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Sexual identity is complex and controversial. As I’ve written in three books on sexuality, psychologists have debated whether gender identity and same-sex orientation derive from nature or nurture. The answer seems to be yes.

So, may I humbly make two suggestions for the Church as it struggles to find a biblical response to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, and others (LGBTQIA+).:

1. If the Church is going to address sexual sin, then address all sexual sins.

Homosexual behavior is not the only “abominable” sin found in Scripture. Preachers love the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and most claim homosexual behavior was the reason for all that fire and brimstone. The Bible doesn’t say that. Yes, there’s the scene of the residents coming to Lot’s house and wanting to have sex with his male guests, but that’s not specified as the condemning sin. Here’s what the prophet Ezekiel writes about the unfaithful Hebrew nation:

“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen” (Ezekiel 16:48-50).

Nope, not a word about homosexual behavior! There is the reference to “detestable sins”—but that could be anything from idol worship to child sacrifice—but no specific mention of homosexual offenses in the list.

In fact, there are a lot of sins, in addition to homosexual behavior, that God calls abominable: idol worship; sleeping with a woman whom you have divorced; eating an un-kosher sacrifice; making unholy offerings to God, claiming to have received false prophesies; and convincing others to reject God’s Word. They’re all abominable.

Unfortunately, some Christians have created a list of sins they think are worse than others, but I love how the Scripture writers don’t make a distinction between “deep sin” and church-acceptable sins. Paul lumps them altogether:

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Right there, between sexual immorality and drunkenness, there’s jealousy and selfish ambitions! (Anyone reading who hasn’t been jealous or selfish?!)

2. It’s not about orientation, it’s about obedience

Just because I identify as heterosexual, doesn’t mean “I was born this way, so I can’t help it! I’m a heterosexual and want to have sex with anyone with two X chromosomes. I should get a pass on God’s rules because it’s just how he made me!”

Let’s face it, in this culture, it is hard keeping sexually pure, whether you’re married or single, gay or straight.

In fact, a gay man asked a friend of mine, “How do you heterosexuals keep pure with all the temptations everywhere you look? It’s got to be hard!” Indeed!

But here’s the good news. Let’s go back to 1 Corinthians 6 and get a running start . . .

”Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God” (9-10).

Okay, that’s the bad news, but here’s the good news:

“Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

The whole concept of holiness from the Temple rituals to the New Testament church is about being “cleansed” from sin and then “set apart” to obey God. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 6:

“Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

And so, I can’t find in the Bible any explicit condemnation of those with same-sex orientation in the Bible. Same-sex physical actions have been documented throughout history. But the modern understanding and categorization of sexual orientation as a distinct identity only came about with the research of Karoly Maria Kertbeny in 1869. Only then was the idea of sexual orientation, both gay and straight, recognized. So, all references to homosexuality in the Bible are about sexual behavior and not orientation.

Today, a Christian can have a homosexual orientation, but can please God by obedience to God’s commands about sexual behavior—just as a person with a heterosexual orientation obeys God’s commands.

Rather than the church speaking out about homosexual orientation, the church can compassionately teach God principles for sexual purity. No need to mention orientation of any kind—LBGTQIA+—but to teach obedience for all to all of God’s principles. By doing so, the Church could stay out of the controversy and contentiousness tearing apart the church and culture.

Copyright © 2019 James N. Watkins