Letters

Dear Christis,

If Jesus were alive today, where would he have stood in the debate about the correct relations between homosexuality and Christianity …? Very probably not in the broadly liberal stance which Beck Solway seemed to take in “Behind the Masks” (last issue). It is true that we should love, and not reject homosexuals, but I believe that it is cardinally dangerous to make any suggestion that homosexuality is behaviour acceptable to God.

An evangelical Christian, I believe that the answer is to be found in the Bible — I would agree with Ms. Solway that ‘proof-texts’ can be found to support just about every imaginable stance, but to close discussion with this argument would lead us into rejecting the Bible as having no relevance to contemporary issues, thus profaning the paramount value of God’s special revelation, the Scriptures. What the Bible provides us with are sound principles which we can follow in the practical outworkings of our Christian lives.

The quintessential principle regarding the Christians approach to the subject is to be found in John 8:2–11, the story of the adultress woman. Jesus, with immense wisdom and authority, offers a rebuke to those who have brought this women to be humiliated and killed, thwarting their attempt to make Him stumble from righteousness and popular support. Our Lord points out that everybody has sinned; a point Paul elaborates on in Romans 3:23.

However, although Jesus does not condemn the woman, neither does He condone her adultery, a sin which the Bible firmly describes as an abomination to God; as homosexuality is also described in, for example, Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:27. Jesus tells the woman to “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (v. 11). If Jesus walked the earth today, I believe this is the attitude which he would take towards homosexuals — just use your mind’s eye to imagine a modern day Jesus faced by politicians and corrupt clergy presenting Him with a homosexual man or woman in a vain attempt to make Him slip up.

We must remember that Jesus is alive today, and as we listen to His loving voice He will tell us how He loves homosexuals, as he does all Mankind, but detests, and is saddened by, what they do. Christians are called not to condone homosexuality in any way, for this would be a fatal liberality, watering down solid Biblical tenets; neither are we required to become homophobic.

This is summed up in the oft-quoted and age-old principle of “hate the sin but love the sinner”. If Christians make a genuine attempt at this, then pointless strife can be avoided, and the important job of sharing the Good News can continue unhampered.

Wulf Forrester-Barker