Don Wildmon

AFA/AFR founder

 June 2001 – The Apostle Paul would not be invited to serve many churches in our society for the simple reason he was not politically correct. He preached a simple message given to him by the Lord. But his message is as relevant today as it was when he preached it. Truth doesn’t change.

There is a raging debate in our society concerning homosexuality. Paul had some words on the subject. It would serve us well to heed them.

“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (I Cor. 6:9-10)

In light of what Paul had to say on the subject, here and elsewhere, it is surprising that many within the Church have ignored his words and are pushing an agenda which includes not only the moral acceptance of the act of homosexuality, but also the approval of homosexual marriage. They want little children to be taught that the homosexual lifestyle is morally acceptable, and that there is no difference between homosexual unions and heterosexual marriages. Their intentions may be good, but the results will be catastrophic. Some bishops in our denominations openly support such actions, and they do so unhindered and without criticism from fellow leaders and without fear of being held accountable for their apostasy.

William Barclay, in his commentary, reminds us of how widespread the practice of homosexuality was in ancient Greece and Rome:

This was the sin which had swept like a cancer through Greek life and which, from Greece, invaded Rome. We can scarcely realize how riddled the ancient world was with it. Even so great a man as Socrates practiced it; Plato’s dialogue “The Symposium” is always said to be one of the greatest works on love in the world, but its subject is not natural but unnatural love. Fourteen out of the first 15 Roman Emperors practiced unnatural vice. At this very time Nero was emperor. He had taken a boy called Sporus and had had him castrated. He had then married him with a full marriage ceremony and took him home in procession to his palace and lived with him as wife. . .

In this particular vice in the time of the Early Church the world was lost to shame; and there can be little doubt that that was one of the main causes of its degeneracy and the final collapse of its civilization.

Paul continued in his teachings to offer something which today’s supporters of the homosexual lifestyle refuse to do. “And that is what some of you were,” Paul wrote. Notice the past tense. The Christians he was addressing had indeed been involved in all of the sins he mentioned, including homosexuality. But now they were different. Why? Paul answers: “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.”

That is still the eternal life-changing message of the Good News. It is one which forces us to take sides. His is a message that we must continue to proclaim. And those in the church, leaders and laity, must decide which side they will be on. Any compromise will cause the little ones to suffer. We are all aware of what Christ said would happen to those who cause one of the little ones to go astray.