What Does The Bible Really Say About Gay People?
I believe the Bible is the true Word of God. Within Bible pages we can find instructions and guidance on how to live our lives. The Bible was given to us as a manual of sorts. How would we know right from wrong if not for the Bible?
However, the Bible can seem confusing and contradictory sometimes. The vast majority of us are not Bible scholars, and cannot easily grasp some of the more in-depth Bible lessons. We must turn to pastors and others who are greatly knowledgeable of the Bible messages. But we must be careful. Not every person who teaches the Bible serves the correct lessons. Some are driven by a need for power, others simply believe a certain way and teach the Bible only according to their own agenda.
Westboro Baptist Church is a good example of Christianity gone wrong. That organization (I hesitate to call them a church) has taken the message of love from the Bible and turned it into hatred. Though they condemn many sins, for some reason homosexuality is particularly evil to them. I wonder which Bible they are reading? The number one topic talked about in the Bible is love.
Now, homosexuality is mentioned in the Bible, in Leviticus 18:22 (New International Version).
“Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”
According to the Bible, we are all sinners. Jesus was the only person with no sin. This Bible passage regarding gay people has been picked out and referred to over and over again as if it is the worst kind of sin. As far as I’m aware, the Bible does not contain a list of sins from least offensive to most. Sin is sin. How many of us overeat when we know it’s not good for us? Did you know that the Bible says gluttony is also a sin? Proverbs 23:20-21 tell us that it is.
“Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”
Hmm. I wonder if any Westboro members are overweight?
On to the hot topic of what the Bible says about gay people. I’d rather like to speak specifically about what Jesus says about homosexual people. It is the same thing He says about every person on this earth. We are to love each other. The following are only two examples of the many times love is mentioned in the Bible, Matthew 22:36-40 and John 13:34-35, respectively.
“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: your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So although the Bible does mention that gay sexual relations are a sin, nowhere is it even implied in the Bible that they are to be hated. The Bible teaches love. I’m sure gay and lesbian couples do not believe or feel as if they live in sin. They simply are living life according to their own wishes, as do we all. Their lives are full of love and togetherness with their partner.
Perhaps one reason that particular Bible verse on same-sex relations is quoted so often is because the Bible does not address the topic many times. However, the Bible is full of passages regarding the love of money and other issues.
[Image via Skeptic]
