Unlike the common statements made in the secular and religious world, the Bible has much to say about homosexuality. Never let it be said that “But the Bible doesn’t talk about homosexuality” because it most certainly does.
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
Leviticus 18:22
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
Leviticus 20:13
“Or 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. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. 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
“Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
Jude 1:7
“Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine”
1 Timothy 1:8-10
Homosexuality is not new, but stupid people in the religious world treat it as if it were some brand new evil concocted by liberals and hippies.
Let us go back in time and take a look at some of the early recorded instances of homosexuality in the Bible.
Perhaps the first recorded instance is with Sodom and Gomorrah. There is also the strong possibility that the people of the world during the time of Noah were deeply embedded in homosexuality. The ancient, evil city of Sodom is where we get our word “sodomy”. That city was destroyed by God for its evil.
Later on in the Bible we find out that cult prostitutes were in the land of Israel, and they were a blight to the Israelites.
Whenever Israel left God, it was because pagan worship included sex. The reason we keep mentioning this fact is because sex itself is the prime reason that Israel forsook God again and again. If you ever hear some perplexed soul asking the popular question, “I don’t know why Israel kept associating with the pagans especially after they had seen God do miracles. What was wrong with those people? Did they ever learn anything?” Sex, friend, it is because if they left God they were rewarded with sex. That fact is one of the few useful bits of information I acquired during my college years. But not only were there female prostitutes, there were also male ones for the effeminate Israelites.
People choose homosexuality today for more reasons than simple “orientation”. I argue that one of the reasons men practice homosexuality is because it is the only way they can get any attention from the world.
In the modern world a homosexual is deified and praised for “coming out”. They are lavished with attention and commended for their “bravery”. This type of response propels more people to come out as deviants. They may not even have strong homosexual desires, but they are strongly attracted to all the attention they would acquire if they practice homosexuality. Because these people were getting zero attention in their daily lives, they think they will be the center of the universe if they are homosexuals.
A man can be a complete nobody who is worthless to the world and who feels no sense of belonging to anyone. But the instant he says he is attracted to other men, the world worships and praises him.
Homosexuals have their own support and celebration groups and the new man gets more attention than he has ever received in his life. Being homosexual guarantees attention for men who were otherwise too worthless to gain that attention themselves. This is addictive and is the business model of social media.
Before we continue to make notes about homosexuality, let us observe a very important point: The religious world makes the mistake of separating homosexuality from other forms of sexual deviance. Homosexuality is not worse than fornication (sex outside of marriage) or adultery (sex where one partner is married to someone else), it is simply less common. All forms of sexual immorality are evil.
There are whores in the religious world, and this is just as much of a problem as homosexuality.
There are adulterous men and women in the church, and this is just as much of a disease as homosexuality.
Look around you the next time you are in the church. You are almost guaranteed to see someone who is dealing with homosexual urges. Do you cast him or her out or do you help them live righteously? There are people who have same-sex urges just as most men deal with temptation from women other than their wives. We should not treat these temptations as different entities. Sexual temptation is sexual temptation – all sexual immorality is wrong and all of it should be destroyed. Adultery, fornication and homosexuality are forms of sexual deviance and are sin.
Now that we have examined the Biblical position on homosexuality, let us understand why it is not masculine to be homosexual.
To help clarify this, I will extensively quote an author who explains this perfectly. This is Jack Donovan from The Way of Men whom we have referenced before.
“The Tactical problems presented by the appearance of weakness as a group explain, to an extent, the visceral response many men have to displays of flamboyant effeminacy. The word effeminacy is a bit misleading here, because it really isn’t about women.The dislike of what is commonly called effeminacy is about male status anxiety and practical concerns about tactical vulnerabilities, and it is more accurate to discuss dishonor in terms of deficient masculinity and flamboyant dishonor.”
Donovan continues,
“Flamboyant dishonor is an openly expressed lack of concern for strength, courage and mastery within the context of an honor group composed primarily of other men.”
“I’ve observed this in the few brief introductions I’ve had to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in gyms where everyone rolls with everyone. Men find out quickly who is good, and who isn’t…The only way to improve your status within the group is to try harder and get better. Flamboyant Dishonor is a little bit like walking into that room full of men who are trying to get better at jiu-jitsu and insisting that they stop what they are doing and pay attention to your fantastic new tap-dancing routine. The Flamboyantly dishonorable man seeks attention for something the male group doesn’t value, or which isn’t appropriate at a given time. At the primal level, flamboyant dishonor presents tactical problems for the group. By outwardly and theatrically rejecting the core masculine values, particularly strength and courage, the flamboyantly dishonorable male advertises weakness and propensity for submission to outside watchers. Any student of human (and in many cases, primate) body language will be forced to recognize that the postures, gestures and intonations of males generally regarded as effeminate are in fact postures, gestures and intonations that communicate submissiveness.”
Interesting.
The man who rejects the Honor codes of the group can obviously not be trusted to ‘snap to’ in a state of emergency. Dishonor is disloyalty. A man who not only refuses to be as strong, courageous and competent as he can, but who flaunts these codes theatrically for all to see is a weak link. He makes his peers seem more vulnerable for tolerating vulnerability, and more cowardly for tolerating cowardice. He brings shame on the group, and with shame comes danger, because public displays of weakness and cowardice invite attack”
“This tactical reasoning goes a long way towards explaining why men who function successfully within male honor groups make a big show of rejecting and distancing themselves from males who are flamboyantly dishonorable. By expelling effeminate males from the group or by gaming them and pushing them to the fringes of that particular group, the group projects strength and unity. The group demonstrates that ‘we do not tolerate unmanly men here’”
“When men reject effeminate men they are rejecting weakness, casting it out, and cleansing themselves of its corrosive stigma”
I have nothing to add to this assessment of homosexuality presented by Jack Donovan.
Mantra
I am not my urges.
Application
Stop treating homosexuality differently than other forms of sexual immorality. Men will struggle more than women with homosexual desires because of the taboo nature of homosexuality. It is almost popular to be lesbian while it is shameful to be a male homosexual.
The religious world must cultivate relationships that help others bring themselves to repent and live righteous lives. You cannot force people to repent. We tend to forget this fact. Relationships are the key vessels for evangelism and for inspiring others to come to repentance. If you want to reach someone, you must build a relationship with them. We cannot take God and sell Him door to door like a vacuum cleaner. People do not care what you have to sell them, even if it is salvation, unless they have a relationship with you.
Many men become homosexual for the attention and relationships.
The church should work to provide the attention and friendships they are looking for without the sinful behavior. But the church can only do this if the members stop treating homosexuality like it is the only sexual sin in the world. If you want to wage war on homosexuality, you must also wage war against extramarital heterosexual sex and lust. All these enemies are allied and you must destroy every single one of them.
Men cannot continue to pander to sexual sin. Whether homosexual or heterosexual, sexual immorality must be absolutely annihilated from our lives and the church.
We have a bad habit of not addressing sexual sin regularly, and as a result, people think it’s “not that big of a deal”. When people think something is not a big deal, their behavior devolves at a rapid rate. It doesn’t take long before they are snorting lines of cocaine off a hookers chest. Perhaps that is a slight exaggeration (but I do not think it is that much of a stretch considering the state that most youth groups are in).
If you struggle with homosexual urges, get some help froma trustworthy and supportive source. You might be able to win this battle alone, but you may also need a counselor. See a professional, not one of those nonsense “certified” counselors in the church. Those men spent exactly one weekend doing some online training and printed out their certification on construction paper to make it look fancy. They have no practical experience or training and cannot help you. See a real counselor.
You must be intrinsically motivated to change.
It is not enough to want to change for family and the church, you yourself have to believe that there is a better life available to the man who rejects sexual sin and lives with sexual discipline.
With a professional you might be able to find out what started you on this path and discover what the root of your struggle is. The same principle applies for heterosexual sin. Understanding why you have a problem is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your war.
Secondly, see someone in your church or in nearby churches who has dealt with the same temptations. This may be difficult as men are usually not willing to admit they want to have sex with other men, but there will most likely be someone who wants to help you through your struggle. Having a friend or helper in your struggle will be a massive aid to you if you are too weak to win on your own. Just be vigilant and do not let that friendship turn into a homosexual escapade. If you fear that this could happen, avoid getting help and fight the war as a soldier on your own. This is a nasty battle, but you can win.
Conduct Yourselves Like Men.