Sex and Sin

I was discussing yesterday's post with a good friend. We took it off blog and to email. It was a good discussion and I hope I can answer her remaining questions here today.

Her last question was, how is gay sex any worse a sin than the sex outside of heterosexual marriage, i.e. adultery?

The short answer is it is not. Sin is, as you say, sin. If I implied anything else, I am sorry. The intention from our Creator from the beginning was that sex is reserved for men and women committed to each other in marriage. This is what the Lord intended for the entire human race. It is more than cultural. It is supposed to be this way for everyone, whether you believe or do not.

Having said that, there are some things about homosexuality that are uniquely sinful and in some ways more offensive to God than common adultery. This also comes from the created order. The family unit is to be a microcosm of God's relationship to His people. Men and women together in a binding lifetime marriage is representative of Christ's marriage to the Church. And just like marriages between men and women, The Church can be quite the adulterer - the whore. I would say 'slut', but I will reserve that for the Unitarians.

What follows here next is my opinion. It comes from experience and it comes from history. Only some of it comes from the Bible.

So...when two men or two women come together in a love relationship (or lust), even if it is a binding monogamous relationship, it is in opposition to the created order. It is in some ways worse than adultery and here is why. The physical bodies of men and women were intended to compliment each other. The woman was to be the submissive partner when united with a man in sexual union. For her submission, she receives control and authority to raise the children produced by the union with the advice and consent of her husband. I know this grates against the modern thought process and ideas about women's roles in the world and even the Church, but is, I believe, what God intended for our lives here. In eternity, I believe it will be different. Instead, we will ALL be in submission to God and there will be no marriage...but I digress.

Homosexuality flies in the face of this created order. The bodies of men do not compliment each other. If men are to love each other sexually and in a penetrative way, they must find other means. I'm sure you've noticed that men lack a vagina and some other equipment that you straight guys seem to enjoy. Instead, if you are a man loving another man, one of you must assume a role of submission sexually. In effect, the dominant partner makes a woman out of a man that God created to be a man. It is a violation of God's created order and his original intentions. It is also why the Old Testament describes homosexuality as an abomination.  Men were not intended to submit to each other in a sexual way.

It is also impossible for this kind of union to produce children.

It is true that God created sexuality. It is also true that He put heavy restrictions on this gift. He did so for his pleasure and to create order. God is not the author of confusion. It's us that does that. It's that confusion that becomes sin and creates havoc in lives that were intended to be peaceful and joyful and in union with our God. It is our choices that continue to corrupt the race, both physically and spiritually.

Sin is sin and all of them are what God is not and what He does not want. Some sins though, are more devastating and life changing than others from our perspective. Adultery and homosexuality are two of these - sins committed with the body that can have devastating effects on those involved, both spiritual and physical. Sins committed outside the body will also effect your relationship with God, but they are not usually as destructive in a spiritual sense. Recovery from these kinds of sin is easier.

Got it? Or are you more confused?