it’s not that simple, because homosexual relationships in Paul’s time weren’t, by and large, very nice. They often occurred between older men and younger boys, creating an obvious social and power imbalance. Or between masters and slaves, with or without the slave’s permission. Or in unbridled orgy-like settings in which the partners involved simply used each other as objects of lust. None of which resembles the expressions of homosexuality we see today, in which adults of the same sex form mutually agreed on unions marked by love, respect, and deep commitment.
For the record, let’s not dismiss his argument that homosexual adults are capable of such unions. While some see the battle for same sex marriage as a purely political ploy to legitimize homosexuality, I also see it as an earnest though misguided attempt to secure legal and social sanctioning of relationships they form and value.
But earnest doesn’t mean right, and Paul’s criticism of homosexual acts in these verses is across the board, whether those acts are committed between a slave and master, or between consenting adults who love each other. Vines attempts to qualify these verses by saying they only apply to exploitive homosexual sex; a clear reading of it shows that it applies to all homosexual sex.
Compare Vine’s approach to someone else trying to revise the Bible’s condemnation of fornication – sexual relations before or apart from marriage, and various unclean acts between unmarried people. Suppose someone pointed to the Girls Gone Wild videos, or Las Vegas strip clubs, or the lascivious behavior of many college students during spring break, and said, “That’s the fornication the Bible talks about, that unbridled, wild stuff. But two unmarried people having sex in a private, loving way isn’t even mentioned in the Bible.” You’d probably reply, “Nice try, but fornication is fornication, no matter how it’s practiced.”
And you’d be right; case closed, enough said.
The Male-Dominated Thinking Behind Condemnations of Homosexuality
Vines further argues that homosexuality between men, at Paul’s time, required one male partner to take the “female” or “passive” role in intercourse, and since women were looked upon as somewhat inferior in those days, the reason Paul and others criticized such behavior was because it involved a man degrading himself by acting like a woman. It wasn’t the sex between men that was wrong, but the fact that the sex required one man to assume a feminine position, and since women were inferior, that was inherently degrading.
But nothing in Paul’s wording suggests he made a distinction between the active or passive partner in same sex coupling. In fact, in these verses, part of his criticism of homosexuality lies in the fact men burned with lust one for another, regardless of who took which position.
We can allow that women were limited in their roles and privileges during ancient times, but it takes mental gymnastics to transpose that problem onto these verses as a means of interpretation. Throughout scripture, when sexual sins are mentioned, they are mentioned without qualifiers. Look again at both Old and New Testament prohibitions against adultery, incest, fornication, bestiality and prostitution. None of these prohibitions has a contextual qualifier attached to them – none of them suggest there is a legitimate versus illegitimate way to commit these acts. They are condemned regardless of the context they’re practiced in, regardless of the status of the people involved, regardless of the absence or presence of genuine love and respect. If Vine’s explanation is true, then homosexuality is the only sexual sin in all of scripture that is in fact only sometimes sinful, but sometimes legitimate, if you’ll only read between the lines of the scripture and examine the cultural context.
And in asking us to do so, Vines is asking way too much, while offering way too little evidence that such a request could ever be legitimate.
Tomorrow we’ll examine Vine’s assessment of Paul’s term “arsenokoite” found in I Corinthians and I Timothy. Please join us.
– See more at: http://joedallas.com/blog/index.php/2014/05/23/assessing-matthew-vines-god-and-the-gay-christian-part-v/#sthash.3OR9zPfN.dpuf
Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Pt. VI
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,
“it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words
mean so many different things.”
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Whoever determines the meaning of words has the power to frame the debate.
If I say that your disagreement with me means that you hate me, and if others believe my statement, then you’ve lost the argument, because you’ll be written off in the public’s mind as a cruel person. Thus your words come from hate, and you have no credibility. What you actually say will no longer be examined on its own merit, because you’ve been,
essentially, disqualified.
That’s the power of definitions, and nowhere does it hold as true as when we debate the Bible. If we agree that it’s authoritative, then our controversy isn’t over whether or not the Bible should be obeyed, but rather, over what it does
or doesn’t say.
Matthew Vines, openly gay and identified as an Evangelical Christian, says in his new book God and the Gay Christian that the Bible is God’s inspired word, and that it does not condemn homosexuality, therefore there’s no conflict between homosexuality and Christianity. In our last five posts we’ve looked at how he concludes this when reading Genesis, Leviticus, the Gospel and Romans. Today let’s look at his interpretation of two short but key passages in the New Testament: I Corinthians 6: 9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10.
New Debates over an Old Word
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” –I Corinthians 6: 9-10
“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for the murderers of fathers and the murderers of mothers, for fornicators, for abusers of themselves with mankind, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to
sound doctrine.” –I Timothy 1: 9-10
In most modern Bibles, the King James phrase “abusers of themselves with mankind” (used above) is translated “homosexuals”, or “sodomites”, or “male homosexual offenders.” And with good reason. The Greek word which the phrase “abusers of themselves with mankind” is translated from is arsenokoite, a combination of two Greek terms found in the New Testament: “Arsane” (meaning “male”) and “Koite” (meaning “counch” or “bed” with a sexual connotation.) For example, Paul used “koite” in Romans 13:13 when he warned against fornication by saying “Let us not walk in chambering (koite)”. The author of Hebrews used the term in a similar though more positive way when he wrote, “Marriage is honorable in all things, and the marriage bed (koite) is undefiled.” (Hebrews 13:4)
Vines rightfully points out that the word was rarely used in writings of Paul’s time, and seems to be a phrase he himself coined. There we agree. But then he employs what I consider to be some fancy footwork while dancing around Paul’s
clear meaning.
He admits Paul may have meant the term to condemn homosexuality, but then reminds us of his earlier argument (responded to in our previous two postings) that Paul’s concept of homosexuality was very different than the loving and committed relationships we see between same sex couples today.
I’ve noted in this series that we should, in fairness, recognize that same sex couples often can and do love each other deeply; I’ve likewise argued that love cannot by itself justify a relationship, since a married man can deeply love a woman other than his wife, but the relationship between them would still be adulterous and wrong. So yes, homosexual couples may love each other, and no, that alone doesn’t justify homosexuality.
Still, I also have to note that much modern homosexual behavior is in fact casual, anonymous, highly promiscuous, and utterly absent anything equating love. The same could be said for much current heterosexual behavior, certainly, but my point is that it’s a stretch to imply that all modern homosexuality is expressed in loving commitments, because it surely isn’t.
Regardless, Vine’s argument that Paul’s understanding of homosexuality was limited is one we’ve already taken up in this series (see Part IV and V). But having repeated that argument, Vines goes further in saying Paul probably wasn’t talking about homosexuality at all in this verse. Citing later uses of the word arsenokoite in other writings, he concludes that the word is at least ambiguous and most likely referred to men who were immoral, or to male prostitutes.
But Strong’s Concordance of the Greek New Testament translates arseonkoite to mean “a Sodomite”, in obvious reference to Sodom and homosexuality. The Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon translates it “a male who practices homosexuality, pederast, sodomite”, and cites Romans 1:27 as an example. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon has the same take on the word; indeed, according to Timothy Dailey’s The Bible, Church, and Homosexuality, no lexicon can be found that doesn’t specifically equate arsenokoite with male homosexuality.
So Why Did Paul Coin a New Phrase for an Old Sin?
Paul’s coining of a new term isn’t out of character, as he coined 179 terms in the New Testament. It’s especially unremarkable that he would have coined this one, considering the words it’s made of and, more importantly, the source he seems to have drawn the phrase from.
First, though, let’s acknowledge one of Vine’s good points: a word can indeed be used different ways, sometimes confusing it’s original meaning. In later writings arsenokoite was, as Vine’s notes, used to mean some things other than a male homosexual. Sometimes it was written in a more general sense to describe someone who was sexually lewd or generally wicked. That doesn’t change Paul’s intented meaning of the word; it only shows, rather, how a word’s original meaning can be broadened.
For example, in modern English, the word “whore”, which technically means “prostitute”, is often used to also describe a woman who is morally loose, even though she doesn’t literally sell herself for sex and is not, therefore, a true prostitute. Likewise, some may refer to a cruel, thoughtless man as a “bastard”, a term literally referring to someone born out of wedlock, but figuratively used to malign someone’s general character. In both cases, we may know the speaker’s intent, while recognizing he’s technically and linguistically in error.
The same may be said for arsenokoite, but a look at the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament – confirms Paul’s original intention when using the phrase.
The word is the Greek translation of the verses found in Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20: 13, where sex between men is expressly forbidden. So in Greek, the Hebrew condemnations of homosexuality from Leviticus are translated and appear as follows:
“Thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman”(Leviticus 18:22)
“— meta arsenos ou koimethese koiten gyniakos”
“If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have committed an abomination —“ (Leviticus 20: 13)
“— hos an koimethe meta arsenos koiten gynaikos”
When Paul adopted the term arsenokoite, his intent couldn’t have been clearer. He employed Greek terms from the Old Testament prohibitions and applied them to modern language. The best attempts to revise his meaning fall short of a convincing argument, leaving us with the interpretation, and the clear intention of word and verse, that we’ve had all along.
Monday we’ll post our final part in this series, summarizing our main points and discussing what needs to be done in today’s church, in response to the claims of Vines and other pro-gay apologists. Please join us.
– See more at: http://joedallas.com/blog/index.php/2014/05/24/assessing-matthew-vines-god-and-the-gay-christian-pt-iv/#sthash.ODlucwER.dpuf
Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Pt. VII
“Jesus Christ did not say, ‘Go into all the world
and tell the world that it is quite right.’
The Gospel is something completely different.
In fact, it is directly opposed to the world.”
-CS Lewis
It’s a commentary on the modern church and a sign of the times that a book promoting a pro-homosexual interpretation of the Bible could be released by a well known Christian publishing house, authored by a self-identified gay evangelical, applauded broadly by the world, and endorsed by some in the church.
Matthew Vines has penned God and the Gay Christian in hopes of changing our minds about the scripture and human sexuality. His success will be determined by the level of Biblical ignorance existing within the church, and the degree of boldness or timidity we have when confronting error. He’s pitched, and what he’s thrown is a well-articulated, earnest argument for a whole new way of thinking. The ball is now solidly in our court.
In response, let’s briefly summarize a few of the main points he’s asking us to consider.
3 of Vine’s Key Points
He’s asking us to realize homosexuality is unchangeable, so if a homosexual is also a believer, that believer can never marry because he’ll never be attracted to a woman. In light of God’s assertion that it’s not good for man to be alone, Vines declares it’s likewise not good to tell gay or lesbian Christians they cannot marry someone of their own sex, because their only other option will be forced celibacy, consigning them to be what God said they shouldn’t be: alone.
But surely it’s not that simple. Many homosexual people, even non Christians, have married and produced children. Later in life they may have embraced their homosexuality and left their marriages, as many have, but their own experience tells us that many who are attracted to the same sex can and do marry, have normal sexual relations, and sire offspring. They may retain attractions to the same sex, but that hardly means they’re forced to give in those attractions. And if a married person is attracted to someone other than their spouse, does it really mean they’re doomed to say yes to those attractions? If so, few marriages would still be in place.
Vines asks us to view the homosexuality forbidden in scripture as something different than what we see today. In Biblical times, he claims, same sex acts were often and largely based on exploitation – a master having sex with his slave, for example, or an adult male copulating with a younger boy, or wildly licentious, promiscuous liaisons – but today we have adult to adult, loving and committed same sex couples. Moses and Paul knew nothing of such couples when they wrote their condemnations of homosexuality, he argues, therefore what Moses and Paul condemned was nothing like the same sex unions we see today.
But neither Moses nor Paul in their respective writings on the subject (Leviticus 18:20; 20:13, Romans 1:23-24; I Corinthians 6: 9-10 and I Timothy 1: 9-10) wrote negatively about any particular form of homosexuality. Rather, their criticism was of the thing itself – men coupling with men; women with women – no matter what context the coupling took place in. To say Paul condemned only exploitive homosexual relationships make no more sense than declaring he condemned only exploitive adultery. Many adulterous relationships are, in fact, loving and respectful, yet the thing itself is condemned no matter what context it takes place in. Ditto for incest, fornication, prostitution or homosexuality.
Vines would also have us believe the word arsenokoite, which Paul used in I Corinthians 6:9-10 and I Timothy 1:9-10 when referencing homosexuality, actually means something other than homosexuality. But the word is coined directly from the Greek translation of the Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality found in Leviticus, so Paul could hardly have had any other behavior in mind when he used the termarsenokoite.
So Now What?
In Ephesians 2:10, Paul referred to the church as God’s “workmanship”, the Greek word for which is poema, from which we get our word “poem.” God’s the poet; we’re the poem – His earthly work of art; His visible representatives. That puts both tremendous honor and responsibility on us because, as His workmanship, we’ve been commissioned to represent Him accurately. John said as much himself, when he reminded his readers:
“He who says he abides in Him ought so to walk as He walked.” (I John 2:6)
And when describing how He walked, John mentions two of Jesus’ most noticeable qualities:
“—and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 14)
A compromise of grace is s serious matter.
Imagine a doctor seeing a patient with a rare disease who, after examining him, curls his lower lip with distain and says, “I’ve seen lots of sick people, but you’re the sickest. Your problem’s rare and disgusting; I can barely stand treating you for it, but here’s a prescription anyway.”
The doctor is correct in telling the patient he has a problem, and in offering him a remedy. But that’s about all he’s correct about. His attitude is deplorable; his words brutal. He’s guilty of atrocious bedside manners, so could we really blame the patient if he reacts negatively?
But compromised truth is no less atrocious.
Imagine another doctor, one who loves to be liked. Upon discovering his patient’s life threatening illness, he fears the reaction he’ll get when he tells the patient and his family. They won’t like him; they’ll be upset at what he says, and he can’t handle the tension. So he calls the illness something else – something nicer; less offensive. The patient’s happy, nobody’s offended, and the doctor is still well liked.
A growing segment of the church seems guilty of similar malpractice. In our desire to be seeker friendly and sensitive, we’re in danger of shunning truth, and all the inconvenience and discomfort it evokes, because we hate confrontation, need to be liked, and prefer large churches to truthful ones.
And while our desire to be non-offensive seems noble to some, I can’t help but wonder where I’d be if the only Christian messages I heard were the “nice” ones.
Because believe me, few people recognize their need for salvation by being told how right they are, nor are people born again by being made comfortable in their sin. Perhaps one of the greatest errors infecting modern Christian thought is the presumption that if people like us, then we’ve reached them. Yet Titus Brandsma, a Christian martyr who died at Dachau in 1942, had a more Biblical perspective on the matter:
“Those who want to win the world for Jesus Christ must have the courage to come into conflict with it.”
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, then, the church’s ability to withstand the claims of Vines and others will be determined by our willingness to be inconvenienced. It will be inconvenient to study pro-gay theology and learn how to refute it. It will certainly be inconvenient to train up Christian spokesmen to stand for truth in our campuses, television studios, and sanctuaries. Establishing ministries in our churches to repentant homosexuals will be inconvenient and controversial. And getting involved with them, through one on one discipleship and relating, will no doubt be a major inconvenience as well.
Yet nothing less will do. And should we refuse to be inconvenienced, and let the tide wash over us, for whom but ourselves do we think the bell is going to toll?
I once held Vine’s viewpoint, but I was graciously brought to repentance in 1984 and blessed beyond measure by loving friends who took me in when I repented. Strong brothers welcomed me into their fellowship. I was forgiven, accepted, and restored. I could only wish the same for every woman or man in a similar place. And perhaps, with an awakening among Christians to our need for each other no matter what our background or former sins, more prodigals will find a celebration waiting for them when they, too, return to their father’s house.
That’s not a pipe dream. Episcopal seminarian William Frey envisioned it some time ago, and, as he relates it, it sounds to me like nothing more than basic Christianity:
“One of the most attractive features of the early Christian communities was their radical sexual ethic and their deep commitment to family values. These things drew many people to them who were disillusioned by the promiscuous excesses of what proved to be a declining culture. Wouldn’t it be wonderful for our church to find such counter cultural courage today?”
Wonderful, yes.
And entirely possible.
– See more at: http://joedallas.com/blog/index.php/2014/05/26/assessing-matthew-vines-god-and-the-gay-christian-pt-vii/#sthash.lbu0ZxdO.dpuf