April 26, 2024
I love people, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, etc. They are all precious souls for whom Christ died. If Jesus lived on this earth today I believe He would love them and care for them just like He would any other person on this earth. In fact, He apparently had more trouble with the religious establishment of His day than anyone else.
Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees, or the religious leaders, a “generation of vipers” in Matthew 23:33. However, he dealt with the adulterous woman in John 8 with compassion and did not condemn her.
I am confident He dealt with her the same way He did the adulterous woman He met at the well in Sychar of Samaria in John 4. He loved her enough to present the way of salvation to her, but then urged her to “go and sin no more.”
Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them, but He never condoned or excused the sinner who refused to confess and repent of his/her sins. I believe that is the model we are to follow today regarding our relationship to those trapped in atheism, secularism, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, alcoholism, or any other ideology, sin, or addiction that is contrary to God’s perfect plan for mankind. We must love them into the Kingdom of God, but at the same time we cannot condone or excuse their sins or tolerate those who make a mockery of our faith.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus the Apostle Paul admonishes us to “walk in love” (Eph. 5:2), but he also urges us to “put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). In fact, in verses 11-15 of chapter 5 of Ephesians Paul tells us to “stand” three different times so that we “may be able to withstand in the evil day."
Therefore, in the spirit of love I want to stand against the misguided folks who want to twist the sacred Nativity scene into a so-called “gaytivity” scene. The “gaytivity" consists of a manger holding a replica of baby Jesus and instead of Mary and Joseph there are two men dressed in pink, looking affectionately at the child in the manger.
CAMERON ESPOSITO/TwitterSome have concluded that since Jesus had two fathers – an earthly father and a heavenly father – that the “gaytivity” is correct and should be acceptable that two men are portrayed over the manger in the reconstructed, or perhaps more accurately, the deconstructed “gaytivity” scene.
Cameron Esposito responded on Twitter, “Our neighbors’ two Josephs nativity is up and I’m beaming.”
Another Twitter account posted a photo of their own “gaytivity” featuring two Marys.
Last year one website offered gay nativity Christmas decorations for sale until they were removed after a flurry of protests.
Eleanor Lee responded in her Twitter comment: “God will not be mocked. These guys can live the life they choose, but to ridicule the faith of so many people is beyond disgusting.”
“Gaytivity” scenes not only mischaracterize Christmas, but also violate the truth of God’s Word. This alteration of the typical crèche reminds me of the words of Peter who indicated that those who do not understand the Scripture distort and twist God’s Word to their own destruction (II Peter 3:16).
Many people would like to alter the Scriptures to fit their lifestyle, but we are not to adapt the Bible to fit our lifestyles. We are to adapt our lifestyles to fit the Bible.
I am sure there are people who read the Bible in hopes they will find some prooftext to match their own ideas and support their own theories. In fact, that is why we have so many aberrant lifestyles, so many strange doctrines, and so many peripheral cults and false religions.
But there is no salvation in constructing your own religion, misconstruing the Bible, or customizing Christ to suit your lifestyle. It is good to focus on the love of God; and indeed, His love is amazing. But to focus on God’s love and ignore all the passages about His justice and punishment of sin is to have a very unbalanced and errant view of God and His Word.
It was bad enough that the White House was splashed in rainbow-colored lights at 7:45 PM EDT on June 26, 2015 after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage across the country. But with all due respect to those responsible, to change the Nativity scene into a “gaytivity” display is blasphemous.
