Love Rejoices With the Truth

Imagine for a moment you are meeting a friend for coffee one morning. You are expecting to laugh, to fellowship, and to share what the Lord has been speaking to you and doing in your life over the past week. Hopefully, this is something you share with at least one friend regularly. But imagine for a moment this friend says, “I have to tell you a secret I have been hiding all of my life. I am really a pedophile. I have decided that God has made me this way and I can’t help it.” Shock and fear spread over your body like an icy breeze. Your thoughts race into action, zipping back and forth like the little metal ball in a pinball machine.

Would your response be one of the world’s pseudo-compassion—to hold their hand and let them cry and assure them that they are brave for admitting this is who they are? Or, would you search the scripture with “a new lens” to discover how you can resolve the conflict between your faith and your friend? Or, would you lovingly rebuke your friend and beg them to repent and attempt to find out why they have these desires? (I would almost guarantee they were sexually abused as a child).

Most of us do not have a family member or loved one who admits to being a pedophile, but most of us have a gay, lesbian, or transgender loved one. The example above may be extreme, but would your response be different if your friend said they were gay? Should your response be different?

How Shall We Respond?

Just as people have a choice to follow their desires or to turn away from them, so we have a choice in how to respond. But I fear we are coming to a place in our society where we are more afraid of what others will think, or of losing the relationship we cherish with our loved ones, than we are of God.

There is a rising trend amongst those who profess to be Christians identifying as supporters, affirmers and even as celebrators of their LGBT loved ones. Many are even changing their views on Scripture and shaming the church for condemning their loved ones’ behavior. Many are even apologizing to the LGBT community for speaking against homosexuality. While this may appear loving, it is rejoicing with iniquity and it elevates the world’s false morality over God’s.

There are several such examples in widely available news articles that the media, especially the progressive left, is eating up like sharks at a feeding frenzy. A Christian who has renounced their former staunch disapproval of homosexuality or transgenderism to embrace such behavior (because their son or their daughter “opened their eyes”) is a holy grail of the progressive agenda. If Satan can undermine the church and paint the church as the enemy, then he can persuade even more of the church to abandon the biblical principles in favor of what the culture demands.

Where Compromise Leads:

Consider the following Mother’s account about her transgender son named Joseph (now Kai), whom she allowed to transition at the age of four:

“My internal struggle beat me up daily. I felt like I couldn’t go against everything I’d been taught to believe, and yet I also couldn’t let Kai live in such obvious agony… After that, I started studying for a long time just about Jesus, getting to know more about His nature and character. I also read and reread His interactions with the Pharisees. The religious people of the Bible were always using scripture to justify their hateful actions, and Jesus consistently stepped in and asked them to view the scripture from the perspective of loving the person…

I felt like I was armed with a new understanding of scripture. I have surrounded my family with transgender men and women who are leaders in the community. They encourage Kai to be proud of who she is and where she comes from. We’re building a stronger community together…But despite the ignorance and hurtful words of others, I choose to arm myself with knowledge.” (goodhousekeeping.com).

Note: while I have directly quoted the article, I do not endorse using a transgender’s desired name or pronouns.

What Jesus Really Said…

Jesus did indeed condemn the Pharisees for their judgmental hypocrisy, but did Jesus ask them to “view the scripture from the perspective of loving the person”? We are never commanded or advised to view the scripture through any lens but the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth (John 16:13).

Jesus indeed loved sinners, but it was always with the intent to lead them to repentance and healing, not to leave them drowning in their own pool of filth. “11) And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12) But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13) But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matthew 9:11-13, KJV).

Also, she is continually heaping to herself and her child people that will affirm them rather than rebuke them. She is surrounding them with transgender men and women. This will further reinforce the lie her son has believed and it allows her to suppress the conviction of the Scripture she knows. She also claims to arm herself with knowledge, but may I ask, what knowledge? It certainly isn’t the knowledge of the Bible. Man’s knowledge is not wisdom. Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” We must not gain knowledge from those who reject God or His commands. Their knowledge can never lead to the truth or to wisdom.

On her own blog another affirming Christian LGBT advocate, admits that her son’s demands made her question the Scripture.

“Some pivotal moments in coming to terms with accepting my gay child included:  1. Seeing others accept my son when I couldn’t or wouldn’t. 2.  Hearing my son say the words ‘I’ve sucked it up for 21 years being your son and now I need you to suck it up and be my mom.’ 3.  Realizing that no one has searched the Scriptures, the heart of God, or themselves more than the LGBTQ Christian or their mother.” (serendipitydodah.wordpress.com).

On her website she further stated:

“The way I read it, from the beginning of time until now, God has consistently allowed people the space to choose their own paths. His teachings, from the Ten Commandments to the Sermon on the Mount, were guidelines designed for people who opted in…not criteria for judging those who didn’t.” (sarahcunningham.org/faith).

What Has God Said?

God’s laws are not a suggestion, but a mandate. Compromising truth, even in small doses, can never lead to a grasp of greater truth. The more we compromise, the more of the Scripture we must reject or twist to suit our belief, rather than changing our beliefs and our behaviors to be in line with the Word of God.

Jesus addresses this directly in Mark chapter 4, warning the disciples to take heed with what they hear. He cautioned that if they did not obey the truth that had already been given to them, even what they had would be taken away. In other words, if we reject even a little of God’s Word, we will one day find ourselves compromising on it all. Jesus further said to his disciples, “24) …If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, KJV).

Yet, today it seems like many people want Jesus to take up their cross, deny Himself, and follow them. We want to lug Jesus around like a shiny badge of love that will tell the world we accept them. It is often Christians who appear to be loving in the world’s eyes who have become the Pharisees. They are the ones condemning the true believers. They are the ones claiming to love God and yet blaspheming His Word.

As a result of their compromise, these two women in particular, in addition to many others, are doing much damage to the kingdom of God and blinding the eyes of many in the LGBT community. They hold their hands to comfort them as they march toward Hell. Some have vowed to shut down ministries that offer counseling to those who have unwanted same-sex attractions to find hope and freedom in Jesus Christ.

They have not only spewed much hatred against them on social media but has protested events as well (firststone.org). One group even threatened to protest two events that I have personally spoken at, yet mercifully God sent inclement weather to deter their efforts. Some attend pride events and offers “free Mom hugs” and become surrogate parents at gay weddings for those whose Christian parents refuse to attend.

You Must Make a Decision – Christ or the World?

So, we all must come to a decision. At some point or another, all of us will be faced with a family member who is demanding we accept their unbiblical lifestyle (whatever that may be) or risk losing the relationship with them. Ask yourself, are you willing to lose your son or daughter for Christ? I know this is not easy, but Christ said, “37) He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38) And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39) He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39, KJV).

In many cases this is not permanent. Many prodigals, like the prodigal son in the Gospel of Luke, will return home, even after abandoning their family. You must realize that you are not your child’s savior. There was a time when I wanted nothing to do with my family because they wouldn’t affirm my choices. But even after some family members (not my parents) affirmed me, I was still uncomfortable. I knew I was living in sin, and I knew that I was living a lie. It was me that was uncomfortable. It is loving to stand for truth, even at great personal cost:

“[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;” (1 Corinthians 13:6, NASB). It isn’t about being right as the activist claim is our motivation, it is about standing for Christ and displaying our faith to those who have compromised it or rejected it. Ultimately, we will all one day stand before Christ. He alone is our judge, not our loved ones.

The Fruit of Trusting God’s Word:

Today I had the privilege of leading a young man caught up in a homosexual lifestyle to the Lord. He cried out, admitting to me that no matter how hard he tried, he could not find peace in his homosexual relationship. They did nothing but abuse one another (a common trait in gay relationships that the media will not mention). What if I had held his hand and encouraged him to find a more loving partner rather than exhorting him to confess his sin, renounce it, and walk away in the hope and freedom of Jesus Christ? I took a chance on him being mad at me, but it was a chance of eternal significance. As a result, Heaven rejoiced as Christ gained another soul who is no longer bound for Hell.