Ken Chumbley
A number of years ago an article appeared in a newspaper with the following headline: “Church welcomes everyone” which reported on the establishing of a new church group in Charleston. This particular church, the Appalachian Metropolitan Community Church, however, is different to most in that it is a part of a denomination that caters particularly to sodomites. Alongside that article was a short column under the title “4 your info, ‘4’ parents!” This stated:
At issue: Many Christian denominations believe that homosexuality is condemned in the Bible. But other Christians believe that particular passages have been misinterpreted or mistranslated. For example, the Sin of Sodom is generally thought to be that of homosexuality. But some Bible scholars say the sin is instead that of uncaring and godlessness. What do you think?
Indeed, what do you think? Here is the passage of Scripture:
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door (Gen. 19:1-10).
Does this sound like the sin of “uncaring and godlessness”? One has to ignore the plain meaning of the text to come up with such an idea. For one to promote such a perverted interpretation of the text, as proposed above, is simply to enable one to promote or at least accept this perverted lifestyle. Not only is the sin of sodomy condemned in this passage but it is also condemned in Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:24-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and 1 Timothy 1:8-10. Again, these passages are very clear. For one to deny that the Bible condemns the sin of sodomy is to ignore plain Bible teaching.
Brethren, we are living in an age in which it is not popular to condemn such behavior. Even our court system upholds this sinful practice by making it possible for such to marry. However, popular or not we have an obligation to speak out against this perverted lifestyle and to show that God condemns such behavior. We need also to teach that those who practice such can change (“and such were some of you”—1 Cor. 6:11). If sodomy were not sin, God would not have condemned it. However, God has always condemned sodomites and lesbian relationships as sin, and so must we.
