These past months have brought the debate about whether churches should accept homosexuals as ministers, back into the spotlight. The problem with a debate like this is that the issue you really should be debating has been lost in the fog of many issues that are irrelevant to the point. So, we find ourselves arguing about these irrelevant issues and not the true issue at hand. One argument is that many priest or ministers are gay and no one knows they are. So, people argue that they would rather allow openly gay ministers than to have a gay minister and not know it. Another argument is the idea that the person or persons seeking to be accepted as a gay minister is a very kind and compassionate person. People say they are loving and show the kind of attributes that one would look for in a minister of the Gospel. While these arguments may seem to be good arguments on the surface, they should not be a part of the debate at all! In fact the very base of arguing over whether to accept homosexuals as ministers is not a logical debate! The debate should not be whether to ordain gays as ministers or not, the real question is whether homosexuality is a sinful lifestyle or not.

We really should take the time to think before we speak, and be careful which arguments we allow ourselves to be drawn into! Allow me to use myself as an example. I've been in the ministry since the age of fifteen. I, at the time of this writing, have been married for almost six years. Now, let me be blunt and to the point! My physical relationship with my wife is not an issue in my ministry. Why? because God made, not just for Adam, but from Adam, an helpmate and that was Eve. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Gen. 2:24) One man for one woman, that was the plan of God! So, my physical relationship with my wife is not an issue. However, if before I was married I had been sexually active, that would have been an issue! Not just because I'm a minister, but because I'm supposed to be a believer in the Word of God, which says that sex outside of marriage is not proper. If I was to have a sexual relationship with another woman now that I am married, that would also be an issue! Once again, not just because I'm a minister, but because the Word says "Thou shalt not commit adultery!" (Ex 20:14) I say all this because I want to make a simple point. Your sex life is not a public affair, but if you are living a life of sin then you need to deal with that sin. If being homosexual is not sinful, then it is no ones business whether you are gay or not, even if your are a minister! If homosexuality is not sinful and we still debate about whether to except gays as ministers, then we truly are dealing with the dark sin of discrimination, and that should not exist in a church that was told to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15) However, if homosexuality is a sin, then the debate is not whether to allow that kind of person to be in the ministry, it is how can we help this person turn from the path they have chosen and resist the temptation to be involved in this activity. As true believers we are sent as Jesus was sent, and that is not to condemn the world, but that the world through the shed blood of Christ might be saved! (John 3:17) The Bible tells us that even if we have trouble with our brethren, we should go and deal with that first and then come back to the alter and minister. (Matt. 5:22-24) That being true, it only stands to reason that if we have sin in our lives, we should go and deal with it before stepping into a place of ministry! If someone is trying to follow God but struggles with the temptations of homosexuality, they need to focus on overcoming that sin before they try to teach others. This is true of any believer who is struggling with some form of sin, sexual or not!

Talking about turning from homosexuality brings us to another item that becomes part of the debate! Many people get caught up on the debate of whether you are born homosexual or not, but this also is not a relevant debate. We are all born with a certain personality. I call it a personality for lack of a better term. The personality we end up with as adults is shaped by many experiences, and even in adulthood we can continue to change. However, what way we may have been born or what experiences may have shaped us along the way are not an excuse to live one way or another. When Jesus walked this earth He did not tell us to be whatever life had made us! No, He told us that we needed to become as little children and to learn of Him. (Matt 18:1-4) Jesus went a step further when He talked to Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus that to be saved he must be born again! (John 3:1-10) Through the entire Word of God, we are instructed to keep the desires of our flesh under control. (Rom 8:1-15) We are instructed to keep our minds clean. (2Cor 10:3-6) It is clear that even the law God gave, through Moses, to the Jews was only a starting point in the growth process of being who God wants us to be! (Matt 19:7-9) Some of us may be tempted by sexual thoughts and desires that are not part of the perfect plan of God, but whether we believe we are born with those desires is not relevant! If we are going to follow God, it is going to be because we desire to. Because we have made a choice to be born again through the power of the shed blood of Jesus. If we desire to follow God, we must hear what He tells us, and respond to His leading just as a child trusts it's parents. (John 15:9-10, Heb 11:5-13) The Bible is not the teaching of whatever I am I will be. It is a teaching of new life. Whatever God wants me to be, that is what I will strive to become, because "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil 4:13) In some of these things we will be glad, but in some of these things we will always struggle with the temptation, to have what this physical life offers. (I Cor 10:12-13) Romans Chapter 1 makes it very clear that homosexuality is not what God intended, and the list in Rom 1:29-31 gives us some blunt ideas of things that will separate us from God! However, we need to keep in mind the fact that these things are not told us because God is being mean and restrictive. It is because true fulfillment comes from living the life that God created us to live! If you don't believe that, then you just aren't a believer in the Word!