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Fox News contributor Guy Benson has gone viral with his new video in which he talks about being a homosexual Christian conservative.
He says people are far too often sorted by their gender, skin color, sexual orientation or other characteristics that have nothing to do with ideas or values.
Rev. Charles Spurgeon once said, "Discernment is not knowing right from wrong, but knowing right from almost right."
Benson may be right politically, but he's dead wrong biblically.
He's right about being "sorted"-- if by "sorted" he means discriminated against-- for "skin color, gender or other characteristics that have nothing to do with ideas or values."
He says, "My orientation is only one part of the story. It's not the totality of who I am."
However, homosexuality has everything to do with values and "who they are."
Homosexual activists have worked incrementally and tirelessly in recent years to convince an uninformed public that their sexual behavior "is" who they are, and is equivalent to the color of one's skin---specifically black skin---thus demanding the same civil rights and benefits---while also demanding the so-called "redefinition of marriage."
This is wrong thinking.
Ethnicity and sexual behavior are not equivalent. Never have been. Sexual behavior is a choice--ethnicity is not.
Benson says, "I just see so many people who are not just gay, but are black and conservative or Hispanic and conservative, women, who get so much heat because they don't shoehorn their beliefs into this little, tiny box that the identity politics left insists that they ought to inhabit. I think that's wrong and I wanted to speak out on that."
He's right that blacks, Hispanics and others are beginning to see the value of conservatism and are leaving the far left progressive Democratic Party.
But sexual behavior is only in his "tiny box" in his mind because his thinking is wrong.
Benson says, "I'm a Christian, a patriotic American and a free-market, shrink-the-government conservative who happens to be gay. That's how I choose to rank my priorities. You know what that's called? It's called progress."
Progress toward what? And away from what?
He says, "Let's debate issues and stop trying to punish 'wrong thinking'."
Wrong thinking.
First, there is a theological issue with being a "Christian and gay" as it relates to Calvinism and Wesleyan/Arminian interpretations of Scripture.
Rather than write a volume, I'll try to reduce it to a few "Straight Talk" sentences.
Those Christians who theologically hold Calvinist views, believe the Bible teaches that once you are saved, you are always saved. Eternal security. Therefore if after becoming a Christian you practice homosexual behavior, you are still a Christian, but living out of fellowship. Thus you can consider yourself a "gay Christian."
Those Christians who theologically hold Arminian/ Wesleyan views believe the Bible teaches that once saved, a person will always be saved unless by defiant, continual, purposeful, rebellion he or she refuses God's grace and chooses apostasy. Though relatively rare for a truly saved person, apostasy is possible.
This is a link to a brief comparison of the difference in basic interpretations between "TULIP" Calvinism and the Wesleyan positions.
This is a link to some of the dangers of extremism on both positions.
However, there is no question as to what the Bible teaches on the practice of homosexuality.
In recent years the so-called religious Left leaders have taken to revising what the Bible actually says about homosexuality---suggesting the sin of Sodom was actually lack of hospitality, not homosexuality, etc.
Former evangelical pastor Rob Bell, Sojourner founder Jim Wallis, Tony Compolo, and others have "evolved" on the subject and have convinced themselves and others that homosexual behavior is not condemned in the Bible, and same-sex marriage is now okay.
Tragically, these people have significant influence and are saying what many want to hear from America's pulpits.
However, the Bible clearly addresses the subject and leaves no question
Billy Graham has spoken to the issue over the years. Here is how he answers the question, "Does the Bible approve of some homosexual relations?"
The Bible provides God’s blueprint for marriage and for His good gift of sex in Genesis 2:24. The gift is only to be enjoyed within a marriage between a man and a woman.
There are no exceptions suggested, such as homosexual partnerships. From Genesis on, the Bible praises the marriage of a man and a woman, but it speaks only negatively of homosexual behavior whenever it is mentioned.
The Old Testament states, “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable” (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13). The New Testament agrees, listing “homosexual offenders” among a list of people who “will not inherit the kingdom of God” unless they are cleansed through Christ (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Other passages are Genesis, chapter 19; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Timothy 1:8-11; and Jude, verse 7. However, it is important to note that the Bible speaks only of homosexual behavior (which would include lust—choosing to fantasize about behavior), not unchosen feelings. God will not judge a Christian guilty for his or her involuntary feelings.
Sometimes it is said that the Bible does not record any words of Jesus about homosexuality, and therefore it must be acceptable to God. However, the Bible does not record sayings of Jesus about a number of other specific sins either. When people asked Jesus about marriage, He told them to remember what Genesis said about God’s plan for marriage (Matthew 19:1-12). So, in this sense, Jesus did have something to say about homosexual partnerships. God only blessed sex within the committed marriage relationship of a man and a woman.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Faithful. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.