I was deeply saddened by the news that Ray Boltz, a former contemporary Christian artist best known for songs such as “Thank you”, “Watch the Lamb” and “I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb”, had left his wife and four children and that it has come out he is a homosexual. Tim Challies posted a great commentary on Ray Boltz recent coming out.
Reading this story in the Blade provided an interesting perspective on worldview. Here is what Boltz said about the freedom he has found in declaring and accepting his homosexuality. “I didn’t have to be who I was in the past. I didn’t have to fit somebody else’s viewpoint of what they thought I was. I could just be myself and I met a lot of wonderful people.” He said also, “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.”
He states with startling clarity that he rejects God’s assessment of who he is. No longer did He need to fit his worldview into anyone else’s–he was free to accept his own self-assessment. God’s assessment is that Boltz, like me, is a sinful man and one who is tempted and tormented by sin. He is a man who is corrupted by sin and so deeply corrupted that without God’s intervention he will more and more resemble the sin that inhabits him. And one sin that Boltz long wrestled with is the sin of homosexuality. This may well be a kind of besetting sin–a sin that has plagued him since his youth and one that has never lessened its pull on him. Each of us has sins we are more prone to than others and I know there are many Christians who fight lifelong struggles with sexual orientation. But I also know that God can give grace to overcome even that sin. A God-centered worldview would tell Boltz that, though he may be somehow inclined to homosexuality, this tendency is a result of sin and it is a tendency that God utterly rejects. A God-centered worldview would tell him that God assesses his sin and calls him to repentance. God does not condone his homosexuality any more than God condones any other sin.
Sadly, Boltz has an I-centered worldview. He declares without apology that he is gay and, digging a knife into God’s back, says that it is God who has made him this way. He rejects God’s assessment and instead assesses himself by his own standards and declares that he is good. He piles sin upon sin, accepting his homosexuality as good, rejecting God’s declaration that it is sin, divorcing his wife, living that homosexual lifestyle.
The lesson to me in all of this is the importance–the life and death importance–of seeing the world not through my eyes but through God’s. God has given us the Bible which allows us, like a pair of glasses that somehow illumines blind eyes, to see the world as He sees it.
Homosexuality is a rejection of God’s way. God’s word is clear that it is sin.
1 Corinthians 6:8-10
8But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even(A) your own brothers![a]
9Or do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:(B) neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (ESV)
1 Timothy 1:9-11
9understanding this, that the(A) law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,[a] liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to(B) sound[b] doctrine, 11in accordance with(C) the gospel of the glory of(D) the blessed God(E) with which I have been entrusted.
Romans 1 takes Homosexuality to another level in stating that it is a consequence of God turning men over to their foolishness and lusts. Also, it states that it is a consequence of exchanging the true God for a god of one’s imagination or one’s foolishness (verse 23).
18For(AJ) the wrath of God(AK) is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be(AL) known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,(AM) have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they(AN) became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22(AO) Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and(AP) exchanged the glory of(AQ) the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24Therefore(AR) God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to(AS) the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for(AT) a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,(AU) who is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason(AV) God gave them up to(AW) dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,(AX) men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
For those who want to say that these passages are just a reference to pagan worship and not a “wholesome” homosexual relationship there are levels of problems. Even if they were only a reference to pagan worship it demonstrates that such a lifestyle is placed not in the worship of the true God but in the worship of false gods. Also, some of the sins that are listed among are not directly associated with pagan worship, but are more general lists of sins such as theft, greed, and drunkenness. Third, it puts this sin in a list of things that keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God.
There is another problem with such a lifestyle that is secondary to denying relevance of certain portions of scripture. That is that we are instructed in Romans 13 to be subject to the laws of the land.
1Let every person(A) be subject to the governing authorities. For(B) there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you(C) will receive his approval, 4for(D) he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God,(E) an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also(F) for the sake of conscience
According to Wikipedia:
Marriage, as defined by the civil law, is currently available to same-sex couples in six countries. The Netherlands was the first country to allow same-sex marriage in 2001. Same-sex marriages are also legal in Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa and Spain, along with two states in the United States, Massachusetts and recently California (for status in California see California Proposition 8 (2008)). In 2005, Spain became the first country in the world to recognize same-sex marriage (including adoption rights) on equal terms and under the same law.
In 1996, the United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman amongst other stipulations.[15] As of May 2007, twenty-six states have passed constitutional amendments explicitly barring the recognition of same-sex marriage.[16], eighteen of which prohibit the legal recognition of any same-sex union. Nineteen additional states have legal statutes that define “marriage” as a union of two persons of the opposite-sex.[17] The territory of Puerto Rico ratified a similar statute in 1998. Nonetheless, some states are beginning to offer legal recognition to same-sex couples, whether in the form of marriage or as civil unions or domestic partnerships.
Not only has God declared Homosexuality wrong, but the majority of governments in the world, even in our current day and age, do not allow homosexuals to be married. This argument does not mean if they allow it that homosexuality would be right, because governments do not have authority over God and his Word. However, it does demonstrate that one would have to enter into sin of sexual relations outside of marriage to practice such a lifestyle as well. This is never acceptable in scripture. In the case of Ray Boltz you can see the progression of all of the sins that it took to practice such a lifestyle. He divorced his wife, he is no longer in the home fathering his children, he has entered into a relationship outside of marriage with another man. In so many cases those that enter into a homosexual lifestyle are willing to alienate relationships with family, pastors, and faithful Christians. Yet in their summary of their relationship with God they claim that they have never been closer to God. Is this possible? Only if God fits into their image and their mind, as Tim Challies demonstrates.
So where should Christians stand on Homosexuality? It is a sin. It is a sin that will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God if one continues in such a lifestyle. And I believe Tim Challies is right, it is a worldview. It could even be catagorized a false religion in many senses. It is a sin for which Christ died for and his death and resurrection has power over!
Exodus International is a group established to help ones seeking help in this difficult area, as is Setting Captives Free.