“Equality Act”
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” Romans 1:26-28
This is one of the clearest passages in all scripture that declares homosexuality and transgenderism to be sinful, and of a “debased mind.” These are not easy things to write about or discuss, but they are the moral battleground of our day.
You need to be aware of the “Equality Act.” President Biden campaigned on, was elected on, and promised to press this legislation into law within the first 100 days of his presidency. He is serious about it, and it could pass the house within the coming weeks. The equality act (known as HR5) expands the language of the 1964 Civil Rights act to include “sexual orientation” as a protected category. If passed, the Equality Act would elevate gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, and queer people into a federal legally protected class of people. The act also includes the +, on LGBTQ+, in the language of the law. The plus is a now an unknown category. This leaves open the door to protect in the future any other, now inconceivable, sexual perversion that could be invented. The + is a catch-all category of any sexual perversion that could possibly be dreamed up in the future that is beyond the depths that we have already reached.
If this legislation is passed in any form that is close to its current language, it will be the greatest restriction to religious liberty in the US that we have ever known. What this means in reality is that a Christian hospital could not refuse to perform a sex change operation, because it would be discrimination. A Christian college or private school could not refuse admission to an openly gay student. That same school could not refuse to hire a transgender teacher. A Christian event coordinator could not refuse to coordinate the wedding of a lesbian couple. A church could not refuse to hire a queer man as an administrator, or possibly even for a ministry position! The examples could be multiplied forever.
The bottom line is that the president, with the help of a democratic senate and democratic house, are seeking to reverse the moral order when it comes to sexual morality. They are attempting to mandate, under the penalty of criminal law, that all things homosexual and transgender, are in fact, good – even though the Bible tells us clearly that they are wrong. Advocates of the Equality Act constantly use the word “discrimination,” and work to place themselves on the moral high ground by putting all homosexuals and transgender people in the place of victims. The discussion is framed that to not hire a person, or to refuse service or access, because of one’s sexual orientation is to discriminate against them. We need to stop here and talk about the difference between discrimination, and declaring something to be morally wrong.
It is not discrimination to declare something to be wrong that is, in fact, wrong. The Bible, as revelation from God, clearly declares that sex before marriage, adultery, homosexuality, and transgenderism are sinful. These acts are sinful because they are counter to God’s expressed will and counter to His design in creation. The Bible has a clear, and constantly proclaimed, sexual ethic. The Bible is anything but silent when it comes to the morality of sex and the boundary of one-man and one-woman marriage. To agree with God concerning what is right and wrong is not discrimination.
To declare that a person is acting in a sinful way, does not mean that I hate that person or that I am “phobic” of that person. The word “homophobic” is thrown around often these days concerning Christians that condemn homosexual acts. The basis of this is the idea that “backward” people are afraid of what they do not understand. But Christian people are not uninformed about homosexuality. They object to it on moral grounds. Informed Christians understand exactly what LGBTQ+ people are doing sexually, and they understand that God has declared their chosen course of living to be sinful. No Christian has the authority to declare something as morally right that God has declared morally wrong, just because the sin involves a friend, coworker, or child. And so Christians everywhere, if they are to be faithful the teachings of the Bible, must declare that people who live LGBTQ+ lives to be morally wrong.
How this is said is extremely important. We pray that this confrontation of sin will lead to confession and repentance. We pray that they will believe in Jesus as Savior and forsake their sin. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, all people can be made new and live lives of sexual purity. But this gospel (good news!) cannot be preached if Christians affirm sinners in their sin because of cultural pressure. The Christian church does not hate homosexuals and transgender people, but we do state plainly that they are living in sin.
Two things should be noted, regardless of what happens with this legislation. First, the local Christian church will never stop proclaiming right from wrong. The local church will not cast aside the Bible and its teachings to please ungodly politicians. Jesus Himself, the head of the Church, will sustain and strengthen His people no matter what the government does, or does not do. A lack of religious liberty will not stop true Christian churches from meeting, but will cause them to become more intentional in their devotion to Jesus and His holiness.
Second, this legislation must not cause us to hate those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer. We must constantly remind ourselves that the way of Jesus is to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-48). We must desire to see these people come to know Jesus in a real and saving way. We must truly love them. We must not have our desire to see favorable legislation pass cause us to lose sight of the overall message of the gospel. If we lose sight of what it means to call the lost world to repentance and salvation, then the meeting of the church becomes pointless.
May the Holy Spirit help us to never deny right from wrong, help us to love the lost, and always provide a way for us to meet together as the local church. Let’s pray for our governing leaders, and may righteousness prevail.
Keep your eyes on Jesus. Only He knows what is ahead,
Pastor Vic