Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Are People Born That Way?

Hello sir, I had a couple questions regarding your sermon on Sunday. Listening to it, I became a bit confused as to your view of homosexuality. So, what precisely is your view of homosexuality? It goes without saying that way of living is wrong, but I wondered, do you think people can be born homosexual? Good Question, Humanity is a fallen, sin-laden race and we are born with various desires and/or we may acquire various desires as we grow. "Yet man is born into trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7) Some of these desires may be attached to our biological make-up, some may be psychological. My point was: ethics must transcend human desire. In short, whether or not someone is born with strong homosexual desires is moot. For example, if I am born with a strong (even overwhelming) desire to do violence, that desire must be overcome or somehow restrained. We certainly shouldn't redefine our ethics to accommodate our strong passions; that man "comes forth from the womb speaking lies" (Ps. 58:3) does not justify lying. None of this means we should be insensitive to the difficulties and struggles people have with their desires. More to the point is that we don't establish ethics via human passions.