God hates the practice, just as He hates all ungodly practices, violating the top most Supreme Law of God —against idolatry. However, homosexuality may be the most controversial in Christianity. It needs not necessarily be. Those religiously appalled as to marginalize homosexuals fit well in hypocrites, described by Christ.
True Christian worship is as simple as applying what is provided in Christ’s teachings. However, the most descriptive analysis of true worship is displayed in the Day and Night worship, by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders in Revelation 4:8-11.
This type of worship gives no room for condemning sinful humanity. Only God deserves and is worthy of worship. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders portray what true worship is, without condemning the sinful humanity.
It will surprise many that the only personality vested with the responsibility of accusing and condemning the sinful humanity is none other than Satan the devil (Revelations 12:10). Throughout His teachings, Jesus actually exposed Satan’s schemes, in the mould of Pharisaic worship, as portrayed in the following citations:
1) In the story of a woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11).
2) In the parable of the Tax collector and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14).
3) In the story of a sinful woman, at dinner time (Luke 7:36-48).
Of these citations, I find the last one being more interesting and revealing of what true worship is all about (Luke 7:36-48). The sinful woman comes to Jesus at the most inconvenient time—violating table manners. The bemused Pharisee could not believe what he was seeing (verse 39). The consideration of etiquette or table manners would have been side-tracking to that sinful woman who had become converted, focusing only on what came from her heart. True worship cannot be hindered by protocol.
The homosexuals were obviously there during Christ’s ministry, just as sinfulness was rampant. But there is no record of Jesus ever displaying lividness against the homosexuals. He displayed ferocity against the hypocritical Pharisees, instead. A traitor can be viewed as a worst sinner. But while Jesus knew about the intentions of Judas Iscariot, He did not banish him. He also gave a parable of Wheat and Tares, implying tolerance of the sinful converts (Matt. 13:24-30).
The poignant question to ask then is: How did condemnation of sinful people infiltrate Christianity? Paul can probably be viewed as having been the most travelled and used Apostle in the first century church. The only unfortunate thing is that most Christians today use Paul’s epistles or letters, as doctrine, instead of mere communication intended for those gentile converts.
Most of what Paul taught was not doctrine, but moral laws, needed by those hooked in such habitual backgrounds. A truly converted person is a new creation, desiring only to obey God. He/she is guided by the Spirit of God, just as the woman using tears to wipe the feet of Jesus at dinner was guided by God’s Spirit.
We have to also appreciate that Paul’s background was Pharisaic. But he was caught having to deal with the gentile converts, whose sinful habits could not be broken overnight. Dwelling on trying to address those immoral practices, Paul set a trend, later to be adopted by most Christians, supposing everything Paul said was doctrinal. Christianity is based on Christ’s teachings alone. Of course, we can learn a lot from those early apostles, but their teachings should be weighed against what Jesus taught.
When submitting to true worship, one is gently led out of sinful practices through the Holy Spirit. Like in the case of three citations in Jesus examples, only Christ helps the converts out of their sinful behaviour. No-one has a mandate to superintend over a Christian who would have become God’s Child.
While Paul revealed the distribution of Spiritual gifts and that no-one is more important than others (Rom 12:3-10 & 1 Corinthians 12), today’s Christians love hierarchical structures. They despise Matthew 23:10-12. Christ is regarded as not sufficient in His leadership role, hence hierarchical structures in Christian organizations.
The mandate of the apostles had been to preach the gospel; focusing on the forgiveness of sins and the Kingdom of God (Matthew 28:18-20). However, what we see today, in Christian circles, is condemnation of sinners, especially the homosexuals. While the condemnation of the unbelieving sinners is implied, only Jesus is vested with the responsibility to condemn, as He declared:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matt 7:1-2).
Like most of Jesus’ teachings, in what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, the above scripture is despised. Yet at the end of that sermon Jesus said that anyone hearing and practicing what He said is like someone building on solid rock. But anyone doing the opposite would be like the one building on sand (Matthew 7:24-27).
Jesus does not need gate-keepers in His Church. Neither does He need supervisors, necessarily. Jesus needs true worshippers who are guided by His Spirit to do His work, which is not necessarily to always supervise, as clearly shown in Romans 12:3-10 & 1 Corinthians 12. I hope that what I have said here does not invite vicious attacks from those with Pharisaic disposition?
But picking on homosexuality as if it is the only sin in the world, is hypocrisy of highest order, being practiced in this modern dispensation. This is a sinful world. God is aware of that. Christians are not called to remove the sins of the world. That role is vested on Jesus alone (John 1:29). Christians are basically to worship in a manner that influences the enhancement of true Christianity.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries currently stuck with homosexual aberration. The general populace is led to believe that condemning homosexuals, by the politicians, indicates that the country is a pure nation. However, even among those Western countries espousing liberty, the homosexual aberration is still existent. Senior clergies are still debating on whether homosexuals should be ordained as Church pastors or not.
Still caught up with authoritarianism, they do not realize that the prerogative on ordinations solely rests with God. It is a question of whether Christ’s teachings are taken seriously or used only as convenience to enjoy in pleasures of sin. But, as Jesus displayed, the worst enemy of Christianity is hypocrisy (Matthew 23).
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, which lays down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into becoming a model to other countries worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing reliefs to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social instability. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabwean readers should find the book as a long awaited providential oasis of hope.