Doug Van Pelt

Does God hate fags?

The text we read yesterday, Genesis 19, tells the famous story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The cities were destroyed by the judgment of God. People debate whether or not the condemned sin of the cities was homosexuality or a combination of that behavior and others. You might have heard the news about a website called godhatesfags.com, where the conclusion made is partly based on this text. This is a ridiculous website that really makes a mockery of the teachings of Christ.

Does God hate fags? Absolutely not. There are seven things listed in the Word that God hates:
1. haughty eyes
2. a lying tongue
3. hands that shed innocent blood
4. a heart that devises wicked schemes
5. feet that are quick to rush into evil
6. a false witness who pours out lies
7. and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

King David broke #3 when he had Bathsheba's husband killed. #4 would fall under that, too. #5 was probably broken when he had her brought to his chambers; and surely he broke #2 and #6 when he attempted to cover up the crime later. Yet David was a "man after God's own heart."

David repented of his sins, but it wasn't in a worship service where the Spirit spoke softly to his heart. It was after the prophet Nathan confronted him in a bold move of speaking the truth in love.

People have thrown out the word "abomination" as a way to attach special focus on the intensity and severity of homosexual sin. I think a consistent reading and study of Scripture would find numerous practices that could be called abominations. If we were to be honest with God, our life of poor choices and sins are an abomination unto God. Thanks be unto Him that reconciliation is possible. Being broken before God in confession of sin is an act that God responds to with forgiveness and mercy and grace.

Sin that is not repented of can lead to destruction right here on earth -- the miserable, tangled web of poor-choice-after-poor-choice kind. Whenever someone can gently correct someone caught in tresspass, it can be a wonderful thing when they are restored. Picketing the funeral of a person that died of AIDS is certainly not gentle, nor wise. This group from Topeka, Kansas is now apparently picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers. These soldiers aren't professed homosexual soldiers. These are simply men and women who gave their lives in battle in the war in Iraq. The reasoning these people have for their actions is that God is killing these soldiers because they are fighting for a country (America) that condones homosexuality. It's also apparently payback for the bombing of their church. Seems God is killing soldiers because someone bombed their church in Kansas.

I tell ya, there are some things worth fighting for; and picketing something can be a good and useful tactic. But picketing someone's funeral because they are associated with our national defense? If I was a relative of the deceased at such a funeral, I might "lay hands" on these picketers, and probably come close to breaking #3!

I overheard my daughters asking my wife, "What's an apostle?" And it made me think. An apostle is an ambassador for Christ. This is what we are called to be -- each believer in the body of Christ. Like an ambassador for a country, we are representing God and His kingdom. We should behave well for this reason, as our shameful acts might bring shame to God and His kingdom. I believe that this godhatesfags group is bringing shame to the body of Christ. One can assume that they mean well, but so did racists who thought dark colored skin wasn't as advanced as lighter shades. They're just decieved and very misled.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 19, 2006 08:38 AM