Isn’t
God cruel to gay people? He makes them gay then tells them they
either have to be celibate or marry someone they are not attracted
to.
I
am convinced that God
is not cruel. Christians
can be sometimes, but they will have to answer to God for that.
I
am convinced that God
did not make me gay (that
will have to be material for another post),
but “disorders” happen because we are fallen creatures living in
a fallen world. That is why there is sin, disease, natural disasters
and all kinds of suffering in the world. These are direct
consequences of man’s sin, God did not design stuff this way.
God
has given us various commandments, including those to abstain from
various kinds of sin, like
homosexual sex, for
instance.
I, however, would like to indulge in gay sex, because it feels right
and good and loving, and so on.
So
is God unfair to me, or cruel, or just wanting to spoil my fun?
I
think it comes back to how I see God, based on what he has revealed
in his word.
The
Bible tells me that God is good (Mark 10:18), God is love (I.John
4:8) and that his law is perfect (Romans 7:12). I can conclude from
this that he would not command me to do anything or abstain from
anything which would cause me hurt or harm, but he always has
something better for
me than
the thing that is forbidden.
It
also comes back to what it means to be a Christian. Almost 40 years
ago I decided that I wanted to take Jesus seriously. I have tried to
understand what that means
and how it works. If I believe in Jesus I have eternal life (I.John
5:13). I have been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). I
have also been redeemed, ransomed (Mark 10:45). So what does this
mean?
The
“faith” that I am saved by in the original NT Greek language is
πἱστις
– pistis. This involves believing certain facts, but it also means
trust in a person, as well as faithfulness to that person. If I trust
in Jesus, then I believe the things I have listed above, that he is
good, loving, positively inclined towards me and wants the best for
me. I believe that if he tells me not to do something then there is a
very good reason for that, and I should trust that he knows what he
is talking about because he is the creator, and I may well not know
better than he does, because I am only a creature.
Redemption
is a term which refers to the slave markets of the ancient world. I
was a slave to sin, but God paid the price, the blood of Jesus, to
buy me out of there. But that means I am now his slave, because he
bought me. That means he is the boss and not me. He has every right
to tell me what to do and expect me to do it, and he does not have to
offer any
explanations or reasons for his decisions. “You
are not your own, you were bought with a price”, says the Apostle
Paul (I.Cor.
6:19-20),
interestingly
enough, in the same chapter which condemns homosexual acts (v. 9).
Many
people nowadays seem to want to be Christians, and have eternal life,
but on their own terms and not God’s. I
am sure it is no coincidence that Jesus said, “Why do you call me
‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46).
I
choose
to believe that God knows best, he knows what he is talking about and
there are reasons, good, loving reasons, for why he says what he
does. I trust him, even if I do not understand everything. And that
gives me peace.
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése