Introduction – Lauren Daigle
Back in October of 2018, popular
Christian song artist, Lauren Daigle, made a celebrity appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Afterward, she
was confronted in a radio program by a question that we will all face sooner or
later – “Do you feel that homosexuality is a sin?”
Regardless of what your opinion is
regarding how she handled the interview, the reason I have written this blog is
because I believe that we as the Church have not prepared ourselves well enough
to appropriately respond to this question. As far as I am aware, Daigle never said
that she believes homosexuality was okay. On the contrary, her response was, “I
don’t know.” And this is the Church’s
downfall – that we don’t know our Bibles….
…And when we don’t know our
Bibles, we are ill-prepared to give a reason for the hope that lies within us
(1 Pet. 3:15). Thus, when we are ill-equipped to answer the world’s questions,
we miss the opportunities that present themselves (Jer. 46:17) and are unable
to truly make the most of our time (Eph. 5:16).
How Should We Respond?
As humans, we tend to fall into
one of two extremes. Either we place all of our focus on “loving” the individual
and thus fail to tell them the truth, or we focus all of our attention on what
is true without actually caring about them as a person. Neither of these are
examples of true love.
Furthermore, we must not only
speak the truth in love but, we must be wise regarding both when and how we share it (Matt. 10:16; Eph. 5:15). There are two main reasons
for this: First, we will all give an account of ourselves to God (Rom. 14:12) and,
second, like Lauren Daigle [though likely not to the same degree], we will all
give an account to those around us.
Trap Question: “Do you feel
that homosexuality is a sin?”
Answer: God’s Word says that all sexual activity is to only occur
within the confines of a marriage between one biologically born man and one biologically
born woman. Thus, anything outside of those parameters, is sin which would
include: premarital sex, affairs, pornography, homosexuality, bestiality and so
on. If it’s a sexual activity outside of the marriage union between one
biologically born man and one biologically born woman, then God considers it a
sin.
Why a Trap?
This is known as a “Trap Question”
because it is the same tactic the Pharisees tried to use on Jesus over and over
again in the Gospel accounts. We are to be wise because there are many people
in our lives who are not really interested in knowing the Truth, all they want
to do is get us as Christians to say something they deem offensive and label us
as bigots and hate-mongers. Therefore, as best as you can, try to avoid chasing
after meaningless rabbits [this happens to be one of my biggest areas of weakness].
They will likely come back at you
a few times with, “…but what do you
think…” or “…how do you feel about
it?” Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you and I think about the topic. None of
us are purely objective when it comes to hot-button issues such as this one.
God’s Word, and His Word alone, is Truth. That is why the answer begins by saying,
“God’s Word says…”, because it answers their question and can potentially free
you from their personal vendetta. After all, you’re just repeating what God has
already instructed so, if they don’t like the answer, they can take it up with
Him.
Conclusion
As the world continues to become
more hostile to the Gospel we can expect to receive this question and others
like it more often. Whether on Social Media or face-to-face interactions, the
questions are coming. The time to prepare answers to the hard questions of life
is not as they are being asked. While God certainly does give us grace in the
moment, it’s not necessarily the wisest course of action to simply coast by.
Allow Him to continue to renew your mind daily as you study His Word so that
you can be best equipped for the future.
