A. Our present series of lessons is dedicated to identifying particular fronts of the spiritual war being fought in the world around us.
1. We have previously considered the battlefronts of church versus state, evolution, and abortion.
2. With each topic, we have seen how popular opinion has been turned away from the truth, and we have put ourselves on guard lest we be swept away in the deception.
B. In this lesson, let us notice another abomination that is now considered mainstream in our society: the unnatural and shameful practice of homosexuality.
II. THE BIG LIE
A. Once again, let us notice how the “big lie” propaganda technique is used to influence our nation to reject what is right in favor of what is wrong. In this case, the lies are about homosexuality.
1. The practice of homosexuality is presently promoted by psychiatrists, scientists, and educators as normal, natural, and acceptable.
a. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) considers homosexuality to be normal social behavior.
i. Homosexuality was long considered by psychiatrists to be a mental disorder, but in 1973, the APA reclassified it as a “sexual orientation disturbance.” In 1980, it was reclassified again as “ego-dystonic homosexuality,” and in 1987 it was completely declassified as a disorder.
ii. The APA’s decisions were due to protests (including riots ’69 and ‘73) and new research done by Alfred Kinsey and Evelyn Hooker (more on this below).
b. Some scientists have promoted the idea that homosexuality is a genetic condition.
i. Whereas homosexuality was once considered to be the negative result of one’s bad environment, now some scientists have said that it is a natural, instinctive tendency for certain people (“nurture vs. nature” argument).
ii. One scientist, Simon LeVay, claimed to find differences between the brains of heterosexuals and homosexuals in a 1991 report (more on this below).
c. In many schools, homosexuality is being taught as a normal and acceptable behavior.
i. More and more, homosexual advocacy is becoming a part of the curriculum in government public schools.
ii. Here are two examples just from this month (October, 2008):
1. In Lexington, Massachusetts, a federal court upheld an elementary school policy for mandatory teaching of homosexuality as early as kindergarten.
2. A Fairfax, Virginia high school has banned from the library any books that present a Christian view of homosexuality because they conflict with the school’s agenda to promote homosexuality.
2. Homosexuals are embraced by many churches without expectations for repentance because homosexuality is not considered by those churches to be sinful.
a. Homosexuality is accepted by virtually all Episcopal churches as well as some Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches (varies by congregation).
b. In some cases, homosexuals are even ordained as “priests” or “pastors.”
B. The result of these lies is that our nation has embraced homosexuality as a valid “alternative lifestyle.”
1. Homosexuality has come to be viewed as a characteristic like race or sex. Just as a person has no choice about his or her ethnicity or sex, homosexuals are considered to have no choice over their “orientation.”
2. Popular media outlets (television, movies, newspapers, etc.) portray homosexuality in a positive way, showing it as a normal, stable, and moral way of life. The public is soaking up these ideas.
3. Certain states have legitimized homosexuality by recognizing those relations as marriages (Massachusetts in May, 2004, and California in June, 2008).
4. Battles are being fought in many of the states over the issue of homosexuals adopting children or being foster parents.
5. Even the American language has been changed, for terms such as “gay” (meaning “happy”) have been forever altered because of their association with homosexuality.
III. THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH
A. Inconvenient Truth #1: Homosexuality is an abomination against God.
1. God’s disdain for homosexuality is evident in the volume of Scriptural evidence against it.
a. Leviticus 18:22 and 1Kings 14:24 describe such behavior as an abomination.
b. Romans 1:24-27 describes it as “impurity,” “degrading passion,” and “indecent.”
c. 1Timothy 1:8-11 categorizes homosexuality with lawlessness, rebellion, ungodliness, sin, unholiness, profanity, immorality, and “whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.”
2. Historically, God has punished homosexual behavior in the most extreme manner.
a. During Abraham’s time, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly destroyed with fire from God because of this and other wicked practices (Gen. 13:13; 18:20; 19:1-29).
i. Throughout Scripture, Sodom and Gomorrah are remembered as the standards of wickedness and destruction (Deut. 29:23; Isa. 1:9; 3:9; 13:19; Jer. 23:14; 49:18; 50:40; Lam. 4:6; Ezek. 16:46-49; 16:53-56; Amos 4:11; Zeph. 2:9; Matt. 10:15; 11:23-24; Rom. 9:29; 2Pet. 2:6; Jude 7; Rev. 11:8).
ii. Sodom is so synonymous with this wickedness that the crime of homosexuality has been named sodomy.
b. Under the Law of Moses, homosexuality was punishable by death (Lev. 20:13).
c. Under the Law of Christ, unrepentant homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God (1Cor. 6:9-11).
B. Inconvenient Truth #2: Homosexuality is an unnatural perversion.
1. Notice the explanation given in Romans 1:26-27.
a. God gave the Gentiles over to “degrading passions.”
i. Because the Gentiles rebelled against God (Rom. 1:18-25), He gave them over to the self-destructive path they desired. Homosexuality was part of that path.
ii. Homosexuality is described as a “degrading passion” because it lowers the dignity of a human (Jude 7 calls it “gross immorality”). We see it in our nation as the result of the so-called “sexual revolution” that first embraced fornication and adultery and has continually degraded the culture. What is next? Incest? Pedophilia? Bestiality? Polygamy?
b. When the Gentiles engaged in homosexuality, they did that which is “against nature.”
i. The word at the end of Romans 1:26 literally means “against nature.” Homosexuals defy the natural purpose of God and commit “indecent acts.”
ii. In the past, one of the legal descriptions of homosexuality was “crimes against nature.” Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780), who wrote a commentary on the Common Law of England, called homosexuality “an offense of so dark a nature, the very mention of which is a disgrace to human nature, a crime not fit to be named.”
2. Despite propaganda to the contrary, no scientific or biological excuse has been found for homosexuality. God does not make people as homosexuals, but rather they choose to be so.
a. There is no so-called “gay gene.”
i. On April 14, 2003, the International Human Genome Consortium completed the Human Genome Project in which they mapped the entire human genetic code. No homosexual gene was found (i.e., no one is “born that way”).
ii. This has received no attention in the press, but it is a notable scientific fact.
b. Dr. Kinsey’s and Dr. Hooker’s research was flawed because they assumed that because homosexuality was found in many cultures that it was normal. This is a bad assumption.
c. Dr. LeVay’s research was flawed because he studied only homosexuals who had died from AIDS. The variations he noticed between heterosexuals’ brains and homosexuals’ brains were due to the effects of the AIDS disease, not a genetic condition.
IV. CONCLUSION
A. The limitations of our study prevent further demonstrations of the truth about homosexuality via Scripture and science, but there is far more abundant evidence than what is presented here (I will be glad to provide).
B. We must not be deceived by the world’s lies, but we must see clearly that homosexuality is a vile sin.
C. Let us always remember that regardless of what we may see in the world around us, victory is in Jesus.