Lawrence B.

Labudiong

Same sex relationships: Should we just agree to disagree?

Some issues in the Christian life matter more than others. The apostle Paul made a distinction
between matters that were primary to the gospel, and issues that were not. In 1 Corinthians
15:3 he writes, “What I received I passed on to you as of first importance.” This is not to say that
other issues are of no importance, just that they are not of first importance.

In Romans 14:1 he instructs his readers not to pass judgment on “disputable matters.” On such
issues Christians need to know their own mind and receive in fellowship those who differ. We
might consider as examples of present day "disputable matters" issues like infant baptism, or
our understanding of the end times. On such matters Christians are free to differ. But on matters
of first importance we must remain in agreement if we are to be faithful to the gospel.

There are five reasons why we must regard the issue of homosexuality as being of first
importance.

1. The witness of the church

For virtually all of church history the people of God have held that homosexual behaviour is
sinful. This is still the case for the vast majority of Christians around the world today. Those in
the church who demand that we affirm homosexual behaviour are proposing something that
virtually every member of the universal church would be bewildered by. And the one place
where this is being pushed is in the Western church at the precise moment our culture is making
this a defining issue. This should give us enormous pause.

2. The authority of Scripture

What you have to do with the Bible to make it supportive of gay relationships is profoundly un-
evangelical, un-Anglican and un-Christian. There are six passages that directly mention
homosexual behaviour, and all of them do so negatively. For those of us with same-sex
attraction these are not easy passages to read. But they are clear in what they say and we must
receive them as good words to live by.

The only way to make such passages supportive of gay relationships is by employing the most
torturous methods of interpretation to discount them. These methods include: ignoring the
contexts such verses come in; and determining the meaning of key word and terms not by how
the biblical author uses them but by how later secular culture uses them.

These passages are studied in detail in an excellent book by John Stott—in a freshly edited
edition. John Stott remains a compelling and urgent voice in today's discussions about human
sexuality, and so it is wonderful to have his work refreshed and available to the church in this
format, alongside stories that underline how God's timeless word continues to bring goodness
and flourishing.

3. The purpose of marriage

One of the purposes of the union of a man and woman in marriage is to display the mystery of
Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). Marriage is the visual aid of how our saviour relates to
his people. When we alter the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, we radically
alter the gospel message which marriage is meant to visualise. The Bible’s teaching on
marriage alone is enough to settle the issue of homosexuality. Even if the six passages directly
mentioning homosexuality were not in the Bible, we would still be clear that homosexual
Lawrence B. Labudiong

practise is ungodly. Christians believe what we believe about homosexuality because we

believe what we believe about marriage.

4. The fate of homosexual people

Paul is very clear that the “unrighteous” will not enter the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Among the very various examples of unrighteous behaviour he lists is homosexual practise.
Paul is delivering a profound warning: those who do not repent of such behaviour will not enter
heaven. Eternity is at stake. To say the issue does not matter is to say that the eternal destiny of
people does not matter. This is not the case with secondary issues like infant baptism or
women’s ordination.

5. The censure of Christ

In Revelation 2 Jesus rebukes the church in Thyatira for tolerating someone whose teaching
leads people into sexual sin (Revelation 2:20). We do not know if this is a lone voice or one of
many (most likely “Jezebel” is not the teacher’s name). What is more significant, however, is
how Jesus responds to this situation: he is not just against those who are doing the teaching; he
is against those who tolerate such teaching in their midst. Not all tolerance is godly, and it is
Christ-like to be intolerant of certain things.

Not taking a side on this issue is to take a side. To decide it is a matter of indifference is to risk
having Jesus against you. Read the description of him in Revelation 1 and consider if you would
ever want to risk that Jesus being against you.

This is a gospel issue. When so-called evangelical leaders argue for affirmation of gay
relationships in the church, I’m not saying they’re not my kind of evangelical, I’m saying they are
no kind of evangelical. This is not an easy position to hold, for I have friends who hold to
different views on this subject. But it is the right position to hold. For the five reasons given
above, we must never allow ourselves to think of this as just another issue Christians are free to
differ over.

This will inevitably bring faithful Christians into conflict with our culture. When John Stott first
published Issues Facing Christians Today, he said:

"I have sought with integrity to submit to the revelation of yesterday within the realities of
today. It is not easy to combine loyalty to the past with sensitivity to the present. Yet this is
our Christian calling: to live under the Word in the world."

His foundational, and authoritative take on this question, recently published by The Good Book
Company as Same Sex Relationships, is a clear and compassionate statement on this issue
that has stood the test of time. I think that John Stott’s writing on this subject is still the best brief
exposition of the biblical texts and arguments surrounding the issue of same-sex relationships.

Keith Sinclair, Bishop of Birkenhead, said of it, “I believe that the wisdom and insight the Lord
gave John Stott will, through this republished work, help us to fulfil our calling in these days. I
pray it will be widely read.”

Reference:
Allberry, S. (2018, September 21). Same sex relationships: Should we just agree to disagree?
Retrieved from https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/same-sex-relationships-should-we-just-
agree-to-disagree
Lawrence B. Labudiong

Reaction Paper

Same-sex relationships have been seen throughout the world for

many years. It took same-sex human relationships many years to get to the
forefront through history, and it seems to be the same case in animals.
Through research and studies, same-sex relationships are being recognized
more and more in animals as well as in humans. Within human relationships
and animal relationships as well, there are many sex and gender implications.
I am not a gay or lesbian and I am not against same sex
relationship or same sex marriage. I don’t totally agree but I am not against it.
For me everyone has the right to choose the person or people they want to
be with and most importantly the person they want to spend their life with.
Just let them love the people they want to love the same as the people we
want to love. For the others, it’s not natural because marriage is for opposite
sex but in our generation, it’s on the process of legalizing. Not legalizing won’t
make a man stop from liking and loving a man (the same as the woman). Love
is uncontrollable feeling and it is natural. They say love conquers all and I
believe that, the right time will come, and no one will ask why there are
lesbian, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. Time will come when people
wholeheartedly accept them as normal people; normal people that has the
right to live and love without any limitations.