Hillcrest Q&A: Homosexuality

The question(s) I was the most uncomfortable answering:

Question:  Can gay people have a partner to live with?  Can gay people have sex?  Can a gay couple (or single) adopt a child?

Answer:

·         These questions probably meant “should” rather than “can”!
·         What happens when we replace “gay people” with “unmarried heterosexual people”- does our response change any?  Because it seems we’re ok with heterosexual folks living together, having relations together, adopting together but when it comes to a gay person or couple doing these things, then we draw the line and say it’s wrong.
·         According to the Bible sex is meant for marriage between a man and a woman.  Sex outside the context of marriage- premarital, extramarital, homosexual, etc- comes with emotional and spiritual repercussions.  So should a gay person have sex?  According to Scripture, the answer is no.  See texts such as Genesis 2, 1 Timothy 1, and Romans 1 for more information.
·         However, as we’ve previously discussed in this series, the church errs when it singles out this issue as the bad issue.  In the Timothy and Romans passages the idea of homosexuality is listed with other sinful behavior- sins that each of us would be guilty of.  In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he expands adultery to include lustful thoughts and marrying a divorced person and expands murder to include hateful thoughts and anger with others.  This is an area where we need to as Jesus said consider the log in our own eye before we talk about the speck in someone else’s.
·         And on the subject of adoption, I'll get perhaps somewhat controversial and argue that yes, a gay couple and/or single person (male or female) should be able to adopt a child.  There’s no proof text for this one.  While this may sound scandalous at first, if the choice is between an orphanage where the child will receive minimal care or a home with a single parent or gay parent where the child will receive all of the resources (food, clothing, shelter, love, medical care, education, etc) necessary to flourish in life, the choice- politics and religion aside- should be a no-brainer.  The loving home- no matter the marital affiliation of the parent(s)- is always the best choice.