I recently saw a bumper sticker with the following line:  “Love is never wrong.”  If that were the only message I would have no problem agreeing with it.  Love is indeed never wrong.  Scripture teaches us that God is love and that He loves us all.  We are even commanded to love one another.  That, however, was not the only phrase on the bumper sticker.  The next line was:  “Stop homophobia.”  The term “homophobia” has become a very politically charged word.  I recently heard a political commentator say that anyone who disagrees with gay marriage is a homophobe.  When confronted with the fact that a number of “progressive” politicians are opposed to gay marriage, the commentator then stated that those politicians say what they do not believe in order to get elected and that no one in their right mind would be opposed to gay marriage.  So when I saw that bumper sticker, I immediately felt that its message was aimed at me.

What exactly is “homophobia?”  Well, a “phobia” is defined as:  “a persistent, abnormal, or irrational fear of a certain thing or group of things.”  I am opposed to gay marriage, but I do not have any fear of homosexuals.  Nor do I fear the obvious expansion of homosexuality in modern society.  I happen to believe in the sovereignty of God and I know that He will judge this world in His timing and according to His perspective.

What does the scripture say?  “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them . . .  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. . .  Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.  Amen.  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.  Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.  Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.  Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. . .  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”  (Romans 1:18-32)

This was the Apostle Paul’s description of the Roman culture in which he lived.  It sounds a lot like our culture now.  The good news is that all those who turn to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ shall be saved from God’s coming judgment.  Love is never wrong.  It is by the amazing grace and love of God that makes the difference in our lives.  We all fit into that description in the above scripture.  We have all failed to live up to God’s standard.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely buy his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 3:23-24)  We all need His justification.  We all need His love and His grace.  There is nothing wrong with any two people loving each other.  Indeed, we are commanded to do just that.  However, let’s not confuse love with lust and sexual acts that do not meet with God’s approval.  Scripture is clear.  Sexual activity belongs only within the context of a man and a woman united in marriage.  That is not fear, but fact.

Pastor Alan Thomas <><