The movement to normalize homosexuality is not just asking people to affirm this lifestyle, it’s demanding it. Your objections mean very little to homosexual advocates who believe their sexual preference should be more than tolerated-it should be celebrated. But this demand goes one step farther in seeking approval from Christians and those with sincerely held religious convictions against homosexuality.
People of faith are a primary target for homosexual advocates because they know that only Bible believing Christians with deeply held religious convictions stand between them and total societal acceptance. It’s no surprise then, that the campaign to gain approval from Christians is becoming increasingly active.
The latest example of this effort comes from the newly launched “Not All Like That” Campaign. This campaign seeks to give Christians supporting the homosexual lifestyle an outlet for sharing their view. The “Not All Like That” (NATL) campaign is the collaborative effort of homosexual advocates and a California pastor; all modeled after Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” Campaign.
Savage is an extreme liberal, homosexual, and despiser of anything conservative, traditional, or Christian. He has regularly been filmed in speeches bashing Christians, the Bible, and anyone opposing homosexuality. With this kind of reputation it is hard to imagine a pastor wanting to model a campaign after Savage’s, yet John Shore was a party in founding the NALT campaign.
Shore recently shared what led him to help start the NATL campaign. He said it was an experience at his church when he and his wife wanted to join the leadership of the church and a current church leader asked them to sign a document agreeing that no one in a same sex relationship should have a position of authority at the church. Shore recalls:
“I thought the lady was joking…The idea that becoming a Christian meant that I was supposed to suddenly have an understanding that my LGBT friends were suddenly immoral was repugnant to me. It wasn’t reasonable to me that it would be integral to Christian theology.” His wife, Catherine, put it even more strongly: “If this is an inextricable part of the Christian experience, I’m out…Somebody’s misread something.”
There’s a lot that needs correcting here. First, I would say that how we view everything, our world, our friends, should always be through the lens of transcendent truth from the Bible. It’s not a matter of seeing our friends as immoral; it’s a matter of seeing them as lost, living in sin, and in need of a Savior. This is precisely how Jesus viewed us and we are to imitate such a view as part of a Gospel-centric worldview. It’s not loving;, and shows no mercy, grace, or compassion to elevate our own feelings for people above the truth of God’s Word.
Second, whether something seems unreasonable to us or not is irrelevant. Being a Christian, living by the principles of Scripture has absolutely nothing to do with how we feel, whether we agree, or if we can reconcile it all logically. Being a Christian means surrendering our will, our desires, and our lives to the supremacy and sovereignty of God. At times this means simply accepting the fact that we don’t understand it all.
But an important point needs to be made here. The experience of Pastor Shore and his wife is not unique and is being exploited. Homosexual advocates are preying on the emotional narrative of “regular, everyday homosexual people” in order to gain legal ground. Many people, not just Christians are being duped into supporting homosexuality and marriage redefinition in an effort to support their LGBT friends. It’s a deceptive tactic that is working.
The proof that this tactic is working is when Christians say they have studied the Bible and concluded that it doesn’t speak against homosexuality. As a pastor and student of God’s Word for nearly 20 years I cannot fathom such a conclusion. However, Shore’s words further prove this trend, “It actually is more Biblical if you make affirmation of LGBT people part of your understanding of the word of God,” he said.
I’m unclear as to how it is “more biblical” to affirm that which the Bible clearly says is sinful. Any pastor, or student of God’s Word with an understanding of biblical history, Jewish customs and culture, and biblical principles and commands will walk away firmly convicted that the neither the Bible nor God supports or endorses homosexuality in any way. A proper understanding of what the Bible says marriage is shows the picture of complementarity intended to picture the relationship between Christ and His church. This picture is only visible in the man-woman relationship.
I’m certainly not alone in this view. The majority of pastors, priests’, scholars and even rabbi’s agree with this conclusion based on Scripture. The UK’s newest Chief Rabbi reiterated this belief, saying “We have a clear Biblical definition of marriage which is the union of one man and one woman and through that we value traditional family life.”
The fact that a majority of people, especially religious people view homosexuality as sin and marriage as between one man and one woman will not stop the NALT campaign from trying to change minds. Not merely change minds though, the goal is to, as one homosexual advocate recently put it, “rehabilitate.” This is a clear indicator of the true intentions of the homosexual movement. They do not want to simply encourage tolerance; they want to demand rehabilitation of anyone that disagrees with their lifestyle for any reason.
No, we’re “not all like that” Pastor Shore. Most of us still allow the Bible to shape our worldview and then live accordingly; rather than pre-determining what we want the Bible to say then twisting it. And I actually think it’s more Biblical to make this practice central to my understanding of the Word of God.
This article first appeared at the Engagefamilyminute.com blog. You can see the original article and comments HERE.
