"Stop Lying to People!!!"

 Listening to many around me, including many politicians and the news media, I often feel like screaming, "Stop LYING to people!"  They can't hear me, of course, and even if they did they would ignore my pleas because in their current spiritual state they cannot "see" the truth or know the truth.  They are spiritually blind and unable to discern what is false from what is true.

What is worse is when the lies come from those who claim to be Christians, and even from those who claim to be pastors and teachers ... and professors and others.  A local university was on the news because some students on campus dared to state that LGBTQ is sin and to invite someone to enter into dialogue with them and try to convince them that they are wrong.  Of course the news media fully embraced the story and interviewed those who rallied to support "the LGBTQ community."  The president of the school quickly declared that while sexual intimacy is for a man and woman in marriage, he wants to make sure all of his students know they are loved.

It always comes down to this:  Love.  "We must love everyone because God loves everyone."  But what does "loving" someone mean?  Do you show someone you love them by lying to them?  Do you avoid telling them the truth because it will make them feel bad?  Is that really love? And what if the truth could actually set someone free from the deception in which they are living ... a deception that could have horrible consequences??

When it comes to LGBTQ being sin, the truth is that it is sin, that all sexual immorality of any kind is sin.  There are many heterosexual sins, including lust, pornography, abuse of various kinds, adultery and more.  The sin of those who "identify" as LGBTQ is not greater than any other kind of sin ... but it is sin.  To say otherwise is a lie and it leaves people to live IN their sin, rather than to turn from it.  Every person has temptations and all too often we act on them.  That's why God calls all people to repent, to turn from sin to righteousness.  And He tells us what righteousness in His sight looks like throughout His Word.

Following His resurrection Jesus sent His disciples out into the world to preach "repentance and forgiveness of sins" to all nations (Luke 24:47).  Earlier in Luke's Gospel he records Jesus saying, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5).  To "repent" is to turn around.  It requires acknowledging your sin, seeking God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and desiring to live in obedience to God's commands.  God says a LOT about sexual immorality of all kinds in His Word because He knows it is one of the biggest temptations for many.  What God created to be beautiful and good as an expression of love between a man and a woman has been twisted and perverted because of the sinful nature within each one of us.

Love demands that we call people to repent and point them to the grace of God in Jesus Christ that offers forgiveness to the "worst sinner" ... which is ME!  Paul wrote in I Timothy 1:15-16:  "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life."

There is good news here!  No one is beyond God's grace ... if and when they are convicted by the Holy Spirit of their sin and by the power of God they repent and believe.  God is more than able to save "the vilest offender who truly believes!" 

We in the Church must be willing to face the ridicule of those who accuse us of being unloving and hateful in order to expose the lies of the enemy and proclaim the truth that is able to set people free.  We will be persecuted, as the students were who stated "an inconvenient truth" on campus.  But we must speak, for we have been sent into the world to be light in the darkness.  Jesus says to us, "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16).

There is no greater "good work" than to love God because He first loved you, to stand upon His Word ... and to declare the truth concerning sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8), pointing people to the one source of forgiveness and life:  Jesus Christ!!