FOLLOWING JESUS’ EXAMPLE by Gary Wilkerson

Just a few decades ago, if a national leader was caught in any kind of scandal he resigned immediately. But today there is little shame attached to these acts. I think of the Lord’s words to Jeremiah: “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 8:12, ESV).

As Christians we know our hope doesn’t rest in this world. Whenever we have put our hopes in a leader or institution, we have been disappointed. Yet, the open sin that has built up over the last twenty years has become an outrage. And as God told Jeremiah, He will not remain silent.

In just a few years’ time homosexuality has become normalized when the Bible clearly teaches against it. As Christians we love homosexuals and anyone else dealing with a sexual sin. Yet, no matter how you look at it, same-gender sexual practice can’t be reconciled with Scripture. (Some churches say it can be, but by trying to make it happen they profoundly compromise God’s authority.)

As we follow Jesus’ example to sacrificially love all people, including homosexuals, we’re labeled haters and bigots. But there is no hate speech in the Bible — only uncomfortable speech about sin. Right now society is basically commanding us to extract the passages that speak of homosexuality as sinful. My heart breaks over this, because homosexuals are being sold a lie. It doesn’t matter who we are; if we do not turn from sin, our relationship with God derails horribly.