Christian protestors against gays.
You know I had to mention them in writing about Christianity and homosexuality, so here it is.
The most common reason for Christians who protest like such are that “gays would know the truth and now they stand condemned”.
They often identify themselves as operating in a prophetic role. Just like the prophets of the Bible, protestors believe that they are preaching an unpopular and offensive message, getting hated for it as persecution, and will be rewarded for their perseverance and commitment to the truth.
But are they really prophets? Are they God’s chosen for this hour?
I don’t think so. And I think there’s quite a bit of misguidance there on a number of levels.
First, a little biblical observation goes a long way. Here’s an important one: The biblical prophets were prophets primarily preaching to the people of God, not to their pagan neighbors. This includes Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, Haggai, Malichi, and more–they were all written for the people of God.
Their harsh messages were (in our terms) from Christians to Christians, not from Christians to Non-Christians. The biblical prophets called their own to repent. The modern day equivalent would be protests against churches, not against non-Christians.
This is even reverberated in the NT as prophets are given for the building of the church and for the equipping of the saints (Eph 4, 1 Cor 12). They are not for the condemning of those outside the community of God.
Jonah stands as the lone anomaly. He did call (again, in our terms) non-Christians to repent. But the method of doing so to non-Christians in the New Testament context is quite different. And here is exactly my point:
Repentance, in the New Testament, is done with God’s kindness (Rom 1). Repentance is faith in Jesus. And repentance is a turning from sin in response to falling in love with a holy God.
Without a love relationship with Jesus, repentance is impossible.
Why do we (Christians) then take signs as ask people to repent without offering the love of Jesus to others?
I don’t know about any other Christian, but I found that God never shoved truth down my throat. In our first meeting, God never came to me with a sword, he came to me with a helping hand.
We are not prophets to homosexuals. And we are not to reflect the wrath of God, for wrath is not ours to display. Wrath cannot penetrate the loving saving relationship with God, an experience that we should instead invite others into.
