We Are All Born That Way

 

People who see the demographic for homosexuality increasing in the context of today’s cultural stew really do want to know where homosexuality comes from.

The answer is: Satan

There is no evidence for a genetic code for homosexuality 

Homosexuals, and all the other sexual variants that now fall under the umbrella of “gender queering” want to say that it is genetic. The fact that no evidence has been found for any genetic basis for the behavior has not discouraged the political types at all. They list possible areas of research as if the list itself proves the hypothesis the research will test.

Christians come under intense pressure and vitriolic scorn from LGBT activists, because Christians call homosexual behavior a sin. The revealed Word of God calls it sin, and people who take the revealed Word of God as their guide for faith and life accept that what it says is truth.

The mantra of LGBT activists, bloggers and public figures is that homosexuals are “born that way.” Further, they assert that the drive for homosexuality is not only inborn, but it is also immutable; a born homosexual is incapable of changing his or her sexual orientation.

Is it unfair to call homosexuality a sin if people are born that way?

 They further declare that only a vindictive God would create homosexuals and then condemn homosexuality as a sin. Thus, if one accepts that a person could be born homosexual, that fact is said to completely debunk the Bible as a vicious myth, because the Bible says that homosexuality is sinful and lumps that behavior in with a lot of other behaviors that are condemned as evidence of Satan’s work in human life. According to the LGBT activists, the fact that a person is born homosexual, “born that way,” automatically establishes the behavior as normal. They are outraged that God would condemn someone for something he did not choose and cannot change.

Christians who hear this argument are tempted to engage in the rhetoric over genetic research. Genetic research to date has found no evidence of a genetic basis for homosexuality. Christians want to say that the lack of evidence proves that homosexuality is a choice. LGBT activists, firm in their conviction that it is not a choice, aggressively point to what they consider to be promising lines of inquiry that could establish some prenatal factor in the vast biochemical stew that is the human body which predestines a fetus to be born homosexual.

Being born sinful is a universal problem

Christians cannot disprove what has not been alleged to be proven. This line of argument is fruitless. It is also beside the point. If homosexuality is a sin, then the real problem homosexuals have is not genetic. It is also not unique, because every human being is born a sinner. Being born sinful is a universal problem.

Every one of us is “born that way.”

To accuse a homosexual of being a sinner is no different from accusing a thief of being a sinner. The behavior someone engages in as a consequence of being a sinner is irrelevant to the real problem. Every person is sinful and needs salvation, and there is only one way to fix the problem.

The answer is: Christ.

The cultural issues surrounding homosexuality and the way people act when confronted by it are complicated. Homosexuals feel that society has scorned them, and it feels hurtful. The reason they feel that way is because society does scorn homosexual behavior. It is true that the culture has expressed complete repugnance at homosexual behavior. Homosexuals rightly point to a long history of real abuse of homosexuals, but the fix for the problem is not to deny the biblical truth that homosexuality is sin.

The fix is: Christ.

Christians and non-Christians alike have expressed outrage at homosexual behavior. Many Christians have behaved very badly. Why? Because Christians are human beings, and human beings are “born that way.” What way? Human beings are born sinful. Christians are human beings. The difference between Christians and non-Christians is not perfection of behavior and attitude: the difference is the blood of Christ. Christians are born sinful, and their sins are forgiven, because Christ died for all people. When they receive Christ as their Savior, they become forgiven, not perfect. Bad behavior toward homosexuals is the consequence of their human nature, not an indictment of the Savior.

This problem proves an important point: because every human is born sinful, and because forgiveness of sin neither eradicates sinful human nature nor destroys Satan, every Christian is still subject to behave under the influence of Satan through the agency of sinful human nature. LGBT activists say that because a person is “born that way,” the condition is immutable. If being born sinful were immutable, then Christ’s death would have no purpose. The fact that Christ died for all people and rose to give all people eternal life means that while everyone is born sinful, and even though the condition of being sinful is immutable, everyone is invited to be forgiven and to be fundamentally transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Every person is born a sinner. The kinds of sin are numerous. Homosexuality is only one. No Christian who happens to be untempted by homosexuality should scorn those who are. We are all born sinners, and one sin is not any better or worse than another. What Christians must NOT do is be tempted to deny the sinfulness of sinful behavior. Christians who feel confident in asserting that homosexuality is sin must also be honest in asserting that lying is a sin. There are, for example, no “white” lies that are good in contrast to “black” lies that are evil. God is the God of Truth, not of lies.

Every form of sin is equally vile in God's eyes

We cannot classify some sins as worse than others. What makes us feel that way is often the problem of advocacy. We feel that while every person is a sinner, those who make a career of luring others into sin are worse than those who go about their sinning quietly. Jesus agreed with that evaluation. He said that misleading a person and luring people into sin would merit a particularly gruesome punishment in God’s eyes. Christians are justified in their insistence that voices demanding the normalization of homosexuality in the culture and voices pushing to teach kindergartners that they need to figure out if homosexuality is for them must be silenced. To demand an end to public advocacy for homosexuality is not the same thing as demanding the shunning or abuse of homosexuals. To refuse to participate in homosexual behavior such as pretending to get married is not the same thing as saying that homosexuals have no right to pretend whatever they like to pretend. Christians must be firm in rejecting the behavior and in refusal to participate in it, just as they might refuse to promote a Ponzi scheme or decline to drive the getaway car for a bank robber.

Christians must reject sin in all its forms. Christians are called to hate sin and love sinners. This attitude does not justify or promote ugly behavior toward homosexuals; if anything, it should promote understanding of their plight, which is no different from anybody else’s plight. Christians are, as Martin Luther commented, sinful saints and saintly sinners. If Christians do not love sinners, then they cannot love anybody, because the truth is:

We are all “born that way.”

 

By Katherine Harms, author of Oceans of Love, available at Amazon . You can learn more about Katherine at Living on Tilt . If you are an author who is looking for an editor, visit Katherine Harms, Editor, and learn how to she can help you prepare your manuscript for publication.

 

Photo courtesy of Jason Pratt  License: (CC BY 2.0)

 

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