I'm Gay and God Loves Me!

Bill Beasley
10/06/13 - Morality

So read, I am told, a tee-shirt worn in public by a mature (age-wise) man. As strange as it may seem to some who know me, I am in complete agreement with what is actually said on the shirt. The statement is true, and I can prove it by turning to God's word. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). God's love for the world (i.e., people living in the world) is all encompassing and excludes no one. This beautiful passage does not say, nor even imply, that God loves the righteous and those who obey Him, to the exclusion of others. Well, so much for what the shirt says.

What is not said, but what the wearer wanted people to believe, is "I'm gay and God approves of my lifestyle!" What is actually said and what is implied are worlds apart. God's love (Greek = agape) has naught to do with whether or not He approves of the actions (lifestyle) of the individual. The following statements (patterned after the statement on the shirt) would be just as true (concerning the love of God): "I'm a mass murderer and God loves me;" "I'm a pedophile and God loves me;" "I'm a rapist and God loves me;" I'm a thief and God loves me;" "I'm an adulterer/adulteress and God loves me;" "I'm a liar and God loves me." God loves each of these individuals (and all of us who have been guilty of other sins) with a love so strong that He sent His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for their (our) sins by dying on the cross. God's Son died so that you, the shirt wearer, and all of us might be saved from our sins (from the eternal penalty of our sins), but certainly not in (while embracing and living in) our sins.

The shirt wearer has evidently made the mistake of implying/thinking/believing that God's love equals God's approval and/or that God's love equals salvation. He certainly was not the first to make this mistake (assumption), and will undoubtedly not be the last. "For God so loved the world," but the truth is that the majority of God's creation will not be allowed in heaven, but will be in eternal torment. "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). It is the many versus the few. No, I do not know the exact number that constitutes "many" nor how small the number must be to be but "few," but I do understand the point being made. In the flood there were only eight who were saved (see Genesis 6-7, noting especially 7:13). In the destruction of Sodom there were, in the final outcome, only three (see Genesis 19, especially verses 15 and 26) that were not consumed in the flames or turned into a pillar of salt.

"You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is abomination." (Leviticus 18:22). "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death; their bloodguiltiness is upon them" (Leviticus 20:13).

"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error" (Romans 1:26-27). Do I hate the ones who do such things? No! No! A thousand times No!

I do not hate the murderer, rapist, pedophile, thief, liar, adulteress, or the homosexual. Their actions are the subject of hatred, but not the individual. I would that they would come to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that the Bible really means what it says (Mark 16:16), repent of their sins (Acts 17:30), confess their faith in Christ (Matthew 10:32) and be baptized in order to receive the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Then I, along with thousands of my brothers and sisters in Christ, would welcome them. This is not hatred, this is love!