Two of the most amazing Christian men that I know are gay...I love them both as brothers in Christ and don’t feel that I can judge their relationship. Is that ok? Or am I going against major Christian law?

This is a great question! I am thrilled that you felt free to ask a question of this nature in a Christian church! I hope that all people feel free to ask questions that are not Sunday school questions. Many Christians take it for granted—”Oh, of course it’s a sin to be gay”—but what does the Bible teach? That’s what we need to ask.

If we do believe that the Bible is God’s Word (and we do), and if this is our guide, then we use it to determine whether or not it is sin to be gay.

In Leviticus 18:22 God says, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” This is God giving a law to Israel for them to live by. Clearly, God is talking about sex. A man should not lie with a man the way he would lie with a woman.

The Episcopalian church just suffered a massive split over this issue, all starting with a few bishops coming out of the closet and announcing their sex preference for men. And many would agree that the Old Testament teaches against homosexuality, but then they would add that because that law was given to Israel and not to us, and because it was under the old covenant, we don’t have to obey it. But the New Testament also teaches that homosexuality is a sin:

Paul writes in Romans 1:26, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural...”

Paul writes that for a woman to desire another woman is unnatural. If some of you ladies struggle with this, God can forgive you of that sin and help you to be free from that sin. But the Bible teaches that it is natural for a woman to desire a man and a man to desire a woman.

Paul continues, “...and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another...” Who’s that “one another?” Men toward men. Men committing homosexuality. “...men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error” (Rom 1:27). The orifice in the body which a man would use to have sex with another man has been medically proven to be only designed for exit, not entry. This orifice of many men has been damaged due to sodomy.

Not only this, but a simple look at a man’s anatomy compared to a woman’s makes it pretty obvious that the man was designed to have intercourse with woman, not another man. But does that mean it is a sin to desire someone of the same sex? No. It is no more sin than to desire to look at a picture of someone without clothes on, or to desire physical intimacy with your boyfriend or girlfriend. What is sin is when we yield to that.

I have a pastor friend who lives in Canada. He preaches the Bible faithfully. One Sunday he told his congregation, "One Sunday morning I may not be here because the authorities heard me saying something they didn't like and threw me in jail. So, elders, be ready so that one of you can preach for me." Because he preaches against homosexuality—and what I mean by that is saying, “According to the Bible homosexuality is a sin,”—he can get thrown into jail. They call it “hate speech.”

For people who go around beating up homosexuals, making fun of them, or saying, “You faggot,” that is totally wrong, because if you’ve ever struggled with any kind of lust in your life, you are just as much a sinner as a Lesbian, transvestite, pornographer, pedophile, or adulterer. It’s all sin. But when people say that calling homosexuality a sin is hate speech, let me give you a context to show you how crazy that is.

What if my son, Josiah, was outside playing in the street in a place where I know cars come barreling around the corner? Would I be giving my son “hate speech” if I said, “Hey, Josiah, it’s not good to be out there playing in the street. That’s not safe”? No, that’s loving him. “But Dad you’re restricting my fun. I want to be out there.” True. But even though you want to be, that doesn’t mean it’s okay. The most loving thing I can tell someone, whether he’s a pornographer, or a homosexual, or an adulterer, or a fornicator, is that the Bible calls any sexual activity outside of marriage a sin. And God can totally forgive you and set you free from that sin. There are several homosexuals who have surrendered their lives to Christ and who I could bring in here today and they would say, “Hey, it was sin, it was a total addiction, but God changed me and set me free.” So if you struggle with that don’t be embarrassed, because the truth is we all struggle with sin.

Someone might say, “Well, Seth, it’s from your genes. It’s genetic.” Well, it’s probably partly true that it’s genetic because the Bible says that our sin nature comes from Adam (Rom 5:12). In some way we don’t understand, his propensity towards sin passed on to his children, and they to their children, all the way down to us. I do think there is validity to the idea that if a son’s Dad never spends time with him, never touches him, never plays with him, he may grow up with an unhealthy desire for other men. That’s very possibly true. And the same for a young lady.

But there is a deeper issue we must remember. The desire for any type of sin ultimately comes from a sinful heart (Jer 17:9). And when you realize that, then you can apply the power of the gospel, and the Bible says that the gospel can change the heart—the inner desires—so that you’re free from sin! And then you can know true joy!