Sin and Being Gay

 

I have been thinking about the relationship between the concept of Christian Sin and being gay. I have had to use my life experience as an addict as a starting point.

It is my view that sin is a willful act of disobedience to Gods will. The operative word is “willful”. From my perspective, I was an addict. Both the use and the path I took to get to the use required multiple acts of will on my part. For me, I was in a state of  rebellion because I had taken a path that removed from the love that is in God.

Based on my conversations with Z, there was not a set of actions that were volition on her part. She did not decide on a path that lead to being gay. She did not seek it out. It is the way she was created.

That’s where I find the difference between what I lived and what she lives is. My life and rebellion was something I wanted and sought. There came a time, through faith, that I was granted relief from it. It was not a part of me. I was not created an addict.

Z is different. She could no more become “un-gay” than she could become “un-female”. There was no volition on her part. She is the way she was created to be.

 

I don’t know any other way to simplify it other than to use those examples. In my view, sin is an act that removes us from Grace. Sin is personal to the individual. I think people can use substances and not be outside the Will of God. I am not one. I also think that being the way you are created and accepting it is part of the Will of God. That, by doing that, you become closer because you do not feel condemned and separated from His love.

I have bias. I trust Z with my fears. When I do, I go to her for prayer. I believe her faith is strong and she lives within the Will of God. By necessity, I will not believe that her nature is sin.

*****

I wrote the previous part last night. I have been pondering on what constitutes “sin” in the 8 years and change since I became sober. This is not some randomly new idea for me. It has not come about to, merely, justify Z. Like I put above, I DO have bias, though.

The thing, in all fairness, is that I also believe that being gay can be sin if the person involved believes that they are in rebellion to the will of God. Sin is personal. By the same token, I believe ANY personal act that we, as individuals, believe removes us from God’s will could be sin. I just don’t think that it is our place, as outsiders, to judge what is an inner condition.

As I have grown older, I’ve become far less legalistic. I’ve watched scriptural laws be disregarded to suit social and scientific change. The view that has remained constant is the idea of “active rebellion.” This is the point that I am at. That being gay is not “active” because there is no “choice”. No one, given the current state of things, would willingly choose to be repressed and reviled. No one would pick the difficulties. I think that is overlooked.

These are my thoughts. I am sure there are people that will disagree.