The God of this world is riches, pleasure and pride.
—Martin Luther—
If I had only one sermon to preach it would be a sermon against pride.
—G. K. Chesterton—
Key point: The sin of pride is at the heart of all other sins. Remembering this when we look at the sin of homosexuality, we cannot help but be alarmed. Pride has become synonymous with homosexuality and the gay rights movement! This is not coincidental. Actually, it demonstrates just how serious a sin homosexuality really is.
Part 1 is available here.
“The church has made 3 main mistakes on dealing with homosexuality,” contends Luis Javier Ruiz. Luis is a survivor of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. In the wake of that horrible event that ended the lives of 49 people and injured another 53, Luis rediscovered his faith in Christ and left homosexuality. According to Luis, what are the three errors committed by the church?
#1 We’ve made it the greatest sin. It’s not…pride is!
#2 We’ve become silent or scared speechless, hoping someone else will address it for us.
#3 The church is affirming it! We can’t affirm what God’s Word doesn’t affirm; we can’t call blessed what God’s Word doesn’t bless.
The heart of our message is unconditional love for people while remaining unwavering in our loyalty to God’s Word (The Bible).
We’re focusing here on the first item Luis named, that of making homosexuality the worst sin when in fact pride is.
The Nature of Sin
Let’s first acknowledge that not all sins are equally grave. Yes, in one sense, all offenses before God are “equal” in that every sin, no matter how “small” or “inconsequential” in our eyes, is enough to render a person deserving of hell before a holy God. At the same time, some sins are indeed weightier than others. In John 19:10-11, Jesus is standing before Pilate, and this exchange occurs:
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (emphasis added).
Thus, while sins are ominous and deadly, some are more carry more severe consequences.
Pride—the Sin Behind All Other Sins
What about pride? The Bible has a great deal to say about it, but let’s consider just two passages here.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, the inspired writer named seven things God hates. Look at what he named first!
16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
In Proverbs 16:18, God’s Word proclaims in unmistakable terms, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Pride is at the root of all other sins. Christian statesman and apologist C. S. Lewis essentially makes this case in his classic book, Mere Christianity, where he wrote an entire chapter on pride. The chapter is titled “The Great Sin.”
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Luis Ruiz is right! If we think homosexuality is the worst of all sins, we better think again! At its core, pride is a raw and blatant affront to a holy God. Moreover, pride nails us all, for all of us are guilty of it, and we are without hope apart from Christ.
This means all people are equally deserving of spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God. Put another way, heterosexuals are in no less need of Christ’s cleansing blood and God’s forgiveness than homosexuals. This makes all people, regardless of the specific sins of which they are guilty, equal at the foot of the cross. All believers need to be constantly aware of this reality.1 Being unaware of it actually would indicate pride has taken hold! It would be evidence of a sinful attitude.
Pride and Homosexuality
Yet we are compelled to make an important observation. We don’t have to look very far at all in our culture to see a strong and very tight connection between pride and homosexuality, and even between pride and the entire LGBT movement. In fact, pride has become synonymous with the LGBT movement, so much so that when one refers to a “pride march” or to a “pride weekend,” everyone knows it’s about promoting homosexuality and the gay agenda. This connection is not coincidental but powerful evidence of just how blatant a sin homosexuality really is.
Photo by Toni Reed on Unsplash
Pride has become synonymous with the LGBT movement, so much so that when one refers to a “pride march” or to a “pride weekend,” everyone knows it’s about promoting homosexuality and the gay agenda.
Photo by Max Sandelin on Unsplash
Do not misunderstand. We sympathize with the young man who feels sexuality attracted to other males and cannot understand at all why. Or perhaps he was sexually assaulted when he was quite young. Furthermore, through no fault of his own, the culture has lied to him about homosexuality and gender issues. I am not saying here that this young man is shaking his fist in God’s face. God hurts for him and understands his struggles and pain. Typically, homosexual men have had distant, absent, or abusive fathers. God is the perfect Father, however; and He wants to fill the “father-shaped vacuums” in these men’s lives.
Photo by hiva sharifi on Unsplash
God hurts as well for the young woman who also has been lied to about her sexuality, and who, as a result, has come to believe she can find fulfillment in intimate relationships with other women. God, who is a loving Heavenly Father, wants to meet her deepest needs, too.
My point here is not to condemn everyone tempted, but to focus on and expose the truth about the sin, and the movement, of homosexuality. While we cannot say unequivocally that homosexuality is a choice, neither can we deny that choices are involved for the person who embraces a gay lifestyle, as well as for the one who engages in homosexuality quietly, behind closed doors. The Bible is clear. All of us are responsible before God for the choices we make.
While we cannot say unequivocally that homosexuality is a choice, neither can we deny that choices are involved for the person who embraces a gay lifestyle, as well as for the one who engages in homosexuality quietly, behind closed doors.
Next time, we will dive into and explore the truth about homosexuality. We will not sugarcoat anything! This will be a critical discussion you won’t want to miss!
Be sure to return!
Part 3 is available here.
Copyright © 2018 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
- Luis Ruiz and Angel Colon have a ministry and website called Fearless Identity.
- Luis’s Facebook page is available here.
top image credit: Lightstock
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages have been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Notes:
1The reality that heterosexuals are in no less need of divine forgiveness than homosexuals does not mean heterosexuality and homosexuality are moral equivalents. Heterosexuality is a part of God’s design for humanity, and homosexuality contrary to that design.
top image: Lightstock
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