Dallas Church Draws Protest
Written by: Mike | November 10th, 2008
On Sunday, November 9th, about 100 protesters showed up outside the First Baptist Church of Dallas to demonstrate against the weekly sermon entitled, “Why Gay is Not O.K.”
Carrying signs bearing the words “I’m Gay and It’s OK” and “Christ Taught Love Not Hate,” the protesters lined both sides of San Jacinto Street in front of the downtown church.
They sang “Jesus Loves Me” and cheered when passing motorists honked their horns and waved in support.
“Most of the people here are Christians, and they’re taking offense at the Baptist Church trying to say how Christ’s love should be interpreted,” said Patrick Hancock, who attended the peaceful protest. It was organized earlier this week when someone noticed the sermon topic on the church marquee.
While I don’t know the exact content of the sermon, the statements of the protesters reveal some of the fundamental misunderstandings people in modern America have about the Gospel of Jesus–especially when it comes to this issue.
It’s pretty common that I hear attitudes like Mr. Hancock’s expressed; people believe that to say homosexuality is sinful is the same thing as saying that God doesn’t love people who struggle with it or embrace it.
What people seem to forget is that Jesus consistently reminded people that we are all sinners in need of saving.
“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Matthew 7:11 NLT (emphasis added)
“…And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” Luke 13:3 NLT
Remember the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)? Jesus defended her from the people who wanted to condemn her to death (and revealed that they were really no better than she was). The scene ends, though, with Jesus telling the woman to leave her life of sin (verse 11).
Imagine if she had then brushed Jesus off and accused him of hate! Sadly, that’s what a lot of people did in Jesus’ time when they heard the meat of his message, and they’re still doing it today.
The Gospel is about God’s unconditional love for every person in the world, and that because of this unconditional love we have the opportunity to be forgiven of our sins and make–with God’s help–a radical change of direction in our lives; in essence, to go from self-serving to God-serving. A gospel that’s just about “acceptance” and good feelings and ignores the call to repent and obey God is not the Gospel at all.
Like I said, I don’t know the exact content of the sermon, but from the article it seems like the preacher got the basics right.
He said Sunday’s sermon was part of the “Politically Incorrect” series he’s preaching that explores seven of the most controversial beliefs that Christians can articulate in today’s culture.
Of those, “homosexuality is probably the most culturally explosive issue,” he acknowledged. “Even though culture changes, God’s word doesn’t change.”
Dr. Jeffress said the purpose of his sermon was to “let Christians know what the Bible says about this important topic, and to reaffirm that any and every sin can be forgiven.”
3 Responses to “Dallas Church Draws Protest”
Leave a Reply
You must be to post a comment.
February 4th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Its sad that a group of people would think that love is directly tied to condoning an act. As if the mother didnt love her son that got bad grades or that the father hates the little girl who wears globs of makeup not knowing how to do it herself! C.S. Lewis once made the observation that when we ask God to lower His expectations we are asking for less love not more. God wants the best for His creations and He seems to think that homosexuality falls short of that best. When we ask God to accept and condone homosexuality we are not asking for more love, no, we are asking for less.
Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Precisely because the Bible makes it clear that God will not accept second best for His creations. He is a God of furious Love. To ask God to condone and accept homosexuality is for a mother to condone bad grades and a father to let his little princess go to school looking like a clown. Jesus loves me and will not compromise. Thank God!
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
"Its sad that a group of people would think that love is directly tied to condoning an act."
Hello Frank,
This statement of yours highlights one of the key differences between your position and mine – you limit homosexuality to a mere "act" – that is, to behavior. I disagree. Based on God’s sovereignty, science, my experience of others, and my experience of my own heterosexuality, I hold homosexuality to generally be sexual orientation instead. I consider myself heterosexual because of the various ways in which my body is deeply attracted to women generally and my wife specifically – not simply because I believe I should choose to be straight.
Now that you presumably consider yourself a straight man, I’ve gotta ask you – do you similarly reduce heterosexuality to "an act"? Or is it something more? I look forward to your thoughts on this distinction.
Peace,
Tom R
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Welcome to ExodusYouth Tom. Great to have you. You and I may disagree on certain matters, but know that as long as we can disagree respectfully and engage one another in serious conversation, you will always be welcome. I hope this will not be your only post.
now, in reply to you argument, when I said “an act” I meant precisely that. The Church does not condemn homosexual temptation (I.E. Preference/Orientation.) What is condemned is the sin which is indeed an act. This is in fact good news, as there is a distinction made between the sin and the individual. Like the woman caught in adultery, Christ said “I do not condemn you” (the individual), yet condemning the sin he commanded “Go and sin no more.” She was not her sin, otherwise there would be no redemption. I believe the same offer is extended to homosexuals. God reaches out in compassion saying “I do not condemn you” yet he does not condone of the sin and commands the homosexual to “go and sin no more.”
You mentioned that you are heterosexual because of the various ways in which your body is deeply attracted to women generally and your wife especially. That your heterosexuality is not based on a choice you believe you “should” make. Thats good. However, being that you’re attracted to women in general, do you find you have to restrain from sleeping with women other than your wife? your biology may cry out to be with various women, that does not mean you should do it. In the same way that you attempt to bring your sexuality into line with God’s word, so does the person attempting to leave homosexuality.