I finally got a chance to listen to Wade’s sermon, “Antihomosexual”. I’m going to have to listen to it again before I can comment though, because he said so much.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking on a couple of questions which, I’ve felt like I’ve had answered for a while, but have popped up recently, so I’ve been giving them some more attention. You’ll probably be able to infer the answers I’ve reached in the past by the way each question is framed, which is ok.
1. How do we deal with sin in the body? Greed, gossip, and sexual immorality bounce around the church like so many pinballs, and nothing seems to be interfering. What do we do about it?
Are we only responsible for our own sin, or are we responsible for keeping one another accountable?
2. Is there any sin that isn’t hurting anyone? In discussing sexuality with a non-Christian friend last year we talked quite a bit about the nature of sexual sin. His point was that sex between consensual adults (as long as it isn’t cheating) doesn’t hurt anyone, so there’s no real problem with it. I’ve heard the same sentiment from Christians from several different denominations over the last couple of years about monogamous homosexual relationships.
Well, I guess the question should be, is there a way to commit sin that doesn’t hurt yourself or anyone else?
3. What are our standards for leadership? We all sin, so perfection is out the window. But how do we decide who is eligible? Can we really employ the standards of 1 Timothy 3?
4. We are all sinful, but is there a difference in the sin of someone struggling against temptation and the unrepentant defiance of someone who says, in essence, “I know this is sin, but I will not stop.” (I don’t know where to put the question mark in this sentence, so just pretend it’s in the right place)
Do we approach the unrepentant the same as the struggling?
I’ve come to my own conclusions on these issues in the past, but I’m always interested to hear from those who disagree, we may learn some things from each other.
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