Jesus and Same-Sex Couples — Part 2

Shall we go say hello to the elephant in the room? One point my friend did not state explicitly is that the same-sex couples of whom he speaks are sexually active. If we presume they aren't then this bit is superfluous. But if, as I suppose he means, they could be, then we have to note that among those who care about what Jesus thinks, namely Christians, there are, several schools of thought about the morality of homosexuality. They are sometimes designated by the terms "Side A" and "Side B." Side A holds that gay and lesbian sex can be morally legitimate. Side B holds that a homosexual orientation is not sinful in itself, but sex between members of the same sex is sinful. As regular readers know, I believe tat Side B is correct. (There is also "Side X," which says that even a homosexual orientation which is not acted on is sinful. Since they could never see Jesus appreciating even a celibate gay person, let alone a couple, there is no point in considering their position  for purposes of this discussion.)

I think it makes sense to distinguish between what is objectively right or wrong and what is subjectively right or wrong. I think this is a very important distinction when we talk about what Jesus appreciates. Let's think about drinking alcohol. There are some Christians who think it's morally wrong to drink alcohol. Most think it isn't wrong. They can't all be right. Objectively, either it is alright or it is wrong. But subjectively, if I think drinking is not sinful and I drink, I am not sinning because I do not intend to do anything I believe to be wrong. If the other side is right, then I am objectively doing something wrong even though I have not sinned by knowingly doing something wrong. On the other hand, even if drinking is not objectively wrong, someone who thinks it is and still goes ahead and has a drink is sinning, because he wants to do something he considers wrong.

Now, if Side A is objectively right, there is clearly no problem with saying that Jesus appreciates the couples my friend speaks of (except for Side B individuals who believe they are sinning). But if Side B is objectively right, then there is no problem with sexually inactive couples, but we have a question about those who are sexually active. Here is where the distinction between objective and subjective morality is important, because when Side A people engage in activity which they believe is okay, then they are not sinning, and there is no problem on that score between them and Jesus.


Who am I/are we to judge?  Whether a person is sinning or not is between his conscience and God. It is not my place to judge them. I do not know what's in their conscience. In other words, we can all have our beliefs about whether certain forms of conduct are objectively wrong, but that does not mean we know whether specific individuals have sinned. Of course, unless they tell us or we are there when it happens, we don't even know whether they have done anything or not. So there is no way I can say that these people have incurred Jesus' disapproval. And even in speaking hypothetically of Jesus' disapproval, we have to remember, as I noted at the beginning of the first post, that God is love. Even if someone sins, that does not make God stop loving him.


To be continued.