My frustration with churches on the issue of homosexuality is simply that they seem to avoid the topic altogether. The issue of gender, sexuality, and marriage may be the most critical of our day and yet pastors don’t seem to want to talk about it. The consequence is a congregation that is ignorant of biblical teaching and unable to engage or help people struggling with this sin.

More specifically, the consequence of the silent church is people that are either so filled with “truth” that they are hateful legalists, or people so “loving” that they are willing to compromise scripture and justify sin.

And still pastors and churches are silent, conveniently skipping over passages like Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, and Revelation 22; which clearly speak of homosexuality as sin.

Having a biblical theology creates a biblical worldview which, should, create a biblical sexual ethic that includes a proper view of gender roles, sexuality, and marriage. This proper, biblical sexual ethic is critical in addressing the needs of people in our current cultural climate. Being able to address the struggles people are facing concerning sexuality is perhaps the greatest way the church can serve people in their community.

Thankfully, a growing number of people are calling on pastors and churches to address the issues of gender, sexuality, and marriage. One such person is Robin Teresa Beck, a 59 year old former lesbian that lived in the homosexual lifestyle for 35 years before a dramatic conversion to Catholicism. Beck had 12 lesbian relationships before her conversion and is now asking, among other things, that churches step up and boldly address this issue in love, with truth and grace.

In a recent article, Beck shared thoughts on why homosexuality can never work and how the church can reach out in true love to those struggling with homosexuality.

Beck said that homosexual relationships can’t work because of how God created us:

“It’s not going to work out because of the way God created us. Our Creator said that a man leaves his mother and father and comes together with his wife and the two become one flesh. God’s creative design was for men and women, not for men with men or women with women.  It’s like if one day I think my car should become a boat and I plunge it into a river thinking this is totally passible. But General Motors begs to differ. If I toss aside GM’s plan for the car and drive into the river, the car will sink and I will drown. God created us. He knows and tells us the way he made us to be. You have to put your soul in alignment with scripture. From my experience, it is impossible to have a healthy gay relationship because it goes against the way God made us to be.”

This speaks to nature. Humans have an instinctive nature that tells us there is an inherent difference between male and female. That nature further tells us that men are supposed to be with women, not men. Homosexuality goes against this nature and seeks to justify and legitimize what human nature does not support. The result is an emotional roller coaster that leaves people hurt, broken, and unsatisfied. Beck comments on this:

“Women are emotional, that’s our strong point, and when you put two women together in intimacy, you’ve got drama all over the place. It’s like a soap opera on steroids. That’s something that most women in a Lesbian relationship will not tell you. You know, God made men more sexually driven, and women are just more emotionally driven. And that’s the beauty of men and women coming together in partnership: Somehow, it balances out. Men and women balance each other out. But when you put men together sexually, you get guys who become unsatisfied and always looking for something more. That’s why some gay men go through a hundred relationships, some even a thousand. It’s similar when two women become sexual together: There is nothing but emotion, turmoil, and all kinds of upheaval.”

There’s no way to logically expect a man to fulfill what only a woman can provide in a relationship. Putting two men or two women together is like trying to put both ends of the jumper cables on the positive terminal and expecting a spark – it won’t work. But when two people that are opposites, complimentarian, are put together each person receives what he or she needs from the other and BOOM – sparks.

The obvious rebellion against nature of homosexuality is also a rebellion against God. It’s fascinating to realize how many homosexuals have a religious background; they were raised in church, identify as former religious people, or went to a religious school. A case could be made that many homosexuals are rebelling against God in some way, for some reason, and have a deep hurt – resulting from emotional or physical abuse – that needs healed.

But as Beck points out, homosexuality will never make things right or bring someone into a right relationship with God:

“The Church needs to lovingly say to this person: ‘This is not who you are. Acting on same-sex inclinations is never going to bring you to a place where you can have a right relationship with God. In fact, if you go this way, you are heading down a destructive path. The good news is we love you, we are going to be patient with you. If you fall a thousand times, we will still be there for you.’”

She’s right. But the church can’t send this message if it unwilling to address the issue at all. For any pastor to declare that “this isn’t a Gospel issue” and therefore refuse to talk about it is theologically false. The fact is, homosexuality is a biblical, moral issue that is centered in the Gospel. Any person that does not properly understand gender, sexuality, and marriage will have a hard time understanding a Gospel that says you must die to self, resist sinful inclinations, live in accordance with Scripture, and submit your will and desires to Christ. If a person refuses to submit his or her gender and sexuality to God, how will that person be able to submit to a Gospel message that calls for daily dying?

The silence in our churches is deafening. The effects are obvious. And those effects are not lost on Beck as she looks into the Catholic Church. She says:

“We Catholics are in big trouble. It’s as if we are just taking orders from the world instead of from God. People need to get on their knees and repent. The Pope needs to call us to get on our knees and repent. The Church is supposed to be the light. We are supposed to stand fast with Truth and not compromise with the world. This is what all Catholics need to do. And priests need to stop people-pleasing. They need to speak the truth in love. If people pack-up and go away, well, so be it. When their lives get broken, they’ll be back. And they’ll be back at a place that truly is a hospital, where people can find true comfort and healing.”

Those words of advice could just as easily be applied to Protestant churches. Some have chosen to embrace what God clearly calls sin; a sin for which they need to repent. Others have chosen silence; an equally sinful decision that warrants repentance. As Christians it is not our job to determine what is and is not sin when God has already made the decision. It is our job to lovingly call people to repentance of sin – all sin – with truth and grace.

If we want to see younger generations raised with a proper, biblical, theology, worldview, and sexual ethic, it begins in our churches. Pastors must take that responsibility seriously and refuse to capitulate to society, political pressure, or man. Faithful adherence to Scripture is a worthwhile, and lifetime goal.

For me, I’d rather be labeled a bigot by culture and faithful by Jesus than the other way around.