LGBT: Let God Be True…
…But Every Man A Liar (Romans 3:4)
(Part Two)
In Part 1 of this article (please read http://churchofchristarticles.com/blog/administrator/lgbt-let-god-true before continuing) it was well-chronicled that God, from the very beginning up until this very second, has only created humankind as either male, or female, and has done so with absolutely no in-betweens, combinations, errors or confusions. Both males and females were created, both for and with, certain anatomical, behavioral, and psychological abilities, in order to fit the specific situations, roles, and responsibilities which God wanted them to fulfill in the physical world which He created. Any subsequent gender confusion, corruption, or perversion has thus and since not ever come from God, but from the Satanically-structured deception, environment, and biblical ignorance which such confused people find themselves inevitably immersed, overcome, and engulfed in.
God Did Create Male and Female Perfectly. There was no LGBT Rebellion.
As Christians, it is hoped that we would all hurt for, and would thus help to heal with the living word of God Himself (Hebrews 4:11-13), such painfully deceived, deluded, and gender-confused people. Certainly we as Christians should all want to be on the same page and would never want to participate in contributing to any such Satanically-induced corruption and confusion of the sexes… would we?
You see, the reason I ask is because it seems to me that there is just as sinful and tragic of a gender-confusion promoting element amongst some of our very own people today. An element that seems bent on incrementally implementing into the Lord’s church, a similar ideology, and one that is no less sinful, ungodly, or anti-Scriptural, than the one being perversely perpetrated and pushed by our current president onto the American people! In fact, when one considers the unbelievable similarities, they are incredibly frightening!
Please re-read and reconsider 1st Timothy 2:8-15. That text, which takes you back to the very same, exact beginning of time in the Garden of Eden as the above and aforementioned, establishes once and for all time, God’s perfect and eternal pattern of things when it comes to His creation of men and women, both for and with, certain anatomical, behavioral, and psychological abilities, in order to fit the specific situations, roles, and responsibilities which God wanted them to fulfill in the SPIRITUAL world as well. These ageless, timeless, and divinely-inspired and dictated (Ps. 119:89; 2 Tim. 3:16-17), gender-confusion-negating and neutralizing “commandments of God” when it comes to each member’s gender roles, responsibilities, and restrictions, are also very clearly pointed out once again in 1 Corinthians 14:33-37 (please see).
And that brings us to this… A newspaper associated with the churches of Christ, and one that is notorious for continually seeking to support and further promote gender confusion by publishing stories, articles, and advertisements which help blur the lines between the sexes when it comes to their God-designed and defined roles and responsibilities within the Lord’s church, recently published – under the heading of “Opinion,” no less – responses from several Christian women to a question they had earlier posed, regarding ‘What to tell our daughters about the proper role of women in the church.’ I’m somewhat glad they didn’t ask men like me that question – and probably they are too! (After all, I’m guessing my comments never would’ve made the final cut). But just in case, here’s the answer anyway. (And by the way, before continuing, just let me say that my wife and I have two very faithful adult daughters who grew up in the church and continue to serve faithfully and steadfastly to this day – within their God-given, defined, and designed roles of course. In fact, I notice that there are no spiritual gender-confusion issues amongst them whatsoever… and here’s how that can be accomplished…)
My first response is that this question is not a matter of “opinion” by any stretch of the imagination, and doesn’t belong anywhere near, or under such a heading, ever – unless of course one has an agenda to please people and give them what they are clamoring for instead of humbly, lovingly, and faithfully giving God what He has clearly commanded (Galatians 1:10). Matters of “opinion” are only those issues about which God has ruled and declared absolutely nothing, hence leaving them up to us. While this would include things like which hour we meet on Sunday, the color of the carpet, and the order of our worship, gender-behavior within our assemblies is assuredly not one of them! See: 1 Corinthians 14:33-37 and 1 Timothy 2:8-15.
Secondly, this question is about as easily and decisively answered in the spiritual world of the church, as whether or not one is a boy or a girl in the physical world around us. Simply observing and accepting what is obviously in evidence in certain areas is more than enough to clarify and answer the question once and for all time. In the case of this question, one need only honestly look at and accept, once again what they clearly see in 1 Corinthians 14:33-37 and 1 Timothy 2:8-15.
In response to ‘What to tell our daughters about the proper role of women in the church,’ I would additionally answer with the following:
1) Christ says our love for Him is directly proven – or disproven – by our willingness – or lack thereof – to humbly submit to and obey His commandments (John 14:15). Their subsequent, submissive silence, and loving lack of leading (whether it be leading prayers, leading singing, or as we gather around the table where Christian men are present) is very clearly, concisely, directly and undeniably commanded by God in 1 Corinthians 14:33-37.
2) In exactly the same way as any physical gender confusion can be easily cleared up by simply, honestly, and sincerely going back to the beginning and understanding that “God made them male and female,” and therefore designed them for, and assigned them with, certain very specific roles and responsibilities, so too are we taken back to that very same beginning in order to clear up any spiritual gender confusion by 1 Timothy 2:8-15. That passage provides us with the undeniable and ageless proof, that this timeless godly pattern, in place since the very beginning of time and originating from God in the very same Garden of Eden, is just as culturally non-negotiable as the physical gender issue.
3) I would additionally answer by saying that just because someone may be talented or gifted at something, does NOT MEAN that they can just arbitrarily disregard the divine boundary lines which almighty God has set in place for them or that practice. And this goes for everyone, both male and female alike, for we are “all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) – despite the different talents, abilities, roles, responsibilities, and gifts we may each have to offer. For example, just because a male church member might be a great guitarist does not give him the right to outright deny and defy God’s divinely-established New Testament pattern and rebel against God by playing his instrument while offering up “psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs” to God – especially when the Lord specifically commanded that all His saints simply sing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). After all, as Samuel rebuked king Saul, “Has the Lord as great delight in… offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice… For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you…” (See: 1 Samuel 15).
And finally, as to any promoters and perpetrators of some of the scripture-perverting and spiritually gender-confusing practices and practitioners present in the Lord’s church today, I would simply remind my daughters to really read and re-study the following divinely-designed and dictated passages directly from God, in addition to all of those explored and examined above: John 14:15-24; Romans 16:16-19; 1 Corinthians 11:19; 2 Timothy 3:1-4:4; 2 Peter 1:16-2:3, 2:12-22, 3:14-18; and Revelation 3:18-29… if I was asked. But of course, I wasn’t.
Every Christian needs encouragement at various times throughout this life. We suffer due to family problems, health concerns, natural disasters, spiritual weakness, emotional trials, problems at work, and even difficulties in the church. This is nothing new, for there were problems in the church even during biblical times. In the church of Christ at Corinth alone, we read of division, immorality, lawsuits between brethren, incorrect worship practices, abuse of miraculous gifts, lack of love for one another, and misunderstandings concerning the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the dead in the last day. Corinth, like most every congregation of God’s people, was filled with hurting people. This is why God inspired Paul to give them a lot of encouragement (2 Cor. 1:3-5). They needed to grow stronger and remain stronger and more faithful, and encouragement would do that.
