June is LGBTQ Pride Month. As such, it evokes demonstrations on both sides of the controversy created by these lifestyles. Those in favor of accepting such relationships—whether in society, the faith community, or both—make their opinions conspicuous through public marches, online pronouncements, and more. By the same token, those against these relationships are equally outspoken in the same venues.
It’s easy for nuance to get lost in discussions like these. One can, for example, support equal protection under the laws of a free country for those engaging in such conduct, while at the same time embracing the negative position of Holy Scripture regarding same-gender sexual intimacy, together with the disallowance of such behavior for those choosing to be part of a Bible-believing faith community. The principle of church-state separation is under increasing assault from many conservative Christians, whose allies on the campaign trail sound as much like preachers these days as political candidates. Many in conservative Christian circles find it increasingly difficult to accept that those who heartily endorse the Biblical prohibition against sexual activity of any kind outside of heterosexual monogamy, can endorse with equal enthusiasm the Biblical principle—from the lips of Christ Himself, no less—that His kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36), and that matters of conscience (of which intimate relationships are surely one such matter) do not rightfully belong within the purview of secular government.
Clear Beyond Misunderstanding
First of all, let’s be clear once again as to what the Bible teaches regarding same-gender sexual relationships. It is clear beyond misunderstanding, in both Old and New Testaments:
Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination (Lev. 18:22).
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death: their blood shall be upon them (Lev. 20:13).
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet (Rom. 1:26-27).
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, not adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Not thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God (I Cor. 6:9-10).
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine (I Tim. 1:9-10).
The New Testament is equally clear that one of the sins for which Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities of the Jordan plain, experienced destruction by fire from heaven (Gen. 19:24-25), was sexual perversion:
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 7).
Ellen White warns that these sins will exist in the last days, not only among unbelievers and nominal Christians, but even among Seventh-day Adventists:
The sins that destroyed the antediluvians and the cities of the plain exist today—not merely in heathen lands, not only among popular professors of Christianity, but with some who profess to be looking for the coming of the Son of man. If God should present these sins before you as they appear in His sight, you would be filled with shame and terror [##1|Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 218.##].
Nuance Matters
It is imperative that Christians despise these sins, and all other sins as well. But we need to be careful not only to distinguish our hatred for these indulgences from our love for those who indulge them; we must also acknowledge that punishment for such practices is not the responsibility of a non-theocratic state. Within the Bible-believing faith community such practices cannot be tolerated, and those in the church who choose such courses or urge their acceptance within the church should be subject to church discipline. But those contemporary Christians who seek to impose these Biblical teachings on a pluralistic public through the power of the state are as much in violation of Holy Scripture as those who declare same-gender sexual relations to be morally acceptable for the Christian. The following Ellen White statement is most insightful on this point:
But today in the religious world there are multitudes who, as they believe, are working for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ as an earthly and temporal dominion. They desire to make our Lord the ruler of the kingdoms of this world, the ruler in its courts and camps, its legislative halls, its palaces and market places. They expect Him to rule through legal enactments, enforced by human authority. Since Christ is not now here in person, they themselves will undertake to act in His stead, to execute the laws of His kingdom. The establishment of such a kingdom was what the Jews desired in the days of Christ. They would have received Jesus, had He been willing to establish a temporal dominion, to enforce what they regarded as the laws of God, and to make them the expositors of His will and the agents of His authority. But He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36. He would not accept the earthly throne [##2|——The Desire of Ages, p. 509.##].
In other words, nuance matters. Sin is to be condemned without qualification, as it is incompatible with the life God seeks from those who would inherit His eternal kingdom. But matters of consensual choice belong strictly within the spiritual realm, where only conversion and divine grace are summoned to subdue them. The Christian must be equally emphatic in upholding the right of choice relative to consensual sin as in condemning the moral and spiritual wrongness of the sin in question.
The Final Crisis: Sodom or Capernaum?
It is easy for some to allow current events and contemporary issues to drive their understanding of Bible prophecy. But this is very dangerous. A few years ago some Adventists were questioning our church’s historic belief regarding the identity of the Antichrist power in Daniel and Revelation, thinking that perhaps—in light of the rise of Islamic terrorism—this power might best be understood as international Islam rather than the papacy. In previous decades, during the Cold War, many in the larger evangelical world abandoned the classic Protestant interpretation of the end-time Antichrist as the papacy, thinking that perhaps it was communism and similar forces instead.
Recently I have even heard some fellow Adventists use the label “Antichrist” to apply to the LGBT movement. But while it is imperative that we condemn evil in all its forms, including the LGBT lifestyle, the ultimate test that will face God’s people and the whole of humanity will not be sexual perversion or the legalization thereof, but rather, a professedly Christian power that will purport to bring the world back to God through civil enactments. Whatever society’s current challenges may be, they cannot supersede the “sure word of prophecy” (II Peter 1:19).
A most sobering indictment from the lips of our Lord is found in Matthew chapter 11, where a cluster of Galilean towns that had been blessed with Jesus’ ministry are condemned for not heeding His call to repentance. The last of these cities to be mentioned is Capernaum:
And thou, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee (verses 23-24).
All the evidence from the Biblical record indicates that the great sin of Capernaum and its sister cities in Galilee, and of God’s professed people in general at that time, was self-righteousness. Jesus is saying in the above verses that the blatant sexual immorality practiced in Sodom and the other cities of the plain will be far less egregious in God’s scales of judgment than the hypocrisy of those presuming to bear their Lord’s name despite corrupt hearts and sin-ridden lives.
If this was true in Jesus’ time, is it not equally true today?
As we view the marches and pronouncements of those defending sexual practices forbidden in God’s Word, it is understandable that we feel righteous indignation. But let us not be dissuaded into thinking such sins represent the final test to be brought before the world in the consummate crisis of the ages. Nor can we permit our rage at such perversions to be hijacked by zeal for coercive political measures which not only fail to convert the sinner’s heart, but which invariably pave the way for the spiritual fornication the Bible’s last book warns about (Rev. 14:8; 17:2). In Ellen White’s words:
Let the principle once be established in the United States that the church may employ or control the power of the state, that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured [##3|——The Great Controversy, p. 581.##].
Years ago the late Robert Bork, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was defeated by the U.S. Senate in 1987, wrote a book titled, Slouching Towards Gomorrah, which lamented the moral decline of modern America and sought to ascribe blame to political ideologies with which the author disagreed [##4|Robert H. Bork, Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996).##]. Reading the words of our Lord in the above passage from Matthew, together with the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, it seems a better title for a book on the ultimate peril facing America might be: Slouching Toward Capernaum.
REFERENCES
1. Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 218.
2. ----The Desire of Ages, p. 509.
3. ----The Great Controversy, p. 581.
4. Robert H. Bork, Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996).
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan