For eight-and-a-half years, I pastored a non-denominational church that I started. Some Sundays, as a part of our services, I would describe an everyday situation and ask, “What would Jesus have us do in this situation?” My original plan for the segment was to play off the old question, “What would Jesus do?” But the first time I included the segment in our service, someone wisely noted that oftentimes what Jesus would do isn’t the same as what He would have us do. For example, if Jesus attended a funeral, He might very well raise the deceased! So, I changed the whole theme to, “What would Jesus have us do?”

My questions were never easy ones, such as, “Should I rob this bank?” or “Should I beat my wife?” I always chose situations that didn’t have obvious, cookie-cutter answers. What I was after was a good discussion, one that addressed all the sometimes conflicting angles of the situation. I found it fascinating to moderate these discussions and listen as sincere Christian people bantered back and forth in their answers. By listening to a person’s answer, I could tell what his or her priorities were. You see, each Christian is unique, and each one tends to major upon different aspects of Jesus and His teachings.

One Sunday I waded into the shark-infested waters of our nation’s cultural war by talking about not only the gay and lesbian ads that J.C. Penney was doing at the time but also the counter stance that was being taken by Chick-fil-A at the time. I said, “At one end of a shopping mall, you have a J.C. Penney store. At the other end, in the food court, you have a Chick-fil-A. If Jesus was in that mall, what would He do? Would He shop at J.C. Penney? Would He boycott them? Would He eat at Chick-fil-A? And even more than that, what would He have us, as Christians, do?”

The discussion that followed was so impactful that folks wanted to revisit the topic the following Sunday. So we did. Perhaps not surprisingly, with everyone having had a week’s worth of time to think about the matter, that second discussion was even better than the previous one had been.

One woman noted that Christians condemning homosexuals and alienating ourselves from them hasn’t led one homosexual to attend church, join a Bible study, or accept Christ as Savior. Conversely, one man said that he believes that Christians have given up way too much ground already and that if we had spoken up early enough and loud enough we wouldn’t be in such a mess today. Another man said that he just couldn’t see himself continuing to shop at J.C. Penny. Another woman said that it’s easy for Christians to come down hard on homosexuals until the homosexual is a family member or close friend.

The entire discussion caused me to think a lot harder about the proper Christian response to the homosexual movement, and I’m going to use this post to share some of my thoughts. I’ll ask you to read each thought and consider it carefully, keeping in mind that what we’re after here is a maturing of our Christian faith and a heightening of our spiritual discernment. This goes for this author as well.

#1: Jesus is much more complex than many Christians want Him to be. The same Jesus who taught, “I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39) flew into a rage against the wicked money-changers in the Jewish temple and angrily ran them out of there with a whip of cords (John 2:13-17). I wonder, which Jesus do you like? The same Jesus who showed mercy and refused to condemn a woman caught in the very act of adultery also made a point of telling her, “Go, and sin no more.” Then He started talking about the difference between walking in darkness and walking in the light (John 8:1-12). Which part of that story do you like best? Needless to say, the actions and character traits of Jesus that personally appeal to you the most will be an indicator of how you feel a Christian should conduct himself or herself in the cultural war.

#2: Christians aren’t all the same. Paul was an educated intellectual (Acts 22:1-3), but Peter and John were uneducated fishermen (Acts 4:13). Matthew was a tax collector (Matthew 9:9), but Luke was a physician (Colossians 4:14). You get the idea. Some Christians are very comfortable grabbing a picket sign and marching against a sin. Other Christians oppose the same sin but simply aren’t hardwired to be so vocal and outspoken. With this understood, how wonderful it would be if each Christian stopped criticizing fellow Christians who don’t think and act exactly like he or she does.

#3: God knows how to use each Christian effectively based upon that Christian’s individuality. Joshua was a great military man who led the Israelites in their conquering of Canaan (Joshua chapters 6-12). Daniel, on the other hand, allowed himself to wrongfully be thrown to the lions rather than fight (Daniel 6:1-23). Which man did God use mightily? Both. Therefore, Christian, I would advise you not to try to be something you’re not. If you are a Joshua, don’t be ashamed of it. Likewise, if you are a Daniel, don’t try to grab your sword and go play Joshua. Whereas Daniel was God’s voice in the highly charged political atmosphere of Babylon for decades, that’s a role that Joshua couldn’t have played nearly as well. Think of it this way: A hammer is a fine tool, but it can’t do the job of a Phillips screwdriver. God is a master worker who knows that no one kind of tool can do every job, and He knows how to use each Christian effectively in His service.

#4: Christians simply don’t have the option of ignoring the fact that the Bible plainly teaches that homosexuality is sin. The biblical truth about homosexuality isn’t complicated. God’s written word consistently classifies the act as sin and condemns it. First, homosexuality would have been sin in the days of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (Matthew 19:4-5). Second, it was sin in the age before God gave His law to Israel (Genesis 19:1-29). Third, it was sin under that law that God gave to Israel (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Deuteronomy 23:17). Fourth, it was sin during the many centuries that Israel lived under that law (Judges 19:11-13; 1 Kings 14:21-24; 15:9-15; 22:41-46; 2 Kings 22:1-2; 23:7). Fifth, it is sin in this the New Testament “church age” (Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:8-10).

#5: Christians are commanded to share God’s truth with others, and that includes the truth about homosexuality. I really do sympathize with every Christian who says, “I’m just so tired of all the fighting. Can’t we talk about something besides homosexuality?” I once had a Christian say to me, “I’m Switzerland,” and I had to laugh because if anybody was Switzerland, he was. But the fact of the matter is that if you, as a Christian, know that certain people are living in sin, and you don’t tell them the truth about that sin, you aren’t truly showing them love. This is something that Jesus Himself understands, and that’s why He commands His followers to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16). Think about it, if every Christian stopped condemning homosexuality today, how long would it take for the sin to become a hundred times more commonplace than it is now? So, don’t we owe it to our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to try to hold back the tide of the homosexual movement as long as we can?

#6: When we Christians speak God’s truth concerning homosexuality (or any other sin), we must do it in love. In Ephesians 4:15, the Bible talks about “speaking the truth in love.” Some Christians are very good at speaking the truth, but their words aren’t always laced with love. I’ll admit that I tend to fall into this category. Other Christians excel at speaking in love, but their words are hollow because they lack the bite of the truth. The goal is a God-approved balance. Don’t get me wrong, though, even if you master the art of speaking the truth in love, many homosexuals will still label you a homophobic, hate mongering, bigoted Neanderthal. That just goes with the territory. Nevertheless, Jesus will know that you are out there trying to share the truth in an appropriate way and He will reward you for it.

#7: We Christians leave ourselves wide open to the charge of hypocrisy when we speak loudly against homosexuality and whisper against other types of sexual sin. Is homosexuality sin? Yes. But so are premarital sex, adultery, incest, pedophilia, and pornography. Christian, do you know any young folks who are “fooling around” before marriage? Do you know any couple who is living together without getting married? Do you know any husband or wife who is cheating on their spouse? Are you covering up for someone who is committing incest or pedophilia? Do you speak out against homosexuality at your workplace and then go home and look at pornography on your computer? These are all probing questions. The point is, you need to address each of these other types of sexual sin with the same fervor and voice level with which you address the sin of homosexuality. To fail to do so makes you a hypocrite, and hypocrisy causes you to lose your credibility as a messenger of God.

Now, as I begin to close all this out, I want to offer my answer to one reasonable question that some Christians ask concerning gay marriage. The question goes like this: “Since marriage in the United States is a legal contract (meaning, you have to have a license to get married) as much as it is a religious covenant, do we as Christians have a right to impose our narrow definition of it onto a country that consists of Jews, Muslims, agnostics, and atheists as well as Christians?” My answer is, yes we should. And guess what, I’ve got a Bible passage to back up that answer. It’s Mark 6:14-29. Those verses give us the story of how John the Baptist publicly rebuked the Roman ruler Herod Antipas because Antipas had committed a form of incest by marrying Herodias, who had previously been married to Herod’s brother, Philip. John told Antipas, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Now, what law was John talking about? Well, it certainly wasn’t the Roman law. Obviously, he was referring to God’s law, that body of law that God had given Israel to live by. So, you see, that was a case of a saved believer (John) holding two unsaved Romans (Herod and Herodias) to God’s standards concerning marriage. And I have to say that I, for one, find in that plenty of scriptural support for the idea that Christians shouldn’t give up the fight against same-sex unions.