Should a Christian attend a gay wedding ?

[Carl Emerson]

No one chooses to be gay

All gays choose to be gay. They yield to the temptation to adopt a sinful lust driven lifestyle.

 

[Strong in Him]

All gays choose to be gay. They yield to the temptation to adopt a sinful lifestyle.

It's not possible to choose your sexuality - just as it's not possible to choose your parents, your gender, your eye colour, whether you are born disabled, and so on.

When talking about eunuchs, Jesus said, "some are born that way."
Philip shared the Gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch without even commenting on his body or lifestyle. Could that have been because he didn't know and it was none of his business?

 

[Carl Emerson]

It's not possible to choose your sexuality - just as it's not possible to choose your parents, your gender, your eye colour, whether you are born disabled, and so on.

When talking about eunuchs, Jesus said, "some are born that way."
Philip shared the Gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch without even commenting on his body or lifestyle. Could that have been because he didn't know and it was none of his business?

Nonsense - biological gender is fixed at conception.

Assuming another identity is corruption.

Jesus was not sanctifying Homosexuality.

Nor was Philip.

Eunuchs were incapable of procreation either by defect at birth or by voluntary castration and didn't marry.

They were not homosexual or heterosexual but celibate. Jesus was not addressing homosexuality but rather the merits of staying unmarried and sexually neutral.

 

[Strong in Him]

Nonsense - biological gender is fixed at conception.

I never said it wasn't - but we can't choose it.

My point about eunuchs was that Jesus said that some are born that way. We can't choose to even be born at all - never mind whether we are disabled, healthy or whatever.
If you have brown eyes, you have brown eyes. If you walked into a community of blue eyed people who claimed that having brown eyes was wrong or inferior, there'd be nothing you could do about it. If you had a heart condition, because your parents had had heart conditions, you would probably feel insulted if you met people who claimed that having an illness was sinful. There used to be debates on here on this subject - I was once told that my illness and disability did not glorify God.

 

[Carl Emerson]

You seem to miss the point...

You are born biologically Male or Female and this is determined at conception.

To deny this and assume the lifestyle of the opposite sex is biblically sinful.

Homosexuality is listed as an abomination with severe consequences.

 

[Strong in Him]

You seem to miss the point...

You are born biologically Male or Female and this is determined at conception.

I know it is.
I am saying that it is not something that we are consulted about, or choose.
Your statement was that all gay people choose to be gay - as if sexuality was a choice and something in our control.

To deny this and assume the lifestyle of the opposite sex is biblically sinful.

That's debateable.

Homosexuality is listed as an abomination with severe consequences.

Greed, pride, jealousy etc etc are also listed as sins and things that God hates.
When was the last time you saw someone waving a placard condemning people for being envious or boastful? I would guess, never.
But a person can choose not to be jealous or greedy - they can't choose to stop fancying/loving someone of the same gender.

 

[Paidiske]

This is not a personal affront but a reflection on the absence of clear Christian and biblical voice in public life.

Then why the accusations of not taking issues seriously, sitting back and enjoying the victory of evil, and so on? Are those comments necessary in this kind of conversation?

I would certainly agree that I don't see enough clear Christian and Biblical voices who speak with gentleness, compassion and care on issues of sexuality, taking into account our best understanding of human biology and development. Instead it seems the voices of ignorance, hate, judgement and condemnation are first to grab any available opportunity to be heard. This is highly regrettable, and part of the reason why many Christians want to offer a witness which stands apart from that aggressive hostility.

All gays choose to be gay. They yield to the temptation to adopt a sinful lust driven lifestyle.

Nonsense - biological gender is fixed at conception.

You appear to be confusing sexual orientation, behaviour, and gender identity. These are three quite distinct things.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I am saying that it is not something that we are consulted about, or choose.
Your statement was that all gay people choose to be gay - as if sexuality was a choice and something in our control.

I am talking about adopting a lifestyle of the sex one is not born with is forbidden in scripture.

Scripture clearly states that a man must not lie with a man.

Scripture also forbids dressing as the opposite sex.

I shouldn't have to raise this - it is clear reading in scripture for for anyone.

But I have to spell it out because there is a strong deception prevailing in this area of life.

You can quibble over definitions all you want but Jesus quoted the plain text, He also said the scripture cannot be broken.

 

[Carl Emerson]

they can't choose to stop fancying/loving someone of the same gender.

This is nonsense - He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able to bare - but with the temptation provides a way of escape.

Homosexuality is lust driven. Instead of approving of the same sex desire we should insist that the lust needs to be dealt with.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Then why the accusations of not taking issues seriously, sitting back and enjoying the victory of evil, and so on? Are those comments necessary in this kind of conversation?

Yes because there is no clear biblical voice in common life. Most teenagers are fed secular nonsense and know zip about Jesus.

The voice of the church is largely mute.

I would certainly agree that I don't see enough clear Christian and Biblical voices who speak with gentleness, compassion and care on issues of sexuality, taking into account our best understanding of human biology and development. Instead it seems the voices of ignorance, hate, judgement and condemnation are first to grab any available opportunity to be heard. This is highly regrettable, and part of the reason why many Christians want to offer a witness which stands apart from that aggressive hostility.

Yes - I agree - for the record we have had a good relationship with Gay neighbours and see this as a critical foundation for any communication of faith.

You appear to be confusing sexual orientation, behaviour, and gender identity. These are three quite distinct things.

I just don't buy into the narrative that justifies sin by definition.

 

[Paidiske]

Most teenagers are fed secular nonsense and know zip about Jesus.

The voice of the church is largely mute.

Most teenagers might know zip about Jesus, but they know Christians hate gays. Which tells us exactly how skewed our public witness is.

I just don't buy into the narrative that justifies sin by definition.

Being clear that being gay, engaging in same-sex sexual activity, and being transgendered, are in no way the same thing, is important for how we deal with these issues, and doesn't justify any sin at all.

 

[Carl Emerson]

What I do know is that God would never judge harshly a condition one was born with.

The fact that He did judge harshly confirms that the sins referred to were within the individuals ability to resist.

 

[Paidiske]

Which ought to teach us to take care in what we declare to be sinful.

 

[NBB]

I know it is.
I am saying that it is not something that we are consulted about, or choose.
Your statement was that all gay people choose to be gay - as if sexuality was a choice and something in our control.

That's debateable.

Greed, pride, jealousy etc etc are also listed as sins and things that God hates.
When was the last time you saw someone waving a placard condemning people for being envious or boastful? I would guess, never.
But a person can choose not to be jealous or greedy - they can't choose to stop fancying/loving someone of the same gender.

That would mean God can't save homosexuals.... which is false, if they can't repent of homosexuality God can't save them then, which is a lie.

 

[Benjamin Müller]

I don't believe anyone is born gay. They may have a proclivity to sexual rebellion, but that does not mean they're born that way. Any more than someone with anger management issues is born angry; or a gossiping woman is born gossiping. It's up to us whether or not we fuel rebellious and ungodly desires or snuff them out. It's also our parents responsibility to guide us so through these character flaws so that they don't take over our lives.

A man lusting after a woman is sin; a man lusting after man is sin; an individual coveting someone else's belongings is sin. We all have sin; but where there is an ungodly desire we are to overcome it--not congratulate it, celebrate it, accept it, and surrender to it with the weak excuse that 'I'm born this way' or 'They're born that way'. Do we excuse the murderer who says, 'I was born angry, you have to understand and congratulate me on my murders'. Obviously not.

Sin is sin. You don't give leeway for the one, while sentencing the other to life in prison. The wages of sin is death. All sin, is death.

Personally, I think a lot of the sexual defiance stems from sexual abuse. And if an overwhelming number of these homosexuals do have a past history of sexual abuse, they need cognitive behavioral therapy, not acceptance into the gay life-style. And that goes the same for someone who is angry; why are they angry, what happened to make them belligerent and want to exercise control in such a fierce fashion?

Old Testament law is black and white because God is not the author of confusion. It's black and white so that man isn't sitting here debating evil and who we should be merciful to and who we shouldn't be. God makes it clear. There is no tolerance for sin; any sin.

 

[Strong in Him]

I am talking about adopting a lifestyle of the sex one is not born with is forbidden in scripture.

That's not at all the same as being gay.
Being gay is sexuality - homosexuality. We cannot choose our sexuality - no one asked me, as a foetus, whether I wished to have boy or girlfriends when I got older. I can guarantee that you were not given that choice either.
A gay male was born a male and lives as one - it just happens that he is attracted to other males, and will look for boyfriends just as his friends may look for girlfriends.

 

[Strong in Him]

This is nonsense - He will not allow you to be tempted more than you are able to bare - but with the temptation provides a way of escape.

But for someone who is homosexual, loving/being attracted to someone of the same sex is not a temptation; it's how it is.

 

[Strong in Him]

That would mean God can't save homosexuals.... which is false, if they can't repent of homosexuality God can't save them then, which is a lie.

If a person is attracted to people of the same sex, that's how they are. I don't see how anyone can repent of that - any more than I could repent for having 2 X chromosomes, or hay fever.
They could come to Christ and then maybe make the choice not to be in a relationship. But they cannot change who they are.

 

[Hank77]

That's not at all the same as being gay.
Being gay is sexuality - homosexuality. We cannot choose our sexuality - no one asked me, as a foetus, whether I wished to have boy or girlfriends when I got older. I can guarantee that you were not given that choice either.
A gay male was born a male and lives as one - it just happens that he is attracted to other males, and will look for boyfriends just as his friends may look for girlfriends.

Do you believe the same thing about pedophilia?

 

[Divide]

I'm not going to congratulate open rebellion, and no, I will not support immoral love whether its gay marriage or an adulterous relationship. Everyone quotes that God is Love, yet they never quote that God is a Man of War, and He will not be mocked--nor will his divine institution between man and woman be mocked.

That's pretty much how I see it too. There's a scripture...something about if a man does not love Me more than His Mother or father or sons or daughters, that he is not worthy of me.../

Now a lot of people take that to mean you have to dislike family or something and that's not true. The division between families will come out as...dad will you stomp on your faith principles and attend my gay wedding? We all know that to attend would be to tell Biblical principles to wait for you in the parking lot, a show of support about something that you know God would not sanction.

When you start bending principles then they're not principles anymore.