In the midst of his announcement on Sunday that he now supports same-sex marriage, Rob Bell warned American evangelicals to “adapt or die.”
This was a statement made by Rob Bell to a Christian magazine. For those who do not know who Rob Bell is, here are a couple of links with some basic info to get you up to speed.
Link: Rob Bell
Link: Rob Bell leaves Mars Hill Church
Now concerning his statement about same-sex marriage, what does he even mean by "adapt"? Looking at some of his other statements from this article such as the quote below, I assume by adapt he means open armed acceptance of sexual sin and perversion. Homosexuality in particular.
"Last year, speaking at a church gathering in California, Bell stated his belief that you could be a practicing homosexual and a follower of Jesus at the same time, encouraging his listeners to take their focus off of gay-related issues and to look instead at the “truly big problems in our world; that I believe Jesus would [have] us to band together, and tackle together.”
So if followers of Jesus are faced with the choice of either "adapting" to same sex-marriage or death, which would you choose? (If you'd rather not answer you don't have to... yet.) I for one, if faced with denying the word of my Lord or death, I pray to be strengthened by His spirit to hold to His testimonies regardless of the cost... even if it means my death. I pray that the Lord in His providence would allow me to die well.
But as it pertains to homosexual practice and following Jesus... can a practicing homosexual be a follower of Jesus? A better and clearer way of asking such a question is this:
Can a practicing homosexual be a follower of Jesus and remain a practicing homosexual?
Before I answer I wish to make it known that I understand the ongoing warfare that the follower of Jesus is engaged in when it comes to the lusts of the flesh. Before coming to Jesus I had a serious problem with alcohol. I recognized in my depression that I was proceeding down the path to becoming an alcoholic. The thought entered my mind when I decided to have absolute vodka and popcorn for breakfast after a night out at a club. I also had a problem with pornography, which was turning into an addiction. (Strangely enough, I was introduced to pornography by my girlfriend at the time, who was in the process of a divorce.)
However years later, upon having an actual experience with Jesus Christ, believing the gospel, and repenting I received salvation. I was regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost. It was during this time that the Lord Himself had introduced me to my future wife, and began teaching me how to love. Not soon after that, I joined a church and got baptized.
Mark 1
14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Acts 2
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The point I'm trying to make with disclosing all of this is the fact that once I repented and believed the gospel was regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost. I was changed so that the carnal lifestyle that I indulged in previously... I could no longer continue. Pornography, drinking, clubs, bars, late night hook-ups... all of that changed. Now I will be honest in that the lifestyle changes did not happen over night. Some things yes, some things no. But there was a change. There was struggle. There was a real supernatural warfare that I was engaged in. You see, simply being regenerated did not mean that all of my temptations would disappeared forever. When I would go to a restaurant like Fridays, Red Lobster, or Olive Garden with my wife, I often found myself looking over all of the new alcoholic drinks on the menu. Of course, by this time I realize I need to put the menu down... When my wife and I have had some kind of argument, and I find myself up late at night online, and my mind begins to wander... sometimes those old lustful/pornographic temptations try to come back to life. That's when I have to turn the computer off... I begin reading the Scriptures, pray, and make up with my wife before I make myself go to sleep for the night.
And in the event that stumble and fall you will hate yourself. You will absolutely loath yourself... and you will repent. Upon repentance the Lord will forgive, pick you up, and help you to keep on moving forward. The warfare is a continual warfare.
So now, getting back to the initial question.
Can a practicing homosexual be a follower of Jesus and remain a practicing homosexual?
The answer is no. I don't believe so. A practicing homosexual can become a follower of Jesus Christ upon repentance and belief in the Gospel. But eventually if not immediately the lustful perversions will stop. That is not to say that temptations will cease. Perhaps they will. Perhaps they won't. But in the event that they arise, they will be resisted and fought to the end... until one day the sins that so easily beset will no longer be a temptation. That is my answer.
3 comments:
Great post! I was once asked this question once and my answer was unequivocally, "No. A person cannot be a practicing homosexual and still be a Christian". No born again sinners "practice" sin because we are not in covenant with sin any longer. Instead, we fight against yielding our members unto unrighteousness. The Scriptures also state that such is not possible:
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." I Cor. 6:9-11
Part of being justified is that we have been washed and sanctified from our old ways. Either we have truly been made a new creature in Christ or we have not been born again.
It is indeed a lifetime warfare against the lusts of the flesh. Or as Jesus says, every day we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. In that walk is our deliverance as those lusts of the flesh grow ever weaker and our spirit grows stronger in Christ Jesus.
I thank God for your deliverance brother and pray for the ever present hand of God to continue guiding & protecting your family.
Thank you for the words of encouragement and for taking the time to look over this post. I know I haven't been active here in awhile but I'm hoping to change that.
There have been quite a few changes since I last posted here. For starters, I've had to step down from my position as a moderator/elder of my home Christian community. I had a post that prompted one of my fellow moderators to ask me for clarification on what I believe concerning salvation.
So I stated that to clarify what I believe I would post a OSAS series. The series I intended to post was the same series from your blog.
I kid you not. The first post was up less than 24hours before it was frozen by my fellow mod. She asked me to please not be offended and not to post anymore until she spoke with the community owner as she believed this to be wrong. Now I've been friends with my fellow moderator Chris, and maintainer Neil for five years... ever since 2008 since they approached me about being a moderator for the community. It's alright to disagree on some things as this was a discussion community... so I honored her request to hold off posting until we heard back from Neil.
I got a message back from him and couldn't believe what I was reading! Apparently he read the post and agreed with Chris that it was wrong. Further more he thought it nothing more than fear mongering, and that the post communicated the idea that the blood of Jesus was not enough for salvation. I was asked to remove the post immediately.
At this point, I thought the both of them had just gone off the deep end. We've been friends for five years... we've all prayed for one another, stood by one another in the Christian communities... they knew what I believed about salvation as I've posted a bit about before, but never anything as detailed as your series. Now all of a sudden I'm a fear monger? I respected his decision but in light of that decision I told him I could no longer moderate that community. He thought it a rash decision and then proceeded to throw a bunch of Scriptures at me along with accusations of an inflated ego... I responded that I was not going to get into a Scripture tossing contest over this. You see, this entire discussion was taking place through private messages. He said that he was not willing to discuss this publicly within the community.
I believe a dominating, religious spirit of fear and error has gotten a hold on them. When one can't even share a Scriptural doctrine as they are led, I'm afraid it's time to go. I wish I could show you the community and the comments that some of your posts have been getting there... but Neil has had the community closed off to the outside world for over a year now. It's become almost like the Jehovah's Witnesses kingdom hall. I think this was the Lord's way of moving me on to other things... I just thought you might find this interesting. It isn't the lost that I'm having so many problems and confrontations with, it's the "Christians".
Wow. I am speechless. Upon reading your comment, I was initially very sorry you had to go through that. However, if God is leading you away from that, then I know He is also leading you where He next wants you to be. May God's will be done.
Interestingly enough, a sister in the Lord recent told me that the Lord has been leading her to say something about the errors of OSAS at her church. So various brethren seem to be getting this same leading from the Lord. I see it as an act of mercy, with Him giving us time to get our hearts and minds in order.
That series has also been the cause of loss of relationships I have had with a few other believers. They read it, and something about it incenses them. They become very angry and start arguing with me about how wrong it is. Yet, no one can ever point out Scripturally what is wrong. I think even the question itself causes people to fear because it means they have some accountability in their covenant relationship with the Lord.
If what is in that series is false, then the sensible thing to do is to provide Scriptures which clearly disprove it. But demanding the removal of it? What is there to hide if it is a lie?
As Jesus continues to cleanse us all by His Spirit, we must be willing to deal with anything He puts His finger on. I pray that we all continue to follow Him in all things as we grow in the knowledge of Him, turning from every false way (myself included). :-)
God Bless you brother!
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