Tag Archives: homosexuality

Are You Behaving Unseemly?

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Over the past several weeks, we’ve been posting articles on how to have a great marriage.  We’re continuing that theme again this week by looking at the ways the Bible describes love.

Unseemly

If you’ve got a King James Bible, and you look at I Corinthians 13:5, you’ll see that charity [love] does not behave itself unseemly.

Now what exactly does this word mean?

Unseemly is acting rudely. It’s making snide comments under your breath as you walk off. It’s mocking your spouse.  But this word also includes the idea of behaving disgracefully, indecently, or dishonorably.

I hope you’re starting to get the picture here. This covers a LOT.

It’s being out in public and being loud and obnoxious—embarrassing your wife. Belching loudly, getting drunk, making a spectacle of yourself.

It’s engaging in lewd behavior, telling inappropriate jokes, flirting with other women or men, letting other men or women flirt with you.

It’s wearing clothing in public that is too tight, or too short, or which are open down to the top of the breasts.

You might say, “wait a minute. What does wearing low-cut shirts have to do with love?”

If you love your husband, you’ll keep what’s his covered, and you will not be showing it off to anyone who happens to glance in your direction. Your body belongs to HIM. Letting other people peek at your body because you’re not covering it up enough is the opposite of love.

What about homosexual marriage?

You might wonder why I’m even bringing this up here, especially since we covered that pretty clearly in this post.  It all has to do with that word “unseemly.”

This same basic Greek word also appears in Romans 1:27. There, God says, “Likewise also, the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error that was due.”

So, let’s make a sound, logical, Biblical argument here.

1. Homosexuality is called “unseemly.”
2. True love does not behave “unseemly.”
3. Therefore, homosexuality is not truly “love.”

Or, to put it another way, homosexuals have completely lost any right to claim “love” as an excuse for their sinful behavior.

You want a good marriage? Then don’t behave unseemly.  That is, don’t be rude. Don’t be obnoxious. Don’t give undue attention to people of the opposite sex other than your spouse. Don’t show off your body.

In short, put your mate first.

Homosexuality in Perspective

A local teenager approached me with an interesting question, one that I thought could potentially be a loaded question.  He said, “What do you teach on homosexuality?”

I told him the same thing the Bible says about it: it’s a sin.  “But,” I added, “it’s not the only sin.”

With all the talk of homosexuality, it’s as though some people think it’s the only sin.  It’s the only sin they talk about publicly (look at their Facebook pages).  It’s the only sin that they get upset over.  It seems to be the front line of all their efforts. They are outraged over every bit of ground that the homosexuals gain in promoting their lifestyle.

They don’t show this kind of outrage over people cheating on their taxes.  They are strangely silent when it comes to people speeding.  Their voice is nowhere to be heard when there are beer ads during the football game. It’s like they’ve gone mute when it comes to people using God’s name in vain.

This teenager, after my response, said, “All I hear every Sunday is how evil homosexuality is.  It’s in every sermon.  I realize it’s sin, but good grief, I think we got the message two months ago.  There’s not a homosexual in our church, and none of them are considering it, so it’d be nice if the preacher moved on to something else.”

Now, don’t take this as me somehow advocating a “soft” stance on homosexuality.  The Bible is very clear that homosexuality is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22), and that there will be no homosexuals in heaven (I Corinthians 6:9-10).  God says it’s an abomination, and that remains true, even if man stops viewing it that way (I’m looking at you, Canadian Supreme Court).

But, as a Christian, it bothers me that I have so many brothers and sisters in Christ who only get outraged over certain sins.  As a Christian, it bothers me that homosexuality is the litmus test topic, but things like having the proper attitude, showing love towards others, striving for unity in the church, bringing back the erring, and other such things are viewed as secondary in importance (if they’re even mentioned at all).

As Jesus said, “These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Luke 11:42, NKJV).

It also bothers me that so many Christians are outraged because non-Christians (those who are already lost) are accepting homosexuality as “normal” or “acceptable.”   They are beside themselves when the government (or the courts) endorse such behavior.  Yes, it’s a horrible thing that homosexuality is growing in recognition.  But if you’re expecting the government and the court system to teach on things which are morally right or wrong, then you need to reprogram your mind.  It’s not the government’s job to influence people to follow the Bible.

That’s the job of Christians.

You, as a Christian, will be much more influential on showing someone why certain things (such as homosexuality) are wrong when you stand up against the other things that the Bible shows are wrong, too.  People aren’t going to be willing to listen to you if they view you as someone who only cares about the homosexuality issue.

Let’s be balanced in our focus towards all sins.  And let’s also remember that the way to convert a homosexual to Christ is not to post a thousand status updates on Facebook about the sin of homosexuality, but to teach the truth in love, showing him/her how (1) it is possible to change, (2) it’s worth it to change, (3) it’s necessary to change, and (4) God will accept them when they change.

And if you noticed, those four things apply to every sin.

One final thought to add is this: simply believing that homosexuality is sinful won’t going to get you into heaven.  Convincing a thousand non-Christians that homosexuality is sinful won’t get them to heaven either.

What will matter in the final judgment is bringing them to Christ.

-Bradley S. Cobb