This a concern. It seems to indicate a common but incorrect teaching that 'all sins are equal' as he equates gay marriage with any other sin. Unfortunately, this is not particularly new with the current younger generation. The Scripture does not teach that all sins are equal. Some are worse, and homosexuality is one of those that are worse than many others.
How can that be? Well, first of all homosexuality is not alone; murder, adultery, and fornication would all fall in a similar category, and all except murder seem to be increasingly acceptable in both the church and in society in general. The Bible does not teach that all acts of sin are equal; it does teach that all humans are equally in need of forgiveness. These are 2 very different things. We are born sinful. That state of sinfulness requires God's intervention and we all equally need that. That sinfulness, however, shows itself in varying acts of sin at varying levels of severity. Some people have more self-control than others in controlling how their sinful nature plays out, resulting in less severe acts of sin. No one in their right mind would say that petty larceny is equal to murder.
So the thing that is equal in all of us is our sin nature. Specific acts of sin have a large range of impacts, however, some more serious than others, especially in their impacts here and now. To pretend that all acts of sin are equal is nonsense. Sins like homosexuality, adultery, fornication, murder are much more serious than petty larceny, for instance. However, among these serious sins, only homosexuality is insisting that society view it as something good, something equivalent to marriage. It is not just claiming to be no worse than other sins, it is claiming to be a virtue. To ignore this in the name of 'acceptance' and being 'seeker sensitive' is nonsense. We cannot say nothing while our culture tries to turn virtue on its head.
1 comment:
I hear a lot of back and forth about this subject. It is certainly true that there are a variety of consequences for our sins. And, some of those sins seem to have stronger grips on peoples' lives than other sins. Indeed, we almost seem to know intuitively that some sins are 'worse' than others. However, the fact that many people get lost in coming up with a scale for sin worries me because it puts the focus on ourselves and our own sin rather than Christ's forgiveness and ability to conquer those sins. From conversations I've had with others, it seems that the 'worse' a sin, the more that person doubts Christ's ability to forgive him/her. I can understand that reasoning, and I think that in response, we(the Church) should cultivate an atmosphere that focuses on God's complete forgiveness. We can display that forgiveness of even the 'worst' kinds of sin by testimonies,etc. instead of always preaching against the sin without examples of deliverance from those same sins. If we focus ONLY on a sin and never share examples of changed, freed lives, is your typical churchgoer really going to believe that the power of Christ conquers ALL sin? There is so much power in hearing about changed lives!
All that to say, I agree with you. I just wanted to share a few other thoughts related to that subject.
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