Can a Practicing Homosexual Be a Christian?

The narrative that has been constructed within Christian communities to address homosexuality often suggests, even if only implicitly, that homosexuality is somehow different from other sins. Yes, I do believe that homosexuality is a sin, but I do not see it as being different from any other sin. The Bible is clear on this; anyone who completes an open-minded, exhaustive study of the Biblical position on the practice of homosexuality cannot deny that the Bible counts homosexuality as a sin. That said, does the Bible really deal with homosexuality more seriously than it does any other sin?

I think this question is absurd. Can a practicing homosexual be a Christian? Really, that's the question we want answered? Well, can a practicing liar be a Christian? Can a heterosexual man who lusts after a beautiful woman be a Christian? Can someone who is greedy be a Christian? What about someone who places their career ahead of their family on their list of priorities, can they be Christian?

We have no means of knowing with certainty who is among the elect and who isn't, so it's absurd to me to ask questions like whether or not practicing homosexuals can be Christians. For me this question can be answered with a question, "Do the elect sin?" The answer? Of course they do. But Christ has paid their debt in full for their sin and that debt is no longer chargeable to them.

In this way I think Mac Arthur is misguided to make such a statement as, "Homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God." Of course that's true, just as a liar shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and nor shall a gossip, a cheat, a thief, or an adulterer; and the reason is because the righteousness of Jesus is placed upon all who, by the grace of God, believe in the deity of our King and Savior Jesus Christ. Our sin, the sin of the gossip and of the homosexual, if one has received the gift of salvation, is wiped away by the blood of Christ. The believer's old life, in which he was enslaved to his sin, has died away and he has received a new life in Christ, and thus is justified in the eyes of God as an inheritor of the Kingdom of God.

As Christians we need to recognize our tendency to single out certain sins as intolerable while tolerating others, seemingly based on the level of "ickyness" we feel about a particular sinful lifestyle. All sin separates us from God and without Jesus we're all walking around dead in our trespasses. We are called by Christ to share the Good News with everyone and singling out homosexuality as something unforgivable is not going to help the effort to share the gospel with the gay community. Let's stop focusing on the wrong questions, start doing battle with all sin, and begin sharing the love of Christ with all unrepentant sinners! Amen?