The collision between the church, countless families, and their loved ones in the LGBT community continues to demonstrate the powerful impact, especially on Christian businesses, of the US Supreme Court’s re-definition of marriage to include same-sex unions.
Christians who deny the legitimacy of or fail to affirm the homosexual lifestyle are routinely denounced as homophobic, intolerant, even hateful. This intimidation tactic used for almost every LGBT-related issue should alarm us. It continues to rip apart Christ’s church by encouraging some denominations to endorse the LGBT lifestyle. Sadly, these churches shift away from their biblical stance, aided by religious leaders with LGBT-identifying children.
This intimidation tactic also hits our homes—a place where many of us can testify that the spiritual intruder of LGBT acceptance and affirmation is not wanted. The religious beliefs held by non-LGBT family members are cast aside as the LGBT loved ones pressure the rest of the family to love them on their own terms.
Bowing to cultural pressure, companies have created their own set of rules concerning how employees should act and speak to someone identifying as LGBT. This kind of intimidation in the place of employment leads to the loss of freedom for employees to act according to their religious beliefs. One woman shared with me that she lost her job because of her convictions about using a colleague’s preferred name and pronouns. She had considered the colleague a friend, but the other woman still reported her to management. After two meetings with management, the woman who spoke with me was let go. Others have found themselves in that woman’s position but have given in to the pressure to conform to Woke policies for one reason or another. So they remain in their jobs, silent about their personal convictions yet still attempting to achieve some kind of balance between what they believe and what they are told they must do to keep their job.
LGBT activists continue to pressure us to serve their agenda rather than God’s. He established values for the church, for society, and for families. His loving nature is demonstrated in the moral compass He offers us. The order of things—biology, marriage, family—came from God, not humans. God’s rules for right living have not changed: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength”; “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”; “You shall not murder, steal, or commit adultery.” These actions are right or wrong based on God’s moral standards, not our feelings or our loved one’s desires.
When we don’t follow the moral guidance God has given us, we are morally guilty, which means we need to go before Him and ask for His forgiveness. Sometimes churches and family members need to ask for His forgiveness due to our anger and resentment over our circumstances, to the extreme of treating our loved one as if he or she is our god—bowing to their demands, rather than God’s.
As we seek a deeper spiritual awareness of what is happening in our world and personal lives, we must consider the desires and tactics of great deceiver, Satan. He already knows same-sex unions are not God’s plan for men and women. He uses this lie to destroy the lives God planned for the men and women he created.
The Bible addresses LGBT issues in six places. You might not expect it to mention a topic like homosexual behavior, but there are three passages in the Old Testament and three in the New Testament where this issue is directly addressed, not to mention all the scriptures dealing with marriage and sexuality which have implications for this issue. In all six passages, homosexual acts are unequivocally condemned.
The story of Lot’s family in Genesis 19 highlights the sin of the men of Sodom and the destruction that followed from their sin. Leviticus 18:22 says that it is an abomination for a man to lie with another man as with a woman. In Leviticus 20:13, the death penalty is prescribed in Israel for such an act, along with other immoral acts—adultery, incest, and bestiality. Sometimes a homosexual person may use this Scripture to make the argument that Christians no longer practice the Old Testament ceremonial laws regarding contact with unclean animals, like pigs. But in reality, God’s Word continues to warn us homosexual behavior is a sin against God in the New Testament.
Paul warns against homosexual behavior in 1 Corinthians 6.9–10. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God” (ESV). In reference to the phrase translated “men who practice homosexuality,” the ancient Greeks did not conceive of sexual orientation as a social identity as modern Western societies do. Greek society did not distinguish sexual desire or behavior by the gender of the participants, but rather by the role that each participant played in the sex act. This is indeed an area where Satan has taken the valid need for love, acceptance, safety, and belonging to serve his purpose of destruction. He secretly whispers his pleasures of satisfaction and provides a false concept of family through the LGBT lifestyle.
How do we fight back in what may appear to be a lost battle? God imparts His wisdom to us in Ephesians, chapter 4. We are to respond to others “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2 ESV). But although we are “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” we are to be “speaking the truth in love” with the goal of every member of the body of Christ becoming mature in Him (v. 15).
We face many battles and wars in this lifetime. The attacks on our churches and Christian families come with differing degrees of ferocity. The more prepared we are to fight and to be victorious, the stronger we become. Behind every war and every battle and every attack lies the mastermind of the ultimate plan of attack. In our case, this strategist is Satan. He is our enemy who wishes to take out the Christian fighting against his schemes filled with lies.
In beginning the battle, we must face the lies we believe, such as “God is not hearing me.” We cannot be weak and buy into the Enemy’s tactics and lies that God is ignoring us. There is no truth to that. Sure we may feel like he isn’t listening, but he is. Cling to this promise: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12 ESV).
Rely on the truths in Scripture. Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” (NIV). A buckle fastens a strap and keeps things in place. Applying the Word of God, which is truth, will provide spiritual freedom and protection for those that belong to Jesus Christ. We need protection as we go to war for those needing us to fight on their behalf, even if they don’t want our help.
The helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) are the final pieces of armor listed in Ephesians 6. They demonstrate our readiness for combat. A helmet was vital for survival. This defensive piece of armor protected the brain, the command station for the rest of the body. If the head was badly damaged, the rest of the armor would be of little use. The sword, of course, is both an offensive and defensive weapon—enabling us to ward off the enemy’s attack and render him unable to fight.
While we pray, we believe in God’s truth and his mighty power to save and rescue those caught up in lies and the bondage of life choices. Paul says, “Pray also for me” (Ephesians 6:19 NIV). We need others who are willing to pray for us and our weariness in the battle we have willingly signed up for due to our immeasurable love for the person we are so concerned for. Praying is powerful. It changes lives!
God hears our prayers when we can’t even put them into words—times, for example, when our hearts are too burdened or confused to speak. The Bible says, “The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words” (Romans 8:26 NLT).
One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the privilege of prayer—a privilege that is possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Thank God for the privilege of prayer and learn daily to “give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).