Rules
He
said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to
associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call
anyone impure or unclean.” – Acts 10:28
The Apostle
Peter was a Jew. He followed the laws he’d been taught and, yet, God called him
to something else. First, God showed Peter that it was okay to eat meat Peter
had always been taught was unclean. Then, God showed Peter that it was okay to
eat with and fellowship with Gentiles. And because Peter followed God, many
became believers and were filled with the Holy Spirit.
A family I
know has been torn apart by the issue of homosexuality. It’s caused such
division that the father refuses to speak to his son. This devout family is so
focused on its beliefs that it can’t see God’s heart. And the son? Well, he’s
now questioning God’s love too.
Is
homosexuality a sin? I’ve heard all the arguments both ways. I am familiar with
the verses. I know it is condemned by the Bible, just as I know the Bible condones
slavery and the inferiority of women. In fact, the Bible at times contradicts
itself. It speaks so clearly about slavery and yet Paul says this in Galatians
3:28:
There
is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
People say
they want to go back to the sexual ethics of the Bible but I wonder if they’ve
ever read the book. I have – in several different versions. I have no interest
in polygamy, fathers selling their daughters into slavery, or powerful men
forcing women to be concubines and worse. And those are just a few things.
So, what
about homosexuality? I don’t know. Does God condemn sexual rituals to false
gods? I believe that He does. Does God condemn powerful men forcing young men
into prostitution and worse? I believe so. But does God condemn two men or two
women from a loving relationship? I’m not so sure about that.
Jesus told
us the two greatest commandments. Do remember them?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40
Love God and
love your neighbor. It seems fairly simple to me. I don’t know about the issue
of homosexuality. That’s for God to sort out. But I do know that God didn’t
call me to judge. God has called me to love.
How much
better our world would be today if we would remember that.
