My first ministry was to Amherst and Smith College students in the Pioneer Valley in Amherst, Massachusetts. I suppose that before the time spent in the Pioneer Valley, my exposure to anything gay was limited to hearsay and third and fourth-hand myths and legends. I remember walking through the streets of Northampton and witnessing two women engaged in explicit kissing in open view. It was my first up-close encounter with homosexuality, and my shock and bewilderment then led me to believe that I had been sheltered from this unknown world. I slowly began to discover that this was true also of mainstream America and Evangelicalism.[1] Even mainline denominations had not fully embraced the gay lifestyle as it has done within the past few years.

Smith College, an all-women’s college, is a breeding-ground for the lesbian perspective. In fact, Northampton[2] was labeled by Newsweek as “Lesbiansville, USA.” In ministering to students who attended Smith and being married to one as well as having a sister-in-law who is also a Smith alumnus, I was well-informed of the indoctrination program that Smith leads all first year students through in regard to sexual orientation. The program was more than just informative. One could say that it was intended to influence a young woman to question her sexual identity, regardless of her exposure to homosexuality. Preaching, ministering, and loving during this era was a difficult challenge.

My current ministry resides in the hotbed of homosexuality, the San Francisco Bay Area. It is where homosexual advocacy is at its pinnacle, and the church is nowhere to be found. The largest and most influential churches politically (like Grace Cathedral) are bastions of the gay lifestyle themselves. But it is not just the city that is now in the control of gay advocacy, one by one the surrounding suburbs also fall to this new homosexual agenda. Hayward School District is considered to be one of the most pro-gay districts in the area. Gay dances are a regular in the Hayward schools, and gay-biased curriculum is imposed on the different students of the schools. Gay activists have taken the offensive and there does not seem to be any abatement of such activism any time soon.

The church has an enormous test ahead. Can it stand firm against the sin of homosexuality (in the devil’s lair, so to speak) and yet be a purveyor of grace and love without compromising the Gospel? This question can be the church’s blessing or bane in respect to homosexuality. In this, prayers of faith and mercy are of utmost importance.

The issue of homosexuality has pervaded every sector of life. To cast it aside as unimportant is to reject the call of Christ to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Thus, it is crucial that we realize the ramifications of homosexuality, both biblically and morally.

I would conclude that homosexuality is a sin for two obvious reasons. First, it continues to damage an already perverted image of God by neglecting the male-female nature of the imago dei. When a man has intercourse with another man, it goes against the very “nature” (cf. Romans 1:26-27) of God’s intended plan. But not only does homosexuality do this on a functional level, but also on the ontological level. The makeup of the Trinity is relational, the perfect relationship. When God created man in His image, “He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). Man and woman together, in their relationship to each other, now reflects the perfect relationship of the Trinity. Thus, when there is an aberration to that relationship, like homosexuality or bestiality, there is no longer a reflection of that perfect relationship.

Second, biblical evidence clearly condemns homosexuality. Many scholars have attempted to exegete the passages to favor their position. But the end-result is either a misinterpretation of Scripture or a rejection of Scripture’s infallibility, or both. Circumvention of the passages through personal biases and forced presuppositions allows much room for contextual and exegetical mayhem. The burden of proof lies heavily with the homosexual advocates who are left with a Bible that unequivocally condemns homosexuality at all levels. The avenue of denying Scripture’s reliability, inerrancy, and validity would seem to be the only route to follow.

Yet, we must never forget that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” Evangelicals must continually balance the right condemnation that is due the gay lifestyle in light of biblical truth, and yet continue to extend the grace that Christ gives to all sinners so long as there is still time for repentance. Surely, fundamentalist Christians wearing, “God hates fags” T-shirts at rallies undermine not just any moral standing Christians can take on the issue, but also undermine the Gospel to save such sinners as homosexuals and even heterosexuals. While the church has been slow in reaching this large and growing segment of the population, it is by God’s grace that there are ministries that are doing much to stem the tide of the pro-homosexual agenda without undercutting the Gospel of grace.[3]

Stanton Jones has this important insight, a thought to the church to condemn and yet, to love as Christ loved,

Persons of homosexual inclination are under the same moral call as we all are — to respond to the offer of divine mercy and forgiveness through the gift of Jesus Christ, to offer our lives as the only gift we can give in return. If we love him, we will obey his commands. And his will with regard to our sexuality is either that we live chaste lives of dependence upon him, or that we strive to build a marriage that models Christ’s love for the church before the watching world, aided by the uniting gift of sexual intercourse. All of us should strive anew to live by this holy standard. (Stanton Jones, 23)

The answer for Christians who long to live the life our Lord calls us to live begins and ends at the cross. As sinners saved by grace alone, we have no other right response than to continue to share this good news with the lost, which of course includes homosexuals. This is not a concession to homosexual advocates in the church, who are attempting to undermine the church founded on biblical principles of God’s hatred of sin and God’s bountiful mercy to humbled sinners. God will judge sinners. Christians are responsible to show mercy to sinners as sinners saved by that very mercy. Thus, our actions, our thoughts, our compassion will be the vehicle God will use to bring even homosexual sinners to a place of saving grace. After all, it is always God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

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[1] It wasn’t too long ago that many Evangelicals believed homosexuality was a non-issue amongst Evangelical Christianity. In a paper I wrote on the subject for seminary, David Wells wrote (this was in 1993), “The Protestant world more generally [that is, has been affected by the homosexual debate] but I am not aware of too much within Evangelicalism.” At that stage, perhaps the issue did not breach the safety net of the Evangelical world. But that net has surely been stretched and I believe it is closer to snapping than ever before. The distinguished preacher of Eden Chapel in Cambridge, England, Roy Clements’ (who has also spoken at many Evangelical seminaries, including my own Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) “coming out of the closet” (see Roy Clements’ website for his current positions on his faith and his actions) was a shocker to all of Evangelicalism. In fact, in many ways it is a watershed mark because his ministry was one of complete orthodoxy and to have such a man fall into the gay lifestyle has perhaps revealed Evangelicalism’s blindness to the extent of the homosexuality as a sin and as a powerful influence over the world. Since then, Evangelical denominations (cf. the National Association of Evangelicals, www.nae.net) have taken the offensive on answering the homosexual agenda.

[2] Northampton was once Jonathan Edwards’ home town. I would imagine his heart would break at seeing what Northampton is now like in its current condition.

[3] Ministries like Exodus International, Where Grace Abounds, National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) are those organizations that are impacting the homosexual community with an alternative besides the gay lifestyle. However, the churches themselves have not made ministry to the gay community, or even awareness of such ministry and needs a real priority.