"It'll Never Happen" (Bulletin Article for June 24)
“We live in a Christian society. Oh, sure, people aren’t quite what they used to be, but it’s not as bad as people would have us think.” Christians, it’s about time we stopped living with that mentality. We have stood on the sidelines far too long, and now we may be paying for it.
A bill is before both the United States Senate and the US House of Representatives that would greatly impact Christians who stand for the truth. H.R. 1592 and S. 1105 would make it illegal to speak of homosexuality as a sinful practice, categorizing such as “hate speech.”
The House of Representatives version of the bill, for example, would make it a crime to categorize as sinful anything based upon, “race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity [such as cross-dressing, ADF], or disability of the victim….”(1) Do you see what this bill would do?
If enacted, it would be up to the courts and the Attorney General to decide what constitutes “hate speech.” Those pushing this bill would like for preaching homosexuality as a sin to be included as hateful.
Did you ever picture the day when such would even be considered in the halls of Congress? Why not? When television shows such as Will and Grace had a homosexual character, we were outraged, but we laughed along with everyone else. When celebrities such as Ellen Degeneres “came out of the closet,” we thought it was awful, but we kept watching the shows.
Slowly but (very) surely, those pushing the homosexual agenda have even convinced Christians that homosexuality is not that bad. Now those who preach and teach the Truth may soon face jail time or a fine for doing so. How many Christians will still stand up for what is right?
Christians, we have stood on the sidelines too long. It’s time to contact our representatives and tell them that such legislation is not acceptable. Those who promote “tolerance” have finally gotten what they want: a way to show that they are tolerant by being totally intolerant. While we, as Christians, need to be peaceful people, we must still stand up and speak up for what is right.
Some of you are reading this and saying, “It’ll never happen. A law like this will never pass.” Maybe it won’t. I pray it won’t. But, how many other things have happened in the homosexual agenda while Christians stood on the sidelines and said, “It’ll never happen”?
And one more thing. If this law is enacted, where will you stand? Will you let the rulings of our land decide what is right and wrong, or will you continue to stand up for what the Bible teaches? Remember the words of Peter: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
We need to teach in a loving way that God loves every person, including the homosexual, but He does not love the sin. Friends, a practicing homosexual cannot inherit eternal life (cf. First Corinthians 6:9-10). But the Gospel can change anyone. It changed you, and it changed me when we struggled with sins of an awful sort. Let’s teach people how it can change those struggling with the sin of homosexuality.
