Evangelical and born-again Christians: I have always been respectfully curious about a trend I have seen here-

Question

If works don't matter, then why is it such a big deal to have to oppose the gay movement, sexuality, and other liberal trends?

If you're not going to be condemned for their sins, and they're not going to be condemned for their sins (but rather their unbelief, if such is the case), then what motivation is there to have such a strong voice against these things?

As a side note, I also believe these things are contrary to God's will, but I recognize and celebrate my counterparts' freedom to engage in them, even though I believe their works may have consequences. Thoughts?

Answer 1

@Pilgrim:

That's from the Declaration of Independence, the message we sent to King George to tell him we were tired of paying his taxes.

The Constitution has nothing to say about God.

Answer 2

Ok, just want to clarify something here --

God has given us certain inalienable rights such as listed above...

But a government's rights are derived from the people. In order to form a cohesive society or community, we give up certain rights -- for instance, we develop a court system with police to protect & uphold the laws and citizens, and for the sake of order and harmony, we do not have the right of revenge [eye for an eye, etc].

As we deal with the perversions & wickedness of people around us, it can be difficult to know where and how to draw the line between enabling the agency of mankind vs a law-abiding and peaceful society.

We have every right to be a strong voice against perceived perversion and wickedness encroaching in our society & community.

Nice question.
Merry Christmas and God bless us, everyone.

Answer 3

Some people can’t seem to tell the difference between the Bible and the U.S. Constiitution. Contrary to the beliefs of some here, our civil rights as American citizens come from the Constittution and NOT from the Bible.

“Thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman” is nowhere to be found in the U.S. Constitution, nor is it found in any State statute. It is NOT THE SECULAR LAW OF THE LAND. Therefore, you do NOT have a “right” to a society free of sexually-transmitted diseases (as if such a thing could ever be enforced). And every sexually transmitted disease that you think is spread by homosexual sodomy is also spread by heterosexual sex as well. There are no diseases exclusive to homosexuals.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery” is lijkewise nowhere to be found anywhere in the Constitution, and Iis NOT THE SECULAR LAW OF THE LAND either.

Finally, the Constitution, our civil rights, and our legal system, are predicated on the rights of the INDVIDUAL CITIZEN. It is the individual who is the basis of our society, not “the family”.

Answer 4

Inside every candy store you always find a handful of nuts.

There are Christians who bomb abortion clinics, hate and protests against gay rights, etc. Please understand that these people who do this are NOT a representation of many Christians. Just like Americans don't all hold the same beliefs as Bush, but we're still Americans.

Christianity is a Religion of Love. Whether or not Homosexuality is against "The Way" that Jesus spoke about is still undetermined to me. The Old Testament had rules against Gays...This could have been because a people of that time needed all the procreation they could get. I don't you, but the New Testament doesn't re-enforce the subject.

The queer thing (no pun intended) is that Christians are against gay marriage. To me, the major sin with gays is sex with random people and straits are guilty of the same sin. If we as a country let gays marry, maybe they would hold true to one partner and avoid the evils otherwise. But we spend too much time not letting them get what Constitutionally is theirs for the taking.

All I can ask is Please don't judge Christianity based on those people. You are right in what your saying and I apologize for them. Hate is not the message Jesus wants us to spread. He wants people called out for sinning, but in a "how can I help" type of way.

If your gay and want to keep the faith, the best you can do is just find love. Sex for indulgence or for fun is not the way, gay or straight. Find Love in someone and I'm sure that forgiveness is extended to you.

Answer 5

Like Yoda's Duck, I am not Evangelical or Born again, so I hope you don't mind me posting.

The way I see it is that there is a BIG difference between telling someone that you think they are living in sin and trying to cram, your opinion or faith, down someone else's throat. I am going to paraphrase a quote that I heard in a movie. "To tell once makes you a good Christian, to tell a second time makes you a raving bigot."

Answer 6

If you are really a follower of Christ (which what CHRISTian means) you would live your life in a way that glorifies God not because you are trying to please yourself or those around you, but because you have been forgiven and have been saved. We strive to abide by a higher standard than our own, that is, God's standard. We have to admit that we are human and imperfect beings so we need to draw closer to God through prayer and reading the Bible. True we aren't saved by doing these things, but prayer and the Bible are like a bird's 2 wings - one cannot fly with just one.

Answer 7

Even though I'm not evengelical or "born again" I'd like to weigh in on the issue...

My feeling is (to a degree) similar to Pilgrim's. As is pointed out in the movie, Polyanna, God wants us to be happy. In the Old and New Testaments together, He commands us to be happy or rejoyce over 800 times!

God's commands are designed to bring us happiness. If we as citizens condone others' sins, we're adding to their sorrow- a state exactly contrary to what God wants.

Answer 8

The root of the problem lies within the creation of religion itself.

Evangelicals and born agains (I used to be one) believe in the bible as God's word. Therefore they must follow it to the best of their ability. They claim that salvation comes by grace, but then spend a great deal of time preaching against bad works.

I used to do the same. The reason for this, is that religion at its heart is an attempt to explain disaster and tribulation in life, by assigning it to God. It then attempts to absolve God from his action, by claiming that these things happen because of the bad behavior of mankind. "God let Katrina hit New Orleans, because of the Gays".

Religion at its heart, is not really about love, no matter what marketing it is wrapped in. I remember thinking 'Why can't they just see how much God loves them?'. It was mind boggling to me. I now understand that I was completely ignoring the fact that I believed that God was letting suffering and evil befall mankind in disproportionate amounts, and ultimately believed that most of mankind deserved torture after life.

I was the one who was confused and religion caused it.

Answer 9

As Christian's we can never say it is ok to sin. Sin is wrong. We must not justify them. When we do sin we must recognize that it is wrong and try not to do it again. As far as others we understand they have the right and freedom to engage in them but we still can't say it is ok we still have to say the sin is wrong and not condone it.

Next my personal belief is that you can lose your salvation so following Jesus's 2 commandments of love thy God and love thy neighbor produce works so not doing this you will lose your salvation.

Answer 10

Read the Bible my friend. The sins of the individual do have an effect on the society as a whole.

Answer 11

James stated very well that a faith without works is dead. It's not that works save you, it's that you do good works because you are saved. The gay movement is the prime example as to why we as a country and religion in general are in trouble. The Bible is very clear on homosexuality.
Works do matter. Upholding what the Bible says without reservation matters more.