Is ‘Gay’, Godly?

By Rev SEIK PITOI
MANY years ago, I remember reading in an overseas Pentecostal church magazine about one of my favourite preachers from Australia. Pastor Van-Browne preached with anointing and fire and he seemed to know his Bible well. Some years later, while a student at CLTC in Banz, I switched on the TV to watch the “60 Minutes” programme. That night, they featured Van-Browne and his ‘husband.’ The pastor had become gay! In the segment, he was being interviewed with his ex-wife and kids, and tried to show how they had accepted his new lifestyle and that they were all very happy and still close as a family. He said he knew since an early age that he was ‘a woman trapped in a man’s body.’
My head was spinning that night. How could a man of God, someone so powerful in ministry, become a homosexual? Was he one all along and was just putting up a front? I did a bit of research and found that there are indeed ‘gay churches’ where the pastors are homosexuals and the congregation are mostly people of the same lifestyle. Then of course, we now know of many countries changing their laws on marriage to include same-sex marriages. Recently in Australia, Prime Minister Turnbull gave a high-spirited speech celebrating the ‘victory’ of ‘love’ over bigotry in the passing of laws allowing gay marriages to take place.
So what can we make of this phenomenon? It is becoming an accepted norm in society today. In fact, if you are anti-gay, you are labelled a bigot, an unloving person, or a relic of the past. We in PNG have not had to confront the issue yet. It will have to be dealt with. Churches will have to make a stand on it. The Christian will now have to be challenged on how to view people with these tendencies. This means, of course, returning to the pages of the Bible to make our stand.
In the Bible, we find that homosexuality is addressed, but it does not specifically mention gay or same-sex marriage. The Bible strongly condemns homosexuality as an immoral and unnatural sin. In Lev 18: 21, it says homosexual sex is an abomination, a detestable sin. Rom 1: 26-27 also declares homosexual desires and actions are shameful, unnatural, and indecent. In 1 Cor 6: 9, we read that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. Since both homosexual desires and actions are condemned in the Bible, it is clear that homosexuals “marrying” is not in God’s will. As such, it would be considered sinful.
The Bible teaches that marriage is an affair between a male and a female. The first mention of marriage in Gen 2:24 describes it as a man leaving his parents and being united to his wife. In the passages that contain instructions on marriage (e.g., 1 Cor 7:2-16 and Eph 5:23-33), the Bible clearly identifies marriage as being between a man and a woman. Biblically speaking, therefore, marriage is the lifetime union of a man and a woman, primarily, but not solely (as in the case of childless couples), for building a family in a stable environment.
But if the “natural” purpose of the sexual union is procreation, clearly only a sexual relationship between a man and a woman can fulfil this purpose. (Ps – it might be a bit hard to have the same results in a gay union situation!)
So, if the Bible, and even our own cultures, argue for marriage being between a man and a woman—why is there so much fuss today? Why are those who are opposed to same-sex marriage labelled as intolerant bigots? Why is the gay rights movement so aggressively pushing for gay marriage recognition?
The answer, according to the Bible, is that everyone clearly knows that homosexuality is immoral and unnatural, and the only way to destroy this knowledge is to normalise homosexuality. The best way to do this is by placing same-sex marriage on an equal plane with traditional opposite-gender marriage. Romans 1:18-28 says that the truth is known because God has made it plain, but the truth is rejected and replaced with a lie. Romans describes the pushers of this lie (1:27) as: “senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (1:31).
Moreover, we can see from scripture that this act of moral decadence is really a return to ‘the ‘days of Noah’ and of ‘Lot’ (Luke 17:26, 28). In those days, people had no time for God. Their lustful pleasures took the place of the fear and reverence for God. In talking about the days right before the second coming of Christ, Luke says, “So shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.”
So, to give sanction to gay marriage would be to give approval to the homosexual lifestyle, which the Bible says is sinful. Gay marriage is a perversion of the institution of marriage and an offense to the God who created marriage. As Christians, we are not to condone or ignore sin. Rather, we are to share the love of God and the forgiveness of sins that is available to all, including homosexuals, through Jesus Christ. We are to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15) and contend for truth with “gentleness and respect” (1 Pet 3:15).
As the people of God, we must make a stand for truth. We must understand and show love to those with that tendency, knowing we too are sinners saved only by God’s grace.
We can help these people by pointing them to Jesus, our Deliverer, forgiver of our sins, and Saviour of all mankind. True love and acceptance is found only in Him.

• Rev Seik Pitoi is a minister at Ela Beach United Church.