Homosexuality and
AIDS
John M. Frame
Introduction: We
must have the courage to follow scripture
even when it goes against the
"common wisdom."
Indeed, it usually does, I Cor. 1, 2.
I. The Family in
Scripture
A. Gen. 1:27-30. God wants us to
carry out our human task
by a sexually
differentiated partnership.
B. Gen. 2:20-24. Companionship,
unity, diversity.
C. The authority structure reflects
sexual difference.
1. I Tim. 2:11-13--
subordination in church
because Adam
created first.
2. Eph. 5:22f,
subordination in family, because
the husband
is the "head."
3. Parents have
authority over children, Eph.
6:1ff.
4. Authority is
servant-authority, Matt. 20:26,
loving
authority, Eph. 5:25.
D. Why this authority structure?
1. Not that women less
competent, etc.
2. God wants competent people in humbler
roles.
3. Division by sex:
partly arbitrary, but not
entirely so.
Women have babies.
E. Marriage as image of the
divine-human relation, Eph.
5:25ff.
F. Inadequacy of homosexual
relationships to replace this
structure.
1. Sexually
differentiated partnership.
2. Procreation.
3. Authority structure
based on sexual
difference;
vs. egalitarianism or
"competence
base."
4. So inadequate image
of divine/human relation.
5. Confusing role models
for children.
G. Centrality of the family in
scripture.
1. Seeds of church and
state.
2. Salvation through
gathering of family, Gen. 6,
Gen. 12, Ex.
1-15, II Sam. 7, Matt. 1,
Luke 3, Acts
2:39, 11:14, 16:31, the
"brotherhood."
3. Family chief
instrument of welfare, education,
Deut. 6.
II. Biblical
Teaching About Homosexuality
A. Scripture limits sex to marriage,
and marriage is
heterosexual, as we have
seen. I Cor. 6:18-20,
7:1-7.
B. Sodom, Gen. 19 (cf. Ezek. 16:49f,
II Pet. 2:6ff, Jude
7). "Know" in
verse 5 is a demand for homosexual
rape, not an
"impolite request for
acquaintance."
1. Righteous Lot saw
their request as great
wickedness,
verse 6.
2. Brings God's
judgment, together with Sodom's
other sins.
3. Why else would Lot
offer his daughters?
(Parallel
use of "know.")
4. Judges 19 parallel.
5. Certainly there were
other elements in the
sin of
Sodom, as God says through
Ezekiel. But
the mention of
homosexuality
is not irrelevant to
the
sinfulness of the people.
C. The Law, Ex. 20:14, Lev. 18:22,
20:13, Deut. 23:18.
1. Not
"ceremonial," i.e., limited to
sexual acts
in worship.
a.
Ceremonial transgressions don't carry
death
penalty in the law.
b. Context
of chapters 18-20 is
predominantly
moral; 21 is
ceremonial.
c. In
Leviticus, the context is one
of
general sexual transgression.
Homosexuality
is grouped with
incest
and bestiality.
c. Pertains
to nations outside Israel,
18:24-30.
d.
Reaffirmed in New Testament (below).
2. Not merely because of
connections with
idolatry,
Deut. 23:17f, or other
conjectural
historical connections.
Scripture
doesn't suggest any such
rationale,
or any such limit on the
application
of the law.
D. The New Testament: Rom. 1:26f,
32; cf. I Tim. 1:9f, I
Cor.
5:9-11, 6:9f.
1. Not just a punishment
for sin, but it is sin
itself,
1:24.
2. Not just condemning
lust and promiscuity;
scripture
draws here no distinction
between
motive and act.
3. Not just concerned
with idolatry (above).
4. Not only concerned
with pederasty; Paul's
language in
I Cor. 6:9f is based on
the
Septuagint of Leviticus rather
than on the
Greek usage.
5. "Contrary to
nature" = contrary to God's
purpose in
creation, not merely
contrary to
one's own inclination.
6. Venereal disease as
God's recompense,
verse 27.
AIDS.
E. Scripture never says anything
favorable about
homosexuality; indeed,
it never mentions it
except negatively. It
does not limit its
condemnations only to
certain kinds of
homosexual behavior;
rather, it condemns
such behavior generally.
III. Act and
Orientation
A. Are there people who "cannot
help" homosexual
attraction?
1. Genetically, no proof
of this yet. If there is
a
predisposing factor, it does not
force anyone to be homosexual.
It merely
raises a moral problem
with which
we must deal in a godly way.
a. For one
thing, half of all the
identical-twin
brothers of
homosexuals
are heterosexuals;
so
any genetic factor must be
less
than compelling.
b. To put
this in context: There may
also
be genetic factors
which
predispose one
to
alcoholism, anger,
fornication,
carelessness, etc.
c. At the
very least, we should seek
ways
to overcome such
conditions,
as we seek to
overcome
genetic illnesses.
The
fact that a condition
is
influenced by genetic
factors
does not mean that
we
must accept it as "normal."
d. Genetic
factors are no harder to
overcome,
generally, than
environmental
factors. But
in
Scripture, no predisposing
factor
provides an excuse for
sin,
though it may mitigate
the
level of condemnation,
Luke
12:47, 48.
2. Is there no
"choice" available to the
homosexual?
a. The
relations between feelings
and
choices are hard to
figure
out
psychologically.
Each
influences
the other to
some
extent. Certainly
when
our choices become
habits,
we often come to
feel
that we cannot break
them.
b. Surely at
least there is the
choice
to become sexually
active,
and with a
particular
partner.
c. Besides
those who are exclusively
homosexual
(probably no more
that
1-2% of the population),
there
are many more who are
bisexual.
For them, there
is
choice in an obvious
sense.
d. But the
presence or absence of
a
choice is not the issue.
In
one sense, our choice to
sin
was made by Adam.
3. Scripture says no one
is forced to
commit sin,
I Cor. 10:13, Rom. 1:32.
4. Habitual sin of any
kind can create a
condition
very hard to control.
Drug
addiction, kleptomania. But
that does
not make it right. In the
very nature
of biblical ethics, we
are called
to oppose the inclinations
of the
flesh.
5. Sin itself
inescapable apart from grace.
B. Is it sinful to be attracted to a
member of your
own sex? We need to make
some distinctions.
1. Admiring beauty is
never wrong in itself.
I may admire
the beauty of another
man's wife
without desiring adultery.
I may admire
an art collection without
wanting to
steal it.
2. Similarly, temptation
is not sin. We may be
sexually
tempted (or tempted to steal,
etc.)
without yielding. Heb. 4:15f.
3. But lust is evil,
Matt. 5:27-30. Lust exists
when we not
only admire something, when
we not only
are tempted, but beyond that,
when we
start wanting to break God's
rules.
C. Verdict On "Homosexual
Orientation"
1. If this means that
one regularly or often
admires the
beauty of people of his own
sex, it is
not wrong in itself, but there
are dangers.
2. If this means that
one is regularly or often
tempted toward homosexuality, that
too is not
sinful in itself. But one
should take
precautions.
3. If this means
homosexual lust as defined
above, then
the orientation is as wrong
as the act.
IV. Hope for the
Homosexual, I Cor. 6:11.
A. Really deep change is possible
only through Christ.
B. Even repentant homosexuals may
not become completely
"normal." Sin
leaves wounds.
C. But homosexuality is not unforgiveable. The Lord
calls us to love
homosexuals and to offer them
salvation in Jesus'
name.
D. Repentant homosexuals should be
received into the
church with open arms,
even if they still
do not seem entirely
"normal."
E. But homosexuality as such is not
to be accepted among
Christians. It should
bring church discipline.
V. Homosexuality and
the Church
A. The push for acceptance of homosexual
members and
ministers usually
follows the push for women's
ordination.
B. The two issues are similar:
1. Both involve denials
of biblical authority
and/or
serious misreadings of scripture.
2. Both arise from the
church's capitulation to
fashionable,
"politically correct" views
within
secular society. In these cases,
the church
is accepting direction from
the world.
VI. Homosexuality in
Society
A. A crime in Ancient Israel and
often in the US, until
recently.
B. Homosexual society is highly
promiscuous. About
a third of gays have had
1000 sexual partners
in their lifetimes.
(Bell and Weinberg,
Homosexualities.
C. The gay lifestyle is dangerous.
Life expectancy of
male homosexuals is
around 43. Violence, suicide
and depression are
common, to say nothing of
AIDS.
D. Therefore, even if there were no
explicit biblical
prohibition on
homosexuality, there would
be ample reason to
discourage it in society,
as we discourage the use
of drugs and
membership in gangs.
E. All societies have frowned on
some forms of
homosexuality, and most
until recently
have condemned
homosexuality of any kind.
Perhaps they knew some
things that have
escaped modern thinkers.
F. Civil rights? But civil rights
require others to
tolerate the homosexual
lifestyle. Renting,
employment, education,
churches, pederasty.
G. Should homosexuality be presented
to school
children as a legitimate
alternative
lifestyle? Certainly
not.
H. Social benefits for homosexual
"marriages" and
"families?"
Certainly not.
VII. AIDS
A. AIDS is a usually, perhaps
always, fatal suppression
of the immune system.
B. Causes: Most likely the HIV
virus, though there is
some controversy over
whether that is the cause,
or the sole cause. It is
communicated by:
1. Sexual transmission.
In Africa, predominantly
heterosexual;
in Europe and America,
predominantly
among male homosexuals.
2. Contaminated needles
and blood transfusions,
wound-to-wound
contact.
3. Fetus receiving the
virus in the womb.
4. Most authorities
believe that it is not
spread
through "casual contact."
C. AIDS is increasing. In 1991,
46,716 new
cases were reported. In
1992, 97,368. In
California, there were
8,641 new cases in
1992, 17,474 in 1993.
The "safe sex" campaign
does not seem to have
been successful.
D. The AIDS epidemic has increased
other health problems.
One form of TB,
resistant to normal treatment,
has occurred often among
AIDS sufferers and
through them has
increased in the general
population.
E. Governments have treated AIDS as
a civil-rights
issue rather than a
straightforward health
crisis. Thus the
reporting of victims and
their contacts is
actually discouraged. It
is a "politically
protected disease."
F. The use of condoms is not an
adequate protection.
G. Nevetheless,
AIDS is almost entirely preventable.
Except for contamination
through blood
transfusions, AIDS can
be avoided by avoiding
"risk
behaviors." That means that those
who follow Scriptural
principles have little
risk of getting AIDS.
H. Is AIDS God's punishment for
homosexuality?
1. All disease is the
result of sin.
2. Though all evils are
the result of sin,
disasters do
not usually come
upon people
strictly in
proportion
to their individual
sins, Luke
13:1-5.
3. In Africa, AIDS is
not predominantly
related to
homosexuality. It is,
however,
related to promiscuity.
4. Rom. 1:27 does draw
some correlation
between
sexual immorality and
venereal
disease.
5. Luke 13:1-5 indicates
that our role
should not
be to talk about who
does and
does not deserve AIDS;
clearly many
do not. Our role
is to call
all people to
repent.
I. Ministering to AIDS patients
1. We should minister to
people with AIDS as
to any
others with serious, indeed
fatal,
diseases. Where there has been
sin, we call
for repentance, and we
share with
them the gospel of grace.
We seek to
love them because of Jesus.
2. Talk to Dick LaFleur and others about
practical ways to help._