Apparently, bothered some people that I was “hyper-focused” on homosexuality during the month of June while I’m not currently, nor have I ever been previously, gay. These people suggest it is inappropriate to focus on the sins of others that I do not struggle with myself.
In case you are tempted to use this criticism yourself, I’ll offer my response and save you the painful experience of exposing your thoughtlessness.
If the only sins I can criticize are sins that I struggle with myself, I would not be able to criticize burglars, murderers, drug dealers, sex traffickers, or rapists. That’s not even an exhaustive list. And guess what? You can’t criticize those people either!
I’ll bet you a large, thin crust pizza that it wouldn’t bother you if I railed against child molesters every single day. You wouldn’t say, “Knock it off, John! You don’t struggle with that sin so focus on your own problems.” You don’t like child molesters so you don’t mind when I call them sinners.
But…you sort of like gay people, just not enough to tell them the truth. Calling homosexuality a sin requires compassion and courage which you lack. You call yourself an “ally” and hope that maybe God will change his mind about sexual sin. You are so terrified of agitated gay folks, that you can’t even stand to watch me upset them.
Rather than succumbing to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that you join me in speaking truth, you call me out for being unloving, or hypocritical, or arrogant. I’m actually none of the above.
The problem is not MY hypocrisy. The problem is YOUR hypocrisy. I consistently acknowledge and condemn ALL sins, including those of which I am guilty. You get squishy when I mention abortion or homosexuality because you’ve got gay friends. You know women who have had abortions. You really wish those two things weren’t sins. Maybe you’ve even allowed yourself to be convinced that the Bible was mistranslated regarding homosexuality (but it’s still totally a sin to be racist)!
You don’t get to pick which sins to talk about. The scripture consistently tells everybody to repent without naming the specific sins. Nowhere in the Bible does anyone say, “I’m keeping my mouth shut about your sin because I struggle with it myself.”
“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.”
Matthew 12:41
