The Christian perspectives on homosexuality and divorce are not in alignment with scripture. This was inspired by a few sentences in today's January Series about Protestant leadership in America.
Everyone, Christian and not, is up in arms about homosexuality. We've gotten to the point where it has to be accepted in some ways. The debates rage over what those ways are. In the Christian community these include, among others, membership and leadership in a church, and if the homosexuality is accepted as-is or if the homosexual is working to change his life.
Nobody talks about divorce. The public finds it okay, but does value non-divorced families. The church is not much different. Perhaps the community is more dissappointed in that it is happening, but that's about it.
This should not be.
I haven't taken the time to find references, so I will draw from my recollections of the Bible and the brief mentionings of this issue in the talk today. Feel free to dissent with specific examples.
The Bible is not explicitly clear how homosexuals should be treated. Christ says nothing on the topic. No need to delve into various interpretations for this musing.
The Bible gives explicit instructions about divorce.
"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel (Malachi 2:16a)In Matthew 5:31-32, Christ says any form of divorce and remarriage (hmm.. what about just divorce), except in the case of marital unfaithfulness is adultery.
We should be ten times more upset about divorces than we are. We know what God thinks about it. We should preach sermons on divorce. We should educate high schoolers about it. Pre-marital counseling with a heavy emphasis on it should be mandatory (I think some churches and/or pastors require this). Those who consider divorce should be counseled (by friends or Christian professionals). Those who do get divorced should be thought of like those who have sex before marriage.
It's adultery.
Posted by Dave at January 14, 2004 10:17 PM | TrackBack