Pro-gay theology seems to be picking up steam in some circles. People are eager to baptize their affirmation of homosexual behavior with the Bible. It doesn’t work for many reasons I’ve written about before.
Recently, however, I’ve been asking those who adopt pro-gay theology a question. They are asking us to believe one of three options. Which of the following should we believe?
Option 1: Jesus was wrong. He upheld the Genesis account of male-female creation (Matt. 19:4), taught that only a man and woman can create a one-flesh union (Matt. 19:5), believed male-female marriage was a God-ordained institution (Matt. 19:6), and taught that all sexual activity outside marriage was sin. But one option is to believe that Jesus was mistaken on that.
Moreover, Jesus personally converted Paul, who wrote nearly half of the New Testament. Paul, like his master, Jesus, upheld the male-female prerequisite for one-flesh union as taught in the Genesis account of creation. He described the male-female marriage union like Christ and His bride (the Church), an analogy that necessitates the sex differences in male-female marriage to make the analogy work (Eph. 5:21–32). He also taught that homosexual behavior was sin (Rom. 1:26–27, 1 Cor. 6:9, 1 Tim. 1:10).
One option, then, is to believe that Jesus and Paul, who was trained by Jesus, were wrong.
Option 2: The Church has been wrong. Another possible option is that church teaching has been wrong for 2,000 years. Since its inception, the Church has taught that marriage is only between a man and a woman, sexual activity can only occur in a marriage, and homosexual behavior is sin. The body of Christ has never wavered from this teaching.
Furthermore, although different denominations have held different views on baptism, the eucharist, and other doctrines, the Church has been unified on sexual ethics. It’s never wavered from its teaching on male-female marriage for 2,000 years.
The second option, then, is to believe that the Church has been wrong all along.
Option 3: Some Americans are wrong. This third option is to believe that a group of 21st century Americans (of course there are more in other Western countries) are wrong about the Bible and theology. They’ve been influenced by the culture and most likely wouldn’t have adopted pro-gay theology 500 years ago or even 50 years ago. Now, however, they’ve “discovered” that the Bible affirms homosexual relationships at precisely the same time secular culture began accepting homosexuality.
The third option is to believe that this is no coincidence.
So, which is it? What does the advocate of pro-gay theology expect us to believe? Was Jesus wrong, has the Church been wrong, or is a group of 21st century Americans wrong?