Has God changed His mind about homosexuality? This was the question raised by Dr. F. Dean Hackett, lead pastor of Living Faith Church in Hermiston, Oregon, following moves taken by some churches to adopt new cultural standards and show a more open attitude towards homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
Can you imagine a time when God might change His mind and grant approval for one of His commandments to be violated? "Do the commandments of God adjust to an ever-changing worldview, new cultural standards or more open moral behavior?" he wrote in an article for Charisma News.
Apparently, some pastors would like their flocks to believe that God sometimes answers "maybe" to these questions, Hackett said. How else can Christians explain Pastor Brian Houston's defence that Hillsong Church is having an "ongoing conversation" about gay marriage?
Hackett quoted Houston as saying, "This is a conversation the Church needs to have and we are all on a journey as we grapple with the question of merging biblical truth with a changing world."
Even Pastor Stan Mitchell, pastor of GracePoint, a megachurch in Franklin, Tennessee, told the church congregation that practicing homosexuals are welcome in their church and they can even hold gay marriages in their sanctuary. "Full privileges are extended now to you with the same expectations of faithfulness, sobriety, holiness, wholeness, fidelity, godliness, skill and willingness. That is expected of all. Full membership means being able to serve in leadership and give all of your gifts and receive all the sacraments; not only communion and baptism but child dedication and marriage," Mitchell said.
Then there's Pastor Tony Campolo from City Church, San Francisco's largest evangelical church, who recently said, "It has taken countless hours of prayer, study, conversation and emotional turmoil to bring me to the place where I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the church."
But whatever reasoning these church leaders may have in accepting homosexuals and same-sex marriages in their churches, Hackett does not agree. Hackett believes that when God says "no," He clearly means "no," and Christians should not twist the meaning of His Word just so they can merge the truth with today's changing world.
He shared several Bible verses to prove his point. The first is Leviticus 18:22, which says, "You shall not lie with a man as one does with a woman. It is an abomination."
Deuteronomy 23:17 says, "There must never be a cult prostitute among the daughters of Israel nor a cult prostitute among the sons of Israel."
And finally, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, "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 male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."
