I am currently preaching through Paul’s first letter to the
Thessalonians at Grace Baptist Church
in Wood Green, London .
A couple of weeks back the text was 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, where Paul
addresses the issue of sexual immorality. The message was on the passion of
lust, the propriety of love, and the power of the Lord. Several important
issues were addressed, from the ongoing ‘mummy-porn’ craze to the glorification
of non-marital sexual relationships in the Arts to the proposed ‘redefinition’
of marriage by the British government and people were called to be washed in
the perfect purity of Jesus Christ by repentance of sin and faith in him. After
the service a guest mentioned to me that he had not heard these things dealt
with in church before. What he intended and I received as a word of
encouragement, at the same time troubled me.
People are people wherever they are. And people are sinners
by inclination. It is not that in London
you have more sinners than elsewhere – you just have more people. As a result sin,
and particularly sexual sin, is pretty much everywhere you look. Why then am I
hearing someone say that in his experience, he hasn’t heard sexual immorality
specifically and directly spoken on from the pulpit? Could it be that this is
not only heard from the mouth of one witness, but also seen in the lives of
millions around us who continue to be ruled by their senses instead of the
Saviour?
There are many applications to what I am saying, but none
more glaring than the way in which preachers tend to dance around the subject
of homosexuality (the desires and the acts of which are clearly and inescapably
defined in the Bible as sin). I would not be at all surprised if it is a
subject for the most part mentioned only when deemed absolutely necessary - and
then not in a particularly robust manner: homosexuality is something which the
preacher ‘personally believes’ is a sin, and sin all of a sudden becomes
defined as ‘not God’s best for us’ and a hastily added and unnecessarily emphasized caveat tells us that there are lots of other things which are ‘not God’s best
for us’ like ‘eating one piece of cake too much.’ And so the sin Romans 1 uses
to illustrate the extent of humanity’s rebellion against God is made out to be a
mere trifle.
Granted, the proposed redefinition of marriage has prompted
more vocalization of the Biblical teaching. But one of the reasons we have to
preach against gay marriage specifically today is the failure to preach against
homosexuality generally yesterday. To
say that it might not have seemed as immediately important at the time is
irrelevant. The failure to address some issues hypothetically cultivates soil
in which those very issues grow into reality.
On the issue of homosexuality in Great Britain, it is my
fear that all too often those who say they have been tasked with proclaiming
God’s word (and by implication have been thoroughly equipped and empowered by
the Spirit) have kept quiet when they should have been heard, have backed away
in retreat when they should have charged forward in righteousness, and have
fought as those who are weak in the flesh instead of strong in the Lord and the
power of his might. There is no acceptable justification for such a soft-handed
approach. No, not even trying to avoid confusion with the hate-filled gospel-void
rhetoric of Fred Phelps’s Westboro organization. When the gospel is faithfully preached
in all its glorious fullness, it will in no way undermine the seriousness of
sin, detract from the Lord’s forgiveness, or empty the Lord of his loving,
transforming power. In concluding I quote from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians:
Don’t you know that
the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No
sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing
homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people,
drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s
kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. 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 Cor. 6:9-11, HCSB)
May the Lord grant his ministers boldness, and protect them in all ways.
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