Rev. Welton Gaddy rebuked Pastor Charles Worley for his comments made against homosexuals and their desire to get married. While Worley was harsh and unreasonable, his basic premise was correct, the Bible is truly against homosexuality. Rev. Gaddy's response to Worley is what really troubled me. His premise was that the bible is often taken out of context concerning what it contains with respect to homosexuality and that Christianity is all about love and acceptance. Culture has shifted from long ago and so since things are different, then things that were unacceptable before are now acceptable. Link to the conversation between Rev. Gaddy and Anderson Cooper is here (Worley/Gaddy).
What Gaddy has asserted through his comments is that God has somehow changed with the culture and that what was written down thousands of years ago doesn't still apply today. 2 Tim 3:16-17 says that all scripture is God breathed/inspired which means that whether it's Old Testament or New Testament, God inspired it! A common argument is that Jesus never condemned homosexuality and that the OT is irrelevant when speaking on the issue- but while Jesus never said anything directly regarding homosexuality, he did speak openly about SIN in general, lust, adultery, divorce, etc. There are scriptures in the New Testament, also God inspired, that denounce the practice of homosexuality. Romans 1:26-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 are scriptures that clearly say that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Homosexuality, which is a perversion of what God intended for sex to be, would most definitely fall into the category of sexual immorality- which is condemned by numerous scriptures of the bible (sexual immorality).
Michael Eric Dyson (Dyson/Nelson the Grio) has even gone so far as to say that homosexuality is not even a sin. In a debate with Sophia Nelson, Dyson says: "“The reason you have a faith problem with gay and lesbian people,” Dyson said, “you’re throwing them a bone by saying, ‘look, I believe in civil unions’ and the like, but what you’re not addressing is the fact that our faith fuels the belief that to be gay is to be automatically a sinner. To be gay is to be outside the covenant of God, and I’m arguing that that automatically disqualifies gay and lesbian people to be your equals in the faith.” So,in Dyson's eyes, who I consider to be a great orator, homosexuality is not a sin but only something that Christians perceive as sin. I'm sorry but I don't want to even open that can or worms and start rewriting the bible as it relates to sin. That's dangerous ground, I don't care how well you speak. If you are a Christian, the Bible governs your entire worldview regarding sin and if the bible states explicitly that something is a sin then that settles the matter. The bible also helps us to understand that ALL of us are sinners, we just have different appetites for sin.
According to Gaddy, the bible is totally about love and acceptance, and I agree to an extent. The bible is about love and acceptance...of the repentant sinner, not the recalcitrant, stubborn, unrepentant sinner that refuses to renounce sinful ways. Those who resist, refuse to repent- while God still loves them, he does not accept their sinful lifestyles. According to Dyson, homosexuals have nothing to repent of because they are not sinners. Does he not know that EVERYONE is a sinner and not just homosexuals? I would submit that Dyson is dead wrong and Gaddy has somehow adopted a universalist approach that does not require the followers of Jesus to be holy at all.
The one thing that both of these men miss is that although our culture has changed, God has not! His statutes and decrees haven't changed, his demand for holiness has not changed and his requirements for entering the kingdom of God haven't changed. Hebrews 6:18 says that God is immutable or unchangeable. If you read further in Hebrews, Hebrews 13:18 says that Jesus Christ (God the Son) is the same yesterday, today and forever. The bible says in James 1:17 says that God does not change like shifting shadows which indicated that He is consistent! If there is one constant in the universe, it is God. He existed before time began and He was holy then and He is still holy. Having a seminary degree doesn't not qualify you to make statements like these gentlemen have made. What they have done in making these types of statements is perverted the Word of God and the holiness of God. The pastor in North Carolina, Worley, has done the same thing because he's attacking people rather than sin. He's no better than these two.
Paul makes a great statement in Romans 12:2 and it should be memorized by every Christian. "Do not be conformed to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind". This world is falling apart at the seams, why would we want to assimilate? Why would we follow anything that will ultimately lead to death? There is no room in the kingdom for this type of high minded, philosophical foolishness that is going to lead so many astray. Remember, although the world around you is shifting, the way that people think is shifting...but God is still on the throne and he has not changed with the times. That's the furthest thing from the truth, regardless of who said it and what their title is.
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