A Callout of Modern Christianity’s View of the LGBTQ+ Community
By: Lidiaann Edwards
Tags: Bible, LGBTQ, Homophobia, Christianity, Christian Living

A Callout of Modern Christianity’s View of the LGBTQ+ Community

So, I have been taking time to seek God's face and I recently found this verse that really impacted me a while ago. It's Romans 2:1.

For those who may be contesting the wording because of translation, below are comparisons. As you can see, the translators all agree on the main concept.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. - NIV

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. - NKJV

You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. - NLT

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. - ESV

I think the reason it keeps coming back and occupying my thoughts is because it directly follows the famous Romans 1 passage that Christians have used to justify their hatred of the LGBTQ+ community.

For those who aren’t familiar with this passage, I will put it below.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. Romans 1:21-32 NLT

And I kind of love the juxtaposition of these groups of verses. One saying which sins that people commit that will not allow them to enter heaven and then the very next verse saying "Don’t you dare use this information against them though. Even if you haven’t committed these sins yourself, you own sins are just as bad and will keep you out too." And that is where Christians miss the heart of the matter. Is it a sin? By Biblical standards, maybe (lot of debate that I’m still educating myself on). Should we be judging and condemning them for it? By God’s own words, through Paul, absolutely not! And it makes sense too. I’m not the judge of my neighbor, God is. Only He has the power to pass judgment on who will come into His kingdom, and ultimately, based off this verse, no one would. Therefore, it’s only God’s grace that allows us entry and it is only God’s place to pass judgment on who goes to hell and who goes to heaven.

Besides, if you really want to debate about where an LGBTQ+ person will end up in the afterlife, good luck. Just look into the current theological questions surrounding King David and his sexuality. A man described as a man after God’s own heart may have been gay or bisexual. So, answer me if you dare, did King David go to hell for loving Jonathan?