Morality and Media

Morality and Media

I recently had a Conservative fellow tell me he had enjoyed the humor in the show “Big Bang Theory” but he no longer watched it because he found out one of the main actors was a gay man. This statement was of interest to me, for I have also seen this show and did not know that this actor was in fact gay. However, I caught myself thinking, This show is named after a evolutionary concept, stars characters that are written to be genius atheists who disregard faith as foolish, has a character who is Jewish but eats pork anyways, a Hindu who mocks his own country’s beliefs, and several of the characters sleep around, use profanity, and take God’s name in vain, why is the line drawn at this actor’s orientation? Are all the rest of the non-Christian cast ok, but this one guy is somehow ‘more’ a fallen creature because he is living in what we think of as a ‘worse’ sin? Are we indeed going to say that the other actors who curse and sleep around are ok as long as the genders are opposite? Since when are there ok and not ok sinners? 

Don’t get me wrong, I think homosexuality is indeed a sin. However, I also believe it is no less or greater a sin than any other sex outside of God’s definition of marriage. I fail to see how this one sin is what we view as the line between (pardon my bluntness) ‘acceptable’ sinners and ‘unacceptable’ sinners.  I’ll get back to “Big Bang Theory”, yes one of the actors is gay. Yes, I believe homosexuality is indeed a sin. But I do not agree that we are to inflict God’s Morals on people who are not yielded to God’s Authority. 

Am I saying that non-Christians can do as they please? Actually, that is exactly what I am saying. We should never try to make a person act like a Christian if they indeed are not one. In doing so we fail our Great Commission and are just cleaning empty sepultures, not really making a disciples. In order for these people to see that they are indeed sinners, they must first realize their sin is not before us, but before God. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to convict of both sin and righteousness, not ours. We are called to be faithful before God and by extension before men. 

But Matthews, I hear some say, how will they know they are sinning if we don’t tell them? Good question. When you were convicted of your sins, was it because someone told you that you were wrong and you didn’t even know it? Or was your conviction from deep inside you, where the Holy Spirit told you of your own sins and shortcomings? People know when they are in the wrong, and homosexuality is not the only point of sin that these people have in their lives (we all have plenty of other sins even if this particular one was off the table). But shouting at them, hating them, slandering them, and avoiding them is not the way to show them that they are sinners. 

Don’t worry, God knows these people better than you and I do. It is  His job, not ours to convict them of their sins; but in the same breath let me say we must also not condone what they do. We are to love the sinner, not the sin.  I am not saying that we should allow gay clergy or members, but what I am saying is that the gay community is no more full of  fallen sinners than the nearest church. It is not our lack of gayness that saves us, nor will the fact that these people are gay condemn them. 

So am I saying now that being gay is something that cannot condemn you? No, what I am saying is that being gay is not the only sin that exists. Gays and straights are both fallen sinners before a Holy God, both groups are also condemned by other sins than this one. Let me just say it for clarity’s sake Guys sleeping around with guys is no more and no less sinful than guys sleeping around with girls. 

In my younger days, I had a co-worker who was a single six foot athletic male who drank and enjoyed sleeping around. I worked with this fellow for several months and we became friends. We hung out at work and things went fine. A year later another fellow came to work there as well. This man also drank and slept around, but he was gay. Instinctively I condemned this man, thinking that we didn’t need ‘his type’ around here. We actively avoided the ‘gay guy’ for weeks as we were on a different shift than his. But then one day they fired one of our coworkers on our shift and moved ‘the gay guy’ to our shift. His name, I soon learned, was Edgar (name changed), and he was a hard working employee. I learned that I had condemned Edgar, not because he was a greater sinner than me or my friend, but because I was uncomfortable. I talked to Edgar and found out that, lo and behold, he was a human being created in God’s image. God loved Edgar as much as me and we were both fallen sinners before God. 

So do we now open our churches to gays and all sorts of interesting characters? Well that depends on why we have a Church. Is the Church there to minister to the fallen people around us? Or is it there to praise a Holy God? I ask this because we need fallen people if we are to minister, but to worship a Holy God we need to be a Holy people. So we have an interesting situation. 

God demands Holiness from the saved, but how can we minister to the unsaved if we actively avoid them.? I believe we are to minister to the sinners around us, but never are we to accept their sin as ‘just who they are’. God is pleased with small sacrifices but demands our very lives. God calls us to Him to become Holy as He is Holy, not to wallow in the muck that He calls us out of. So yes, we can minister to them, but that does not mean that they are righteous as they are. As long as they (or anyone) believes they are ‘fine the way they are’ there is nothing that Christ or Christianity or the Church has to offer those people. 

So what of the gay fellow who claims Salvation but is not convicted of his sin of homosexuality? Well, this is both very simple and very complex. The man is clearly in the wrong. But let me ask you another personal question, did God convict you of all your sins in one big heap? Well, He keeps convicting me of mine in more and more places and I assume that He does the same with you. So God will indeed convict this man of his sin of homosexuality, but maybe on a different timetable than ours. I firmly believe that those that practice a gay lifestyle are not ever to be leaders in any form in the local church, indeed I would be concerned if they did not repent of their lifestyle shortly after their conversion. Those who are not yet convicted that this is a sin are at best, babes in Christ, who either are slow to grow or resisting the call of the Spirit. This should be handled with great care, as they may also be converts who only wish to have part on God’s Mercy and not His Sovereignty.

SUMMARY

Is homosexuality a sin? Yes it sure is. But that is not where sin starts. If we draw the line at homosexuality than we have drawn a line that is far too lenient for us to say that it could come from God. Sin is what separates us from a Holy God and drawing the line at being gay is foolish and self deceiving. We do this to make ourselves seem ‘better’ as if that would make us more righteous. But it does the opposite, it shows that we are still trying to be ‘good enough’ to be Christians, failing to see that it is not of our selves but is the gift of God, so we cannot boast. So let us remember that all sin separates us from God. We did not get saved from ‘lesser sins’ but that is the implication I get from so many.

CONCLUSION

So is it ok to watch a television show with gay actors and actresses? My answer is this, are you supporting the actor’s sin by watching the show? Do you believe that it is hurting your walk with God to watch what you are watching? Is it harming your witness to someone else? In the case of the show I was discussing earlier as far as I know the orientation of the actor is never really referenced in the show itself, but ironically there are myriads of other moral issues that are shown, however. 
But the most important question is are you basing this off of the conviction of the Holy Spirit or are you trying to show your own self-righteousness? Never are we to disobey the conviction of the Spirit. If the Spirit convicts you then follow. But don’t attempt to wash your hands of evil and just sit back and frown on those that continue. It didn’t work for Pilate, it won’t work for us either.