A complex combination of attraction and behavior, where by a person is attracted to the same sex, and acts out sexually towards a member of the same sex.
Brief Explanation:
Homosexuality is a complex and controversial issue in modern culture. Debate has roared as to how the church should view and act towards a person with same sex attraction and action. Some of the debate deals with the origin or cause of homosexuality (nature; I was born that way vs. nurture, I became this way or chose to be this way). As of this writing, there is no definitive evidence that a person is born with a same sex attraction; however, it would also be naive to believe that a young person woke up one day and declared, “I want to be gay!!!”
Our best view of this psychological and spiritual problem is that some (latest statistics seem to confirm 2-3% of the population are homosexual, not 10% as gay activists purport) men and women (but mainly men) are born with a predisposition towards effeminate behavior, and there are developmental, family and social dynamics that add to the potential of a person becoming homosexual.
Biblically, homosexual behavior is condemned, as is effeminate behavior. To be tempted or to have an orientation towards the same sex is not the same as sin. God’s intention, from the beginning, has been one woman, one man, one lifetime; Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.
So, what if someone is in homosexual sin, and wants to change…is change possible? Well, the short answer is yes…the long answer is it takes much time, hard work, and one must have a realistic goal, which is first celibacy and singleness, contentment with the Lord, and perhaps as healing occurs, a heterosexual relationship. For someone struggling with homosexuality, but who has not acted out, truth in love is needed. Men and women struggling with homosexuality need support, accountability, healing, and love…like every person in the body of Christ. For more on this topic, see Joe Dallas’ dynamic book Desires in Conflict.
The Word of God:
Genesis 1:26,27
Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness…” and God made man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Leviticus 18:22
“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
Romans 1:26-27
“For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for heir, women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire towards one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
1 Corinthians 6:9, 11
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the mane of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.”
