The Bible is pretty explicit about homosexual acts being a sin.
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Leviticus 18:22 ESV)
…For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:26-27 ESV)
Clear enough, right?
But Jesus commands us to love one another (John 13:34-35). He even goes so far as to tell us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27-36).
I like to think that a lot of us of the younger generation aren’t homophobes, Christian or no. But the general sentiment among older folks (from my experience) is that homosexual people are enemies of the church, thus they should be reviled and hated.
In part 1 of this series, I used this definition for an idol: A good thing that has been turned into a god thing which is a bad thing. That is, to do anything to glorify anything other than our Creator is to commit idolatry (see Romans 1:25)
And so I would like to ask that by reviling and hating homosexual people, what exactly are these people trying to glorify?
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This is such a touchy subject for today's world. Glad you have tackled it.
Those people are trying to purify the church. They just are not doing it *in love*. It's hard to love everyone. That's why we need Jesus to help. All people are God's Creation, and all have strayed (Romans 3:23). The act is bad, but the person still needs Jesus. We would do well to remember that, even when we say that homosexuality is wrong.
Amen, bro. I think a lot of people don't believe that God has the ability to change these people's hearts, and so the church rejects them altogether.