Some of the hard changes we encounter are unavoidable, such as the death of a loved one. Others are self-inflicted due to thinking that we "know what we're doing'', only to find out that we actually don't. And still others are done willfully, with the intention that we forsake what is easy for something better, such as starting an exercise regime.
With that being said, there is another category of change that I have noticed. That is, that a person knows what is good, true, and right, but chooses to change their whole persona to go in the wrong direction. In this instance, I am referring specifically to the lifestyle of homosexuality.
When I went to Worldview Academy as a student, I got to know a lot of people my age. Two people I knew, both claiming to be Christians, were an encouragement to me, as well as a lot of other students. Both their testimonies and their apparent desire to serve God was admired and looked up to. When camp ended, I made it a point to stay in contact with them online through Facebook.
Then, over the next few years, I surprisingly began to notice a disturbing trend. Instead of focusing on what was godly and true, there began to be a noticeable leaning towards what God hates. Both of them embraced the homosexual movement through direct participation and denial of God. Ultimately, they showed their true fruit through denial of Christ Himself.
On seeing these changes occur, I was reminded of the verses from 1 John 2:15-19, where it says:
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrists have appeared; even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
I was listening to a great two-part sermon by John MacArthur while driving the other day (If interested, here are parts One and Two). In the series, John described Biblically how homosexuality goes against what God commands, but it something that you CAN be redeemed from. One of the verses that he pointed out was 1 Corinthians 6:9:
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."
This leads me to my question: How are we as believers supposed to interact with people who purposely defy God with the lifestyle of homosexuality?
*Small note: Homosexuality is not the "cardinal sin" that isolates you from God. Otherwise, Paul wouldn't have also mentioned people like drunkards and thieves in the passage above. Sin is sin, and one separates us from God just as effectively as another. However, I am focusing on this topic specifically due to the fact that homosexuality is something Christians specifically struggle with confronting, as I will elaborate on below.
